Malaysia coach Ong can learn from Houllier and McClaren
JUST like France’s Gerard Houl l ier, England’s Steve McClaren and Australia’s Ange Postecoglou, Datuk Ong Kim Swee might now need to rebuild his reputation at club level.
Malaysia’s head coach is under pressure after his team’s early exit from the ongoing AFF Suzuki Cup.
The former midfielder admits that he faield in the tournament, with the 2014 finalists losing two of three games in Yangon to finish third in Group B.
It was only the third time in the regional tournament’s history that they haven’t made the knockout stages.
Houl l ier found solace at Liverpool after his time within the French national system, including a painful 2-1 home defeat to Bulgaria that saw Les Bleus miss out on the 1994 World Cup.
McClaren failed to guide England through to Euro 2008, but would then coach Dutch side FC Twente to the 2009-10 Eredivisie title.
Postecoglou wasn’t able to qualify the Young Socceroos to the 2007 under-20 World Cup, but went on to win two A- League titles with Brisbane Roar before returning to lift the 2015 Asian Cup as senior national coach.
Ong could end up following a similar path to redemption to prove his growing band of critics wrong.
He’s not even halfway through his two- year contract, but already there are calls for him to step aside before the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, which begin in March. Malaysia won only five of 15 games in 2016, with defeats to Myanmar and Papua New Guinea, and draws with Macau and Fiji, among the lowlights.
But the odds have been stacked against him from the start. He took over immediately after a record 10- 0 defeat to the United Arab Emirates in a AFC World Cup qualifier in September 2015. He oversaw a vastly improved performance five days later against Saudi Arabia – his team trailed 2- 1 against the three- time Asian champions with three minutes left – only to have the game abandoned after Malaysian fans rioted at Shah Alam Stadium.
This year, just when the performances of Harimau Malaysia seemed to be improving, four of his automatic starters from Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), including captain Safiq Rahim, announced their premature international retirements. Other leading JDT players were also unavailable for the Suzuki Cup, for various reasons.
It meant that the national side could call on only JDT’s ageing bench warmers, Amri Yahyah, 35, and Safee Sali, 32, plus a sprinkling of players from their second division team, JDT II.
So, the squad in Myanmar was one of the weakest ever to f ly out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Veterans like Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and Ronny Harun probably thought that their days with the national team were over, but found themselves getting game time in Southeast Asia’s mini-World Cup.
Yet, even with a full complement of players to choose from, including the likes of JDT’s Safiq and S. Kunanlan, Malaysia did suffer some terrible hidings under previous coach Dollah Salleh, including that 10- goal rout against the UAE, and 6- 0 defeats to Palestine and Oman last year.
All things considered, Ong did a better than decent job by making a weak Malaysian squad reasonably competitive. They overcame a rocky start to come from behind to win their opening game against a Cambodia side who had beaten Singapore earlier this year.
They conceded goals in the last 10 minutes to lose to Vietnam and Myanmar, but could have nicked a result against either, with more luck.
And being Malaysia coach becomes an even more poisoned ch alice if JDT’s influential owner, the Crown Prince of Johor, is against you.
The Johor royal , who is known as TMJ, has repeatedly lambasted the national coach, and made it difficult for him to include JDT players for extended training camps, declaring that they learn nothing under Ong.
It will be difficult for Ong to turn things around with Malaysia, in the wake of an earnest, yet ultimately disappointing, AFF campaign.
But, given the chance, and away from all the politicking and curve balls thrown at him in the national setup, the 2011 Southeast Asian Games winner can prove, once again, that he knows what he is doing.
Apart from Harimau Muda playing in the Singapore and Queensland leagues, he hasn’t been in charge of a club or state team since his days with Malacca more than a decade ago.
And, how might Ong enjoy beating JDT in a major Cup final or pipping them to the post in the MSL.
That, indeed, would be poetic justice because he’s already become accustomed to putting together a side without being able to call on the best players in the country.
Jason Dasey is Senior Editor of ESPN FC (formerly ESPN Soccernet), Borneo’s most popular football website which has a Southeast Asia edition. Twitter: @ ESPNFC