The Philippine Azkals will have a new coach and a new player when they hold their training camp next month in Bahrain.
Irish coach Scott Cooper will be handling the Azkals in their first game in the post-Thomas Dooley era. With several injured mainstays and a newcomer securing necessary documents to finally suit up for the national team, Cooper could have a different squad from the one that played against Tajikistan in March to gain 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification.
Azkals manager Dan Palami said midfielder Amin Nazari, an Iranian with Filipino roots, is expected to be available.
Nazari, a gifted midfielder who has played for Sweden’s Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 teams, is the younger brother of Ceres-Negros midfielder, Omid Nazari, who has already been capped by Iran.
The Azkals are leaving Manila on Sept. 3 with a showdown against Bahrain slated three days later in Manama. In fine form for Cardiff in the English Premier League, Neil Etheridge has already signified his intention to join the camp. —CEDELF P. TUPAS
http://sports.inquirer.net/316241/new-faces-azkals#ixzz5Oyhfne2z
Question is... how's cooper gonna solve the CB situation. There's no CB's!
ReplyDeletePalami cannot just call all his UK and European scouts and ask them to find him a good half-Filipino CB soccer player and sign him up as an Azkal. You just cannot do that if you are totally depended on what's available. It is a lotto ticket. You have to train them yourself. Right now most of good half-Filipino soccer players in Europe are GKs and forwards, because are attractive positions in soccer. It is hard to train for midfielders and defenders. They are usually big , strong and tall for defenders and intelligent, skilled and creative for midfielders.
DeleteOur midfield is already stacked.
ReplyDeleteOK, then put the strong/fast midfielders on a strict, demanding training program to be CBs. A good soccer player can take multiple positions. PFF does not have the training system to train players separately. The Clubs hiring them will use them were they are already good and productive.
DeletePFF IS ALL ABOUT RECRUITMENG OF FIL-FOREIGN..
ReplyDelete