TOO HARD EVEN FOR FERGUSON

Former football greats say the best coach in the world can’t help our national team...

SYAFIQ AZNAN & RODLY FADLY nstsport@nst.com.my help them play better.

“Every time we lose, the coach gets the blame when in fact the players on the field just did not perform. Their quality is only good for the local league and they are not prepared, either physically or mentally, to compete at international level,” said Jamal yesterday.

“(National coach) Nelo Vingada has to work with such players. If we only have this kind of players, even a big name coach would struggle.

“We should rest our senior players and give our under-23 or under-19 players a chance to compete at a higher level.

“Some may be worried that we might get hammered if we send a young squad but we still do (get thrashed) with the senior team. So, what is the difference?”

Malaysia’s hopes of qualifying for the 2019 Asia Cup came to a humiliating end after the team’s double loss (with identical 4-1 scores) to North Korea in the qualifiers.

Meanwhile, another football great, Datuk Shukor Salleh concurred with Jamal, saying; “you can bring the best coach in the world to Malaysia but he still won’t be able to change our fortunes so soon.”

Shukor also feels it is unfair to blame Vingada for Malaysia’s failure.

He said the national team lack international quality and will take time to develop.

The team’s double defeat (both 4-1) to North Korea in the Asia Cup qualifiers has triggered anger among fans who called for Vingada to be sacked.

“For me, firing the coach will not solve the problem. We did not fail because of the coach, but because our players are just not at that (international) standard yet,” said Shukor yesterday.

“A coach is similar to a chef, he will not be able to prepare a nice dish if the ingredients are incomplete or of inferior quality.”

Shukor stressed the need for patience and believes the national squad need to compete in more Class A international matches if they are to improve.

“In the old days the national team used to play in a lot of international tournaments throughout the year such as the Merdeka tournament, Presidents Cup (South Korea), Thailand’s King’s Cup, Indonesia’s Jakartaraya Cup and many others in addition to the Sea Games and various qualifiers.

“Nowadays the team mostly play in qualifiers and the lineup always changes because players are not able to maintain their performance.”