Tame Tigers
Sathia: squad for suzuki cup not our strongest
“To point fingers at Cheng Hoe is easy. However, as coach, he has to bear this burden. It’s something a coach has to go through.” b. sathianathan.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s failure to achieve their target of reaching the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup was due to their weak line-up, says former national coach B. Sathianathan.
The Harimau Malaya, runners-up in the last edition in 2018, bowed out in the group stage with two wins and two defeats.
According to Sathianathan, there was a stark contrast between the squad in Singapore and the one that played in the 2022 World
Cup-2023 Asian Cup qualifiers.
He added that the absence of several key players was the biggest contributor to the failure.
“This is not the strongest line-up. If we look at the time before Covid-19, we played in the World Cup qualifiers with a lot of new faces.
“But when we change these players, who did quite well, there is indeed a significant drop in performance.
“With the absence of Matt Davies, La’vere Corbin Ong, Nor Azam Azih, Mohamadou Sumareh and no genuine defensive midfielder, we can see the difference,” said Sathianathan.
Malaysia failed to advance to the semi-finals after finishing third behind Group B champions Indonesia and defending champions Vietnam.
The squad, who went through a short preparation period, started the campaign by beating minnows Cambodia 3-1 and Laos 4-0, but then lost 0-3 to Vietnam and 1-4 to Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Sathianathan said calls for Tan Cheng Hoe to step down as coach is only a stop-gap solution.
The Football Coaches Association of Malaysia president said instead of finding fault, the focus should be on efforts to identify the cause of the disappointing campaign.
“To point fingers at Cheng Hoe is easy. However, as coach, he has to bear this burden. It’s something a coach has to go through,” he said.