Boyet Fernandez on NLEX’s first PBA conference

Boyet Fernandez on NLEX’s first PBA conference

by rick olivares

The NLEX Road Warriors bowed out of Philippine Cup contention with an 82-78 loss to Alaska at the Cuneta Astrodome. The expansion club, that carried over from the now defunct Air21 franchise, finished with a 4-7 record. Despite a three-match slide, the wards of head coach Boyet Fernandez ended their elimination round on a high note by defeating KIA, 88-80, before facing Alaska in the quarterfinals. The Aces owned a twice-to-beat advantage.

Despite getting KO’d not by Manny Pacquiao’s Sorentos but by the battle-hardened Aces, Fernandez remained optimistic about his Road Warriors.

The affable Fernandez manned up to the finish. “This one is on me. It was difficult to adjust because I was also working with San Beda before and at the same time. I was able to fully commit to NLEX after the season started. And in between meron pa yung PCCL. But no excuses. This is on me. Hopefully, next conference we can finish with a much better result.”

Fernandez admitted transitions can be both easy and difficult. Referring to his first head coaching stint with the former Sta. Lucia squad, Fernandez dispelled any difficulty with his former teammates accepting his promotion or ascension in the ranks. “Yung sa Sta. Lucia, I already knew them as a player as well as their attitudes. Vice versa rin yun. My relationship with them -- magkaibigan or magkapatid kami. Magsing-edad or mas matanda ako ng konti ako sa ibang players like Dennis Espino and Marlou Aquino. Tapos we had rookies like Ryan Reyes and Joseph Yeo. They saw me pay my dues as I came up from the ranks as a player then as an assistant and finally as head coach.”

Fernandez parlayed that into a All-Filipino championship over Purefoods during the 2007-08 season.

However, Fernandez said that with NLEX this time around, the transition was little more difficult. “Sa NLEX, we have a different system as opposed to Air21 and a different set of players. They came from different teams with different systems so there is always a period of adjustment. Sometimes things click right away; sometimes they don’t. Syempre, wish mo yung former but you have to put in your work first. Ayaw mo i-assume na mahuhulog lahat in place.”

“Yung defensive system ko is different from what they used to do. And the adjustment was different because I came in late as I was in the middle of San Beda’s campaign for five straight. I really concentrated on the NCAA campaign first.”

While there is a theory that pro players easily latch on to their coach’s instructions because theoretically, they are supposed to be finished products, Fernandez mildly disagreed. “Sabi nga nila finished product na yung mga players ko so konting instruction alam na nila. But it will not be consistent with our system. We will win sometimes and lose sometimes. There were some games where we nearly won it. We were not consistent in following what we needed to do. So there is still that learning period.”

“Hopefully we will learn from this. As of now, I am happy with my players. Probably we are not winning right now but I am satisfied with what we are doing except hindi pa kami nagkakaamuyan. However we ended this conference, I put this one me. We’ll take it. And hopefully, next conference, we will see a different NLEX.”

Looking at the UST Lady Tigresses in UAAP Volleyball

This appears on abs-cbnnews.com

Looking at the UST Lady Tigresses in UAAP Volleyball

by rick olivares pic from mark cristino/abs-cbn

Before the start of the women’s volleyball season, it was obvious that Ateneo and La Salle would be right up there contending for the UAAP Season 77 championship.

I pegged UST to challenge for a Final Four slot yet after four matches played, they are at 1-3 losing to La Salle, UP, and Ateneo in that order. They have a fantastic rookie in EJ Laure who looks to be the second coming of Alyssa Valdez. Furthermore, head coach Odjie Mamon also had a talented core of Pam Lastimosa, Carmela Tunay, Alex Cabanos, Jessey De Leon, Marivic Meneses, and Chlodia Cortez.

They’ve got a tall frontline that does well in their net defense in Meneses, Lastimosa, and Laure. But when the spikes and drop shots evade the wall, it is my opinion that their floor defense has been wanting.

Here are just my thoughts on what UST needs to work on.

Service

For all their firepower, they can’t seen to jumpstart that offense because their service has been poor. In four games so far, they are the fourth worst in service faults with 29! And they have only served up 14 aces; sixth best in the league.

Setting

As it is, UST is in the middle of the pack when it comes to setting – fifth. And this underscores any team’s need for a top-notch setter.

This is the first year where Alex Cabanos has become the starter while Sarah Verutiao needs more big game experience (as she comes from a small school). They’ll both get better since there are gaining big game experience. It is also unfortunate it has to come when teams play for keeps.

But in my opinion, head coach Odjie Mamon should commit to one – and I’d say for now, it’s Cabanos to lead them. Having them come in and out hurts their confidence. And it was obvious last season that Alex would be their number one setter for Season 77. Maybe then she should have been used a little more instead of looking to garner that valuable bit of experience.

Defense

Receiving. This is where your defense starts and determines your attack. Right now, the Lady Tigresses are ranked sixth in the UAAP. And they are also fifth in digs.

The upside

But there’s the upside… outside Ateneo and La Salle, it’s a wide open race for the other two Final Four slots. And they have plenty of time to work and improve on their game.

