By Abac Cordero
JAKARTA – Head coach Simon McMenemy is not pushing the panic button.
In fact, the British national who has helped turn the Philippine football team into serious contenders, let his wards loose yesterday, the day after their close 1-0 defeat to Indonesia.
They all went out for lunch at the Philippine Embassy, and from there, after enjoying a very warm welcome from the embassy staff, they dropped by at a nearby mall for some shopping.
Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, with a lot of bantering and singing inside the team bus that took them around town.
It was a total rest day for the Filipino booters, who came close to forcing Indonesia to a draw at least. To some extent, there even came expectations during the match they could have won.
One of the players, though, was not too cool on spending the day off.
“After we got our butts kicked, we’re going out shopping?” he said.
All’s not lost on the Filipinos, however, because they still have another chance in tomorrow’s game, same time, same place, but will have to beat the Indons by two goals to advance to the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup.
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The next game is Indonesia's home game. I haven't checked the AFF rules but a 2-1 win would give them 2 away goals to Indonesia's 1 away goal and in most competitions that would mean the Azkals would go through. They do need to score at least 2 goals to go through and 1 goal to tie. If it is 1-0 Azkals does anybody know if they go to extra time and penalty kicks?
ReplyDeleteIf the coach wants the team to badly succeed the game why are they shopping instead of practicing , and seriously talking about the game plan for the next game... the filipino attitude of "Puwede na yan" system and not aiming for perfection , precision and execution might cause our downfall... Or maybe the coach does not give a damn about the Philippine team , anyway he is aiming for a coaching job in Europe. But if this is the kind of coach he is , he sure will end up a career coaching the "Little League" . Wake up AZKALS !!! this is the real world , this is a dream for millions of Filipino Football Fans here and abroad... Put football in your heart and mind whether or not you have a game to play or not...PLEASE !!!
ReplyDeleteTaking a day off is not a bad idea, i would do the same to the team if Im the coach, let them relax a bit. They have another extra day for a workout before Sundays game.
ReplyDeleteDo not take chances , Success cannot be achieved overnight unless there is a twist of faith and sheer luck. Your coach led you to get loose after the defeat ? is this one of his own unprecedented game plan... The Coach should be pushing the panic button now , unless he has no voice or guts to contain and control the team. Well anyway , he does not give a damn about the Filipino team , he is just a puppet coach placed in the right time and situation to take all the credit that the AZKALS worked hard for. He did not sweat blood , exerted any effort nor butt a finger to build , train , hone and develop this team...DID HE??? If I may ask , What is his credentials and achievements anyway ... maybe I am persecuting and discriminating a top caliber coach or MAYBE NOT.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying taking a day off is a bad idea, maybe after the important game on Sunday,will be a better time.
ReplyDeleteMost teams take a day off after a hard game, or train easy to gain strength again, to recover. So you people who talk sh|te, start playing some football so you can see that taking a day off isnt a bad idea at all. The team has been preparing for this whole year, and they have progressed alot and played their hearts out. They have given us more than we could ever expect from them. And this is how you respond to their great performance?
ReplyDeleteAnd you sobbing mofo who bash the coach, you probably just started to cheer on the team after you saw them on the news. Youre not a real fan, youre nothing. Youre not like others who have followed the national team for many many years. So please do us a effin favour and stuff it where the sun dont shine. The team has gained a lot of fans these past weeks, but not all are true fans of the sport or the team. Most of you will disappear as soon as the team lose again.
they went shopping to ease the tension on neil etheridge. he's probably depressed right now. im sure shopping wont cure him but i think because of his mistake, he will not allow anymore goals. I also think we have advantage if we reach the penalty shootout.
ReplyDeleteOh, please. At this level of competition the mental aspect is just as important, if not more so, than the physical. The coach, being with the players, have a better take on the mental state of the players than any of us.
ReplyDeleteOA niyo naman.. The last was just a day before and the next game is on Sunday.. Have them train for the whole of the break then the tired team will lose more gas.. So resting and relaxing for just ONE DAY isn't bad.. But rest assured that these guys mean business for the next game..
ReplyDeleteI'll cite a similar scenario when our RP U18 Basketball team just got booted out in the quarters.. They were all treated to KFC (in Yemen) after a LONG time of eating healty.. The next games, they won very impressively..
We need quality in the forward position, to take the pressure off Phil.YH, Chris GW, and others.RP's forward is non factor with all due respect.. Can we get Chad Gould still to play up top? He's physical and skillful, he can create havoc in the Indos backline..In my opinion the forward position is the weakest link, but from the GK, defense, and mid field we're pretty solid.
ReplyDeleteAt this time, the aspect of mental preparedness is more important than the physical aspect. By now, no amount of conditioning will help aside from light preparation. Having time off football is not only recommended but is a MUST after a hard game to forget what happened in the "first half". If you are an athlete playing competetively on a high level, you will understand. By now, focus should be on mental side and that is "hunger" for the win. On the other hand, its the coaches who should be working hard to prepare an "executable" strategy for the team.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last anonymous poster before mine. As of this stage mental preparation should be given attention. So why not leave the team alone and the best we can do is pray and wish them good luck in their next game.
