Where have all the Thai strikers gone?
Alittle more than a couple of months ago when Milovan Rajevac took over as Thailand’s coach, his chances of emulating the success of his predecessor Kiatisak Senamuang were under a heavy a cloud of doubt.
Last Sunday night when Thailand lifted the King’s Cup for the 15th time, edging Belarus in a penalty shoot-out, the Serb came as close to becoming a darling of the nation as any foreign football coach ever has before.
And among the admirers Rajevac has won so far is Football Association of Thailand president Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang.
While he has overseen Thailand’s successful defence of the prestigious King’s Cup and claimed his first silverware, Rajevac still has much to prove.
Rajevac’s only promise to the national fans so far had been to plug the porous Thai defence and he has delivered — or at least he says so.
In his first encounter with the Thai media, Rajevac didn’t give too much away regarding his plans for the team.
“Our style of play has to be more tactically disciplined and we should not concede so many goals. I’m known for a style of play where my teams never concede so many goals. So it’s important to improve that in order to compete with other teams,” Rajevac said at his unveiling in May.
With these words, the Serb gave everyone a yardstick which he knew he wouldn’t have much trouble measuring up to.
In order to assess Rajevac’s performance we need to take a few things into account.
His first competitive game in charge of the Thai dugout was a 2018 World Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates at home last month.
It was a match against a team in trouble, a side which had been helplessly watching their Russia 2018 dream die a slow death after a lively start. And they were also under a new coach, not exactly knowing what to expect and what to do.
The Thais were heading for a historic victory over the UAE until they conceded an equaliser in injury time to see the match end in a 1-1 draw.
Next came the King’s Cup — an event devoid of decent opposition as the foreign teams had sent their second- or third-string players — where an impressive 3-0 victory over the understrength North Koreans put the War Elephants in the final.
The title showdown with Belarus on Sunday night ended in a goalless stalemate in 90 minutes and the Thais did well to win the ensuing penalty shoot-out 5-4 to retain the King’s Cup.
A radiant Rajevac told the media after the final: “The most pleasing thing about this tournament is that we did not concede a goal in open play in our two games. This, I believe, is a new thing for Thai football.
“Now that our defence is strong enough, I will focus on improving the team’s offence.”
That is where the real test starts for Rajevac — the Serb has been regularly naming and playing a striker who hasn’t scored a single goal in any competition in almost seven months.
Siroch Chatthong last found the net — twice — in the second leg of the Suzuki Cup final as he helped Thailand write off a one-goal first-leg deficit and claim a 3-2 aggregate win over Indonesia to retain the regional title in December last year.
While Siroch did convert the match-winning penalty in the shootout against Belarus, such goals are not added to a player’s personal tally.
Teerasil Dangda, the country’s most prolific scorer, has not featured in any match under Rajevac so far, citing injuries.
Rajevac has been relying on Adisak Kraisorn, who has long been playing second fiddle to Teerasil, and an ageing forward, Teerathep Winothai.
The Serb, to be honest, does not have many choices available to him — after the 23rd round of matches not a single Thai player is ranked among the top 10 scorers in Thai League 1.
While it will be interesting to see how Rajevac’s magic potion works on the Thai strikers, making them somewhat more productive in the near future, the Serb could help Thailand secure their first win in Group B of Asia’s final qualifying round for the 2018 World Cup when they host Iraq on Aug 31.
After eight games in the six-team group, both Thailand (two points) and Iraq (five) are out of contention for tickets to the finals in Russia next year.
If Thailand can manage to avoid defeat against Iraq, then Rajevac will have to find a way of keeping his unbeaten record intact against Australia in their last Group B game in Melbourne on Sept 5.
Rajevac will be up against an Aussie team determined to make it to Russia 2018.
The Socceroos are currently third in Group B on 16 points, one behind leaders Japan and on the same points as second-placed Saudi Arabia, who have a better goal difference.
While Rajevac has been praised by many, there hasn’t been a shortage of criticism from those who have refused to subscribe to the Serb’s overly defensive approach.
Australia will in all probability be gunning for a big win over the Thais, who on the other hand will only be playing for pride.
All eyes will once again be on Rajevac, the man who took Ghana to the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, to deliver and it looks very likely that a defensive Thailand will show up in Melbourne.
The War Elephants — and their new coach — will probably covet a draw because Rajevac is a clever fellow. He can see that all that valour only landed his predecessor Kiatisak in a place called Port, a midtable Thai League 1 side with no hope for a silverware in the foreseeable future.