As it is, they lost to the top three teams – La Salle, Ateneo, and UP. They have three more matches all against struggling FEU and NU and Adamson that is still looking to find its rhythm. When they work out the kinks, they’ll be dangerous – and watch out for Laure -- because they’ve got the firepower to match anyone.

The lessons for the Philippines in this 2014 Suzuki Cup

This appears on philstar.com

The lessons of the 2014 Suzuki Cup

by rick olivares pic from AFF Suzuki Cup site

Let’s get this out of the way first – I am immensely proud of the Philippine Men’s National Football Team. Save for the 3-nil thrashing at the hands of Thailand in the second leg of the semifinals and even for stretches of the 3-1 loss to Vietnam in the group stages, they played thrilling and good football. For the first time, there was a concrete semblance of what they wanted to accomplish and not run around like headless chickens. They no longer had to park the bus and try their luck on the occasional counter attack. And for that, I applaud their effort, sacrifices, as well as their blood, sweat, and tears.

I must also commend Thailand for a terrific two legs. I cannot feel too bad because they played beautiful football. They served up a good old fashioned butt kicking for which there are lessons that can be taken away from this. Painful lessons and we would do well to learn them and apply them in time for the Suzuki Cup’s next staging for we are hosting one of the group stages.

That was an awesome display of speed, explosiveness, and skill.

They started out the tournament rather slowly, but the Thais got better with every game. But that’s merely because there are so many new players to their current national team. Once they did… (insert expletive right here). I have never seen Daisuke Sato so thrown out of his game that he needed to be subbed out and so early in the match.

The Thais were not only quicker; they were explosively strong. Their 1v1 skills were excellent as they easily went through defenders like traffic cones. Our players had to tackle them from behind because that meant that hey had gotten ahead. And we amassed quite a number of fouls thereby giving away a number of free kicks one of which led to a goal.

I will not assume that Philippine clubs are doing his but I would venture to say that it would be good to include plyometrics in the players’ training.

Pass and go. Pass and go. Pass and go.

Overall, the Philippines’ passing game was so much better. But against Vietnam and Thailand who did their homework by pressing quite vigorously and consistently – a testament to their incredible fitness level – they needed to pass quicker and make better use of the spaces. The Filipinos were dribbling into crowds and at times forced the issue when it would have been prudent to pass or swing the ball to the other side.

Our passing game and attack works on the slower teams but now Vietnam and Thailand have repeatedly demonstrated how to beat the Philippines – you have to be quicker and stronger than they are.

Attack in numbers; defend in numbers.

Because of the immense pressure the Thais brought to the game, the Philippines -- save for certain stretches in the match such as the first few minutes of the second half and with time dwindling away – attacked with not much help.

If you look at the Thais, they moved up in numbers and defended in numbers.

We should have won that home match.

For the second consecutive Suzuki Cup semifinals home match, we didn’t score. You might even want to throw the Peace Cup Finals in there. We need to win these home matches. In a previous vivisection of a previous match, I pointed out that only once did we beat a team playing in front of their home fans this year and that against Maldives. I do not think they strike terrors into anyone’s football hearts unless you count their boat ride and the sea conspiring with their football team to make life queasy and uneasy on the Pinoys.

A scoreless draw is good but you’re marching into their dens to steal a win. It isn’t going to be easy.

We need to turn our pitches into places like Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera or even the Thais’ Rajamangala Stadium. We need to electrify the atmosphere to give the lads a boost.

The Thais were buoyed by the home crowd and they repaid it further charging what was already an electric atmosphere.

I summed it up in a Tweet and my Facebook status: speed + power and muscle + electric home crowd = death.

We need help up front and in the middle of the park.

It is quite obvious that Phil Younghusband needs help. He cannot do it alone. For years we have been looking for his twin strike partner – Ian Araneta, Dennis Wolf, Angel Guirado Javier Patiño, and a few others. Besides, it’s always good to have more options up front to ease the pressure on Phil.

Now we’ve got speed and options in the flanks. I like the industry and skill from Misagh Bahadoran and Martin Steuble. Patrick Reichelt has thrived whether starting or coming off the bench. In fact, he has been one of the best additions to the national side over the years.

Now we need also that option from the middle that was lost when Stephan Schrock opted not to play. Manny Ott was superb! He was a huge loss after the qualifiers of the 2010 Suzuki Cup as he was not cleared by his club for the group and semis stages. He’s a much much better football now but I’ll repeat this, it is good to have more options and weapons.

But that middle – aye, there’s the gap.

In the home match against Thailand, they found a hole in the right side of our defense. In the second leg, they attacked right up the middle. The way they set up that first goal was brilliant. Head towards an open and unmarked teammate – boom. Goal.

They slipped that throughball almost without any problem.

Defensively, we’ve got some terrific ones – Sato, Amani Aguinaldo, and Simone Rota. I have no idea if this will be the last rides for Juani Guirado and Rob Gier but they did a great job as well.

As we have seen from years past, the tinkering with the national side isn’t done. The team is finding new talent to shore up the holes and play prominent parts. Who would have thought that Aguinaldo would be the heir to Aly Borromeo in the back? Ditto with the diminutive Sato who plugged the hole vacated by Dennis Cagara and Ray Jonsson.