ReplyDeleteMy 2 cents worth of opinion. I think we need the speed from the forward area. We just can not be slacked or just wait for a great opportunity to come because it wont. Pressuring the defense of the oponnent will eventually break them. We need the speed of Caligdongs or anybody that can run to the center and score. The Younghusbands are great set up player and long shooters but we lack of men striding and cutting thru the middle. Look at Barcelona, they have pretty small players but their speed and great passings will make their oponnent crazy in defending.
ReplyDeleteIm a bad hyena but if your talking about taking a day off is a bad idea then why dont you practice and play for the Indons for the next match????? Making your mind prepared is a wise decision and if those persons argue again then Im telling you,
ReplyDeleteARE THEY ANDROIDS??? Im sure your butt will sore for a week if you do so and dont tell me YOU DONT HAVE A BUTT?
Theyre doing just fine, waiting til the Lions finished their meal and here comes the Hyenas ready for the second go.
MIND GAMES
GARY G is right. Barcelona is great right now. But why?
ReplyDeleteThe midfields were excellent added from Messi's greatness. But I think XAVI is more deserving for the Ballon d or.
As for our team, 5 midfields should do the trick and we have to support the front not changing it. They need our support and I do believe the forwards will pull the trigger. I will always support our strikers hoping they could score goals.
Anyway we have the 2nd half for subsitution. Im sure they will do a great job.
OK its football expert time!
ReplyDeleteRest is OK. If they aren't prepared already, then one more practice day isn't gonna do it. The mental break can do wonders for a team.
Somebody said we need speed upfront. That is absolutely correct. If I may add, its not just speed but also a lack of offensive firepower. Also, many of our attacking situations were 3 RP vs 6 Indons. Now any coach worth his mettle will tell you that unless the 3 RP players are named Messi, Torres or Ronaldo, then the numerical superiority of the defense will always have the upper hand. Hence the need for more potent forwards.
There was almost zero pressure on the Indon midfield when they launched dangerous long balls. Our midfield need to work harder and if we had the abovementioned forwards, it would take the attacking pressure off our midfielders as well.
The Indons were playing long passes because they were punished by our midfields and they cant performed their usual short passing game well. The Indons coach aint have choice but to stick to this plan because if they wouldnt, they will swallow all of our counterattacks and attacks. And as for the coach, substitution is important if one of the azkals arent performing well, Im sure we have great players in the substitute.
ReplyDeleteAs an experience sports & football professional;
ReplyDeleteRecovery is important after a game it is a must, muscles needs to heal in time for the next game thats why there are 3 days in between matches. Some of the posts here are right on target it is more of a mental game now than before the quarter finals, the coaches now have to do their homework and review tapes and prepare a game plan - the other team Garuda TIMNAS did the same going around relaxing some even had TV appearances in TV and malls.
Comment on the game: Credit to the Indonesian Coach he did his homework, the Indons opened the game in wide spaces and this continued all throughout the 90 mins. why? He had to in order to open the defense of the AZKALS which was a compact wall in the 3rd half of the pitch during their games prior the semi-finals Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar which had a taste of this and it proved to be the AZKALS winning formula - our defenders are both committed and technically adept to give those long passes to wing players and from there we go for a counter attack with speed and numbers because the opponent had more players committed upfront in a straight up attack. Coach McMenemy used the same strategy in the semi-finals but the Indon's created wide spaces in the middle half of the field the AZKALS had to adjust their defensive lines to cut down spaces thus stretching the compact defensive unit and because of this their midfield now had room to maneuver in the middle of the field then he opted to play wide instead of short passes and to get early crosses in the box since they had more room to maneuver, noticeable also is the respect of the Indons to our counterattack in which the back 4 never went pass the 3rd half of the field they maintain discipline all throughout the game - they know that our players can play the quick 1-2 passes and if numbers are lacking they will surely pay the price. A good note is that our defense even if it was stretched out was always physically there to challenge the attack, we know that it has the capability to challenge 1 on 1 or as compact unit. I believe that the next game will be decided in midfield both teams have capable players they just need to step up either in defense or offense.
It would be interesting to watch how both coaches will adjust to each other game plan tomorrow.
There is renewed respect to the Philippine game, at least from where I work here in Jakarta. And it a good feeling coming from a football crazy nation.
Who the hell are you bashing Mcmenemy? Former National Coach Aris Caslib is a friend of mine and he would agree this guy has done an unbelievable job. That other person was right, you havent followed the National Team until this month. Were you there when we got drubbed 13-1?? The guy has looked at the team and has coached them to play to our strengths. As someone who has played the game, i can say with confidence, the coach is just as important as the players. We wont be here in this situation without him. I dont know Simon and I dont what his plans are but he is a damm good coach in my book. Are you another paid Martinez hack??
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Technically the Indons coach were beaten by our footballing thats why he cant perform well with his strategy.
ReplyDeleteI dont give credit to him since this is not how he plays his strategy. He was frustrated with the Azkals.
I give credits to the Azkals footballing improvement and aggressiveness.