Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The problems a datasheet do not show

I would agree with Straits Times headline that pulling the Young Lions would be a mistake but as noted before the direction of the Cubs are wrong and Football Association of Singapore (FAS)  have to face up to it.

As expected of FAS, whenever they want to prove they're right, they pull out a datasheet to prove their point.

What they failed to note is what use are the minutes if the players are learning nothing.

Afterall, if they have gone to watch the games the Cubs are playing in, they'll have noted the Cubs are putting so many players behind the ball that I wonder how can any attacking midfielders or strikers learn from that.

Is it any wonder then those players have to resort to long ball to attack as they have no other way to attack as their players are always in their own half.

That is why in the 2015 SEA Games, even against a Philippines second team make of college players playing together for the first time, the Cubs had to resort to long balls and was more comfortable playing long stretch of the game as a defensive unit.

We're outplayed throughout the entire competition so what use was those minutes on the field.

That is why I want the Young Lions to be a team for fringes players like in 2003 as those players are older thus likely to be more mature and understand that is their last chance to become a footballer.

FAS Technical director Michel Sablon also talked about other points like mindset and he is right about them but he ignored the mindset of his paymaster, FAS.

A big part of the problem youth development sucks in Singapore is FAS demanded all credits must go to them.

Have he seem their interview in the past, it is always (National Football Academy) NFA this or NFA that and they do not want to involved others in their work as they fear credits will be directed elsewhere.

I have said this before; no nation in the world have only one source for their players yet FAS can demand all their players from NFA to Young Lions must go onto become national players.

That is unrealistic and it is holding us back.

Even the world best youth development developed no more than 5-6 players, if they're lucky for most of the time it is only 1-2 players, every generation.

Keeping Young Lions as it is keep that mindset alive as they've to produce players to national side or face criticisms about their 'failures'.

That is why there are some quarters wondering why certain players were promoted even when they were underserved of their places in the Cubs and national team.

Isn't it better to change that mindset as well?

And the excuse of SEA Games preparation is lame.

Why do every SEA Games squad have to be formed several years beforehand as SEA Games winner Thailand do not need to do that and is fine with that.

The fact is if you've a good youth development with many sources, good players will develop with or without a SEA Games gold medal.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Better to admit errors

One knows how bad a job one has done when one claims to have nothing to do with it.

That is the message I got from FAS provisional council president Lim Kia Tong outbursts about his opponents weakness.

I am not going to suggest his claims are wrong but why have it come to a situation where the incumbents are in such a terrible situation where they're not assured of a win.

The fact is incumbents always have the advantage in an election as their opponents lacked a track record to back them up.

After all, the opposition's supporters (I am talking about politics if one do not know) in Singapore always moaned the public never gave them a chance to prove their worth but honestly speaking, PAP have govern well so to suggest the public should change for the sake of change is naivety.

It will only happen when one has done such a terrible job that the public can no longer tahan being govern by the same people anymore.

We can see that from the election in Taiwan last year where despite overwhelming wins in both the presidential and parliament race, the once-opposition and now government, DDP had really gathered less votes than ever as it was the fact large number of neutrals (who hated both sides for the mess Taiwan is in) and KMT supporters chosen to boycott the election for the terrible job KMT had done as their average salary stagnated to the same level as 20 years ago.

So incumbents are only in trouble when they govern that badly and to suggest Lim, Bernard Tan and Edwin Tong are not part of that group that led to the current situation in Singapore football is a joke.

They can't claimed Bernard Tan and Edwin Tong came in 2013 so were not involved in most of the decisions make under the worthless and inept Zainduin Nordin leadership as may I remind the incumbents that they're going to sign a new contract with FAM in 2015 where we pump in more money to the Malaysian sides while cutting our own to the bare bones.

It was fortunate Malaysian states FA rejected the offer as inadequate and wanted more than we can afford or one can already imagine the-even-worse state we be in as more money get pumped into Malaysia, not Singapore, football while screaming we're poor by FAS leadership (which includes the trio)

And yet with a 'poor financial' situation, as they always claimed they're poor, they had no problem paying 6-figure sums to their fellow elites of Winston Lee and Lim Chin despite the duo continuing to be failure in their jobs.

Lim along with Tan and Tong should admit their roles and not try to whitewash it away for if they got their way, we be in worse state than ever as they will never learn. (Some will suggest they will never learn and go back to their old elitism ways once this election is over)

You, trio, have nobody to blame if you lose the election as you're the cause of much of your downfall.