So we go home, beaten, bowed a bit, and with the loss, our top spot undoubtedly in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, the nationals should be proud. It’s good to be seeded and hunted and that teams that once didn’t even prepare for us consider us a threat. The loss is a sobering reminder that more work needs to be done.

Having said all of that, I like what I see. I know the Philippine Football Federation, national team management and the coaching staff will not take this lightly. They will rebuild.

We will host one of the group stages of the next Suzuki Cup… a first. Who knows. Maybe two years from now, that could be to football what the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships were for the basketball counterparts.

Make us dream, lads. And thanks! My sincerest thanks to everyone.

Let’s go, Philippines. Let’s continue this surge, Philippine football.

2014 Suzuki Cup: On that home match between the Philippines and Thailand

This appears in the Monday, December 8, 2014 edition of the Business Mirror.

That home match vs. Thailand

by rick olivares

For the second consecutive Suzuki Cup home match, the Philippine Men’s National Team came away without a win against its foe; settling for a scoreless draw this time against Thailand. Two years ago, it was another goalless affair on home soil against Singapore. However the lads from the Lion State parlayed that into a 1-nil win in their return to their home field of Jalan Besar; a win that propelled them to their fourth regional championship.

A scoreless draw is still good because at least the Filipinos did not concede. I really hate this away goals rule that gives a visiting team plus-one advantage per goal. Why doesn’t FIFA come up with a two-point goal if one scores from the midfield line and three-points if one scores from his own backfield. A goal is a goal no plus whatever.

However, we can debate FIFA’s rules again later. The Philippines missed an excellent opportunity to bury Thailand and put themselves in an excellent position to advance to the finals of the biannual competition. And to think Thailand was down to 10 men in the last 20 or so minutes of the match when forward Adisak Kraisorn was meted with a straight red card for striking Filipino defender Amani Aguinaldo.

The draw puts the Philippines at a 1-2-1 record for competitive – not counting the friendlies -- home matches this 2014 (including the Cebu match with Malaysia earlier in the calendar year).

In competitive away matches, the PMNT has only defeated one home side in the Maldives in Male in the AFC Challenge Cup. We lost to Vietnam in the group stages of the Suzuki Cup. Now, the Philippines has to play the most important game in its history when it goes to the Rajamangala Stadium for the second leg of this semifinals match.

There are however a couple of things that augur well for the Filipinos.

The Philippines took a point from Thailand.

Sure it ended in a scoreless draw but would you believe that the Philippines took a point from Thailand for the first time in over four decades? When it’s game time and not a friendly, the Philippines showed they could hang with some of the region’s best. Now they have their confidence up, hopefully, the Filipinos will play better in the do-or-die second leg.

Thailand will be two men down at the Rajamangala.

Thailand will be missing forwards Kraisorn and Kirati Keawsombut to suspension and injury for their home match. That somewhat dulls their attacking edge. However, they still have the creative Charyl Chappuis who seems to find a way to get within striking distance for a shot or a pass.

They rediscovered their attacking side.

Sorely missing against Vietnam that harried them almost non-stop, the local boys took the fight to Thailand. The attack is so much better and pleasing to the eye. There is no crisis in confidence especially since the first leg is still technically a good result.

To balance things out, here’s what the PMNT needs to work on:

Shoring up that central midfield attack.

We have given opponents fits from the left and right flank. The problem is the central midfield play where someone needs to slip those through balls and attack from the middle. That used to be Stephan Schrock’s specialty. But he’s not on this team. Chris Greatwich used to spray those passes to teammates on the wings from that spot but he isn’t playing much. Am not crazy about Phil Younghusband bringing up that ball from there because he tends to lose the ball the longer he dribbles but the Philippines’ all-time leading scorer can be deadly in finding teammates. Maybe a little spacing and line adjustments could help.

Decision making in the final third.

Far too many missed chances for the Filipinos. The Thais probably rue their selection that left out some fearsome attackers. But what they can do is play solid defense. Their back four was pretty good as was their keeper Kawin Thammasatchanan. Phil should have scored on that breakaway. Martin Steuble should have been more resolute in firing away from deep right instead of lofting an ambitious attempt at Kawin.

As good as the passing is, on a few occasions, some players dribbled a little too much and right into trouble. Pass and go. Move into space as what the coach has been preaching.

Plugging that defensive hold from the right midfield.

In the first 15 or so minutes of the second half, Thailand made five runs from the left side (our right side). On some occasions, Aguinaldo and Rob Gier dealt with them, but Kiatisuk Senamuang’s boys were able to fire away from inside the box.

That left was where the Thais launched a lot of their raids. In the middle, Manny Ott, Phil and the others were able to turn them back. On their right, Daisuke Sato was a menace to them. So it is imperative that the hole on the Thailand’s left be slammed shut.

The match of Wednesday, December 10, will be the most important match in the national team’s history. For sure, Thailand will not make it easy and I expect them to be even more physical on that day. The Philippines knows they cannot play like they did against Vietnam.

If the Philippines is going to take the next step in its evolution, then Wednesday is the day.