27 July 2011

Weiss snaps at critics

BY BONG PEDRALVEZ


"SO, are you also questioning my decisions now?" German coach Michael Weiss snapped at this surprised writer as we tried to greet him on a rainy Tuesday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium pitch just before the Philippine Azkals started practice.

With his solid 6-foot-2 frame and sporting a black bull cap, black jacket and black shorts, the 45-year-old mentor struck an imposing and intimidating figure, indeed.

But once Weiss settled down, he explained his exasperation was not aimed at yours truly but at armchair critics and pundits who had tried to second-guess his moves in the nationals’ 0-3 loss to Kuwait in the first leg of the second round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers in Kuwait City last Saturday.

"These people keep questioning my decisions but they were not aware of the realities that forced us to make these decisions in Kuwait," Weiss said. "All they need to do is talk to me and I could have told them why but all they do is just criticize."

Some of these so-called football experts, he said, had questioned why he had not made any substitutions late in the match when it was apparent that some of his key players like Angel Guirado, who was at the receiving end of several vicious tackles, Chieffy Caligdong and Phil Younghusband were either tired or hurting.

"And who would you have me replace them with," he asked, adding his four other players on the bench were all strikers while (defender) Roel Gener was also injured.

"Had I done so, the score might have been easily 8-0. We were up against a superior squad which had been together for years but I have only had my team for six months, so we did what had to be done," he said.

"I have coached all over the world and have given my best to the Azkals, who have made great progress given the time we have had with them, and yet it isn’t even enough," added Weiss, who has had coaching stints with China’s Under-20 and Rwanda’s Under-17 national teams and in the J-League on top of internship with Real Madrid and Arsenal.

"Now I am beginning to understand the crab mentality in this country," he said, referring to the Filipinos’ nasty habit of bringing other people down whom they see rising in prominence or popularity.

"I am the coach and have to make the hard decisions. If you want to question my actions, approach me and I will explain why but just do not criticize until you know the reason why," the German coach said. "If you are not satisified, that’s fine but please don’t criticize just for the sake of criticizing.

"These people are not even part of the coaching circle where we discuss all our field decisions," he said. "If they were in my difficult shoes I wonder what they would have done."

Malaya

14 comments:

  1. Finally, Weiss speaks out! It's about time as well. I've definitely read a lot of comments on this blog alone which criticize his decisions from the first leg and those comments are definitely idiotic to say the least.

    Football all of a sudden got back it's popularity in the country, so many people already think they know a lot/know what's best. So to going along with Weiss had to say...... most you people should just shut up and lay off regarding his decisions and methods.

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  2. And now people will ask. Why so many attackers and only one defender on the bench?

    He might be right that Kuwait couldve been up with 8 goals, but he could also been wrong and the team might have prevented at least 1 goal with fresh legs. No one knows. Its speculations, even on his side. Besides that, he clearly shows he doesnt have faith in his reserves when he gives a comment like he did. As for the crab mentality. Well Weiss, this is the world of football. Fans will always demand something or will always have something to say wether you like it or not. Its not only in the Philippines that this happens, its not a filipino phenomena. Anyway, game is tomorrow. And we all look forward to it. With a bit of luck we can upset Kuwait. Its not impossible to beat Kuwait.

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  3. ..."WE STILL BELIEVE"...

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  4. @Anonymous said...

    And now people will ask. Why so many attackers and only one defender on the bench?

    Unfortunately all of our defensive mid and def players either suspended/injured or unavailable/commitments that's why the bench only consist of strikers. Btw replacing mid/def with strikers will put the game in high risk of conceding more goals.

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  5. And not to forget that OJ wasnt eligible to play coz passport issues, and James Hall who suddenly had to fly back to England. But theyre probably midfielders also, or what?

    But still, why not include more defenders when they knew that they had too many midfielders/attackers, and Gener the potato who can be used all over the place. A team has to be prepared. What if someone got injured during the game? Maybe they were counting on Cagara to show up, but as before, the guy will never show up. He is all about promises and no show. Anyway, lots of talented defenders in the Philippines. Why couldnt they have brought in a defender or two for that game, just to be safe and so that they could have more options.

    That game was clearly not a game where we had the use for a bench full of midfielders and strikers. He couldve done some rotating. Like move JY down as he has experience playing as a defender for Chelsea. But i understand that he couldnt have done differently coz of the players he had available. Done is done. So, lets cheer them on. Todays game will be very exciting!

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  6. We may play and understand football but we cant compare it to knowledge of Coach Weiss. Just leave it to the coach. Win or Lose we'll just continue supporting our team.

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  7. Weiss snaps at critics. Did he bite? :-)

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  8. simple, if you don't want to be criticize get off where you are. Weiss must remember that the Azkals is not a property of anyone. it belongs to all of us Filipino's- he is answerable to us. He can't keep his plans to himself, we also must know what transpired. If he keeps keeping the truth from us, the more we will ask for it. PIKON ka, uwi kana.

    If there were no defenders in the bench, then that is plain - BAD planning for the coach. He must have planned that all from the moment we qualified to play Kuwait. I think he must review his coaching education on planning for a match.

    Come on, this is our National team, and we all are excited to support it. But again, we are not tanga or just players who know the game, some of us also coach, and some even study to have license in football, so I think we have the right to ask. It doesn't hurt to ask, it hurts more if we don't know what is happening for us. We are Filipino, and the AZKALS is our team, it is our pride, it is our RIGHT!

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  9. Coach gotta keep his cool at all times. The media in the Philippines is more ruthless than anywhere else. Also, the "crab mentality" is not specific to the Philippines. In the US, they are called "haters" but it is more prevalent in the Philippines also for whatever reason. Maybe because people don't know any better or some other reason. Whatever it is, it's very unfortunate. But those in the know,cant be drag down into the mindless arguments.

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  10. @ "If there were no defenders in the bench, then that is plain - BAD planning for the coach. He must have planned that all from the moment we qualified to play Kuwait. I think he must review his coaching education on planning for a match."

    Kahit perfect planning pa yan if walang available na players due to commitments, injuries, suspension, etc wala ring mangyayari. Wag mo sisihin ang coach dahil unavailable ang ibang players. Dapat kasi mag insayo sila ng mabuti para ma sustain nila ang energy level nila hanggang matapos ang laro. Isa lang ang obvious na rason bakit nadagdagan ng 2 goals sa 2nd half "WALA NA SILANG GASOLINA KAYA HINDI NA MAKAHABOL AT MAKAPAGDEPENSA NG MAAYOS" Kailangan nila ng madalas na laro o praktis game para lalong maging matibay ang kanilang stamina.

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  11. Oh shut up caslib.

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  12. ANG DAMING EXPERT O NAG EXPERT2XTAN. LOL BELIEVE NA AKO SA INYO!

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  13. even this guy pedralvez is a critic by saying that Coach Weiss snapped! wahahaa

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  14. ace kawawa naman coach caslib

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