Book on Philippine football tactics released

Book on Philippine football tactics released

by rick olivares

Former Kaya and Union Football club coach Maor Rozen has just published a Philippine edition of his football book, Tactics from the Roots (published by COC Foundation). Rozen, who is Uruguayan, coached for 10 years in the Philippines conducted football clinics for both players and coaches alike throughout the country.

After his brief spell with Kaya, he moved to Spain.

“I wrote Tactics from the Roots as a way of saying thank you for my time here in the Philippines,” said Rozen. “They were some of the best times of my life.”

“When I first came here, I could see the passion for the game but the level of football wasn’t as high. Coming back now, you can see how the game has grown not only in terms of popularity but also tactically. This book talks about tactics from what I have observed and maybe this can also be a tool for the Filipino coach.”

During the book launch held last Wednesday at Fullybooked at Bonifacio High Street in Taguig, the Uruguayan listed four reasons for the publication of the book. “First, it is to continue to the development of football in the Philippines,” underscored the coach. “Second, it’s to further develop coaches’ ability to analyze the game. Third it to optimize the understanding of the game at an early age and lastly, it is to help create and identify a new generation of local talents.”

Rozen also cautioned readers and football coaches about the book, “The tactics will change in a few years because the game evolves. But the fundamentals remain the same.”

Spotted in attendance at book launch were Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, Azkals team manager Dan Palami, former national player Alex Elnar, Makati Football Club boss Tomas Lozano, former Union Football Club team manager Jorge Muller, and Congressman Carlos Cojuangco who sponsored the publication of the Philippine version of the book.

This is the second book about Philippine football published in the last two years. In February of 2016, Philippine Football Its Past, Its Future was launched featuring writings about the history of the Beautiful Game’s origins and evolution in the country by various sports writers including the Philippine Star’s Bill Velasco and this author.

“I think it is good that there are books about Philippine football that are now being made available,” noted Araneta. “This is a demonstration that the passion for the game is there and that interest is growing.”

Tactics from the Roots available in Europe but the one released locally (through Fullybooked) is a Philippine derivative with chapters exclusive to his time here.