16 November 2011

Limpag: It’s not the time to get rid of Weiss

By Mike T. Limpag

Fair Play

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

JUST two weeks after going into the Southeast Asian Games with so much promise, the Philippines Under 23 team crashed out with just one win in five matches, after that tough loss to Brunei.

And after that loss and the embarrassing exit, some are calling for coach Michael Weiss to be sacked.


Should he? No.

But I think it’s time for Dan Palami to look for another coach for the Under 23, and let Weiss worry about the senior team. Let’s have a full-time coach whose only worry is the Under 23 squad and its preparation since getting Weiss to handle the Under 23 team has not been a success.

And Dan has been challenged by the failure.

Did you know why he agreed to handle the senior team in the first place?

It was because of the Under 19 debacle, a team that got manhandled by China, Korea in the AFC Under 19 championships in 2009. A pitiful showing that had Dan thinking that if only a Philippine team would have an ideal preparation, it won’t get embarrassed.

That’s why in pre-Suzuki Cup 2010, the senior team, under Dan, had the best
preparation possible, one this year’s SEA Games team didn’t have.

And Dan has been challenged, again, by the failure.

“Tough loss, sorry about that. An insight though on U23 coach, I thought the experiment would be good, it seems to be working for Vietnam and some other countries,” Dan told me minutes after that 2-1 loss to Brunei.

And because he’s a businessman who’s used to doing his thing in his own timeframe, he
isn’t wasting another minute.

“But I take your suggestion, will get U21 team NOW and have a full-time coach and trainer for the team. Setting it up now even before we arrive at our hotel. Playing lots of games together is THE key to building A TEAM. I know better now.”

It’s been pointed out often in the past few days that what we have is an Under 21 team, one that is eligible for another SEAG.

This team’s preparation has been less than ideal, while the pressure on them has been enormous. It was a fact I pointed out to coach Weiss in September.

“What happens if they don’t deliver?” Coach Weiss told me. “You will all say ‘fire the
coach, FIRE THE COACH?’”

I don’t think we should get rid of Coach Weiss, unless he fails badly with the senior team. But it’s time, though, for the management to rethink its Under 23 preparation.

As to team captain Matt Hartmann’s desertion of the team?

That’s another topic to tackle.

(www.cebufootball.blogspot.com)


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 17, 2011.

10 comments:

  1. To sack the coach would make it a little bit too easy. He should continue. And to all those who said he fielded the some players not in their regular position they used to play: a good football player is able to play in different position and system. That's a fact. I remember Barcelona under coach Johan Cruyff when they rotated the position in almost every match.....and they were hard to predict how they would play. The crucial fact is: our players are (still) not good enough to compete.........and if someone things just because we field some 2nd class European based players we would have easy play then you are completely wrong. Other nations now have foreign based players as well, even the smallest countries like Timor Leste....and there will be more to come.

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  2. kasalanan pa ng mga players ngayon ang kabobohan ng kots ha?! LUL!

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  3. A good coach can make the most out of the players he has. Coach Weiss does not fit that description.

    Wala din naman tayong magagawa kahit matagal na dapat siyang inalis sa puwesto. Nahohostage kasi tayo ng kawalan ng pondo ng PFF.

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  4. I strongly agree with the article. Get a new full time coach and keep the current U-21. Start the training and exposure as early as next year for 2013 and let us wait for the result. I strongly feel that the current U-21 have the potential to improve to the highest level even though they are 2nd and 3rd class players. With the right coach, enough training and more exposure to matches.

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  5. Weiss Ganda is such a sucky and banban coach.

    And to the poster who brought up Cruyf and Barca above, you do not know what your talking about. The situation is not applicable and the difference is night and day. LOL...

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  6. Well, a good coach would be smart enough to assess if, indeed, his players can perform well given the change in their natural positions. Yes, a player is highly admirable if he can be versatile in any position but would that assure us of any win? NO! And to use Barca and Cruyff as an example, I'd say that's very delusional, seriously. Weiss had the entire SEAG to see if players can handle the change in positions, but was he smart enough to see that it never worked? Less predictable huh, just look at what the other "minnow" countries did to us because of this stupid mentality. Worse, there's always this open door policy on blaming everyone but the coach! Just about anything and anyone BUT the coach, disgusting.

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  7. let coach norman fegidero handle the u21 and/or u2... i'm sure we will have a much better result.

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  8. everyone including his dog is better than Weiss Ganda, the Kamasutra Coach :D

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  9. Another BLAME THE PLAYERS article..........


    Coach McMenemy is far better !!!

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  10. Pachichi2000 said...
    I strongly agree with the article. Get a new full time coach and keep the current U-21. Start the training and exposure as early as next year for 2013 and let us wait for the result. I strongly feel that the current U-21 have the potential to improve to the highest level even though they are 2nd and 3rd class players. With the right coach, enough training and more exposure to matches.


    i second the motion dre......development.sa younger player

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