IT'S back to the drawing board for national coach K. Rajagobal after seeing his plans almost undone by poor defending in the Asian World Cup qualifying first round against Taiwan. In the first leg in Bukit Jalil, Helmi Remeli and Amirulhadi Zainal were both found wanting in the right-back position and second leg replacement Mahalli Jasuli did no better when his mistake led to Taiwan's second goal.
Even experienced centre-back Aidil Zafuan Radzak admitted to playing below par while his partner Fadhli Shas gave away a penalty and was replaced in the 77th minute by Muslim Ahmad.
Rajagobal said the errors allowed Taiwan, who won Sunday's second leg 3-2, to score four goals over the two legs, all of which could have been prevented.
"As a coach, I don't take any defeat easily. But I have to remain calm because we achieved our aim of making it to the next round.
"I'm not happy with how we played and we need to fix our mistakes and get our confidence back. We have time to work on things until we play Singapore (on July 23 and 28)," said Rajagobal.
The coach pinpointed the defence where the team were mostly at fault.
"The defenders were caught napping. After we took the lead twice, we sat back. Individual mistakes also came in. Mahalli, I have told him a thousand times not to hold onto the ball.
"In the ensuing panic, Aidil let his man escape him. We gave away three penalties and did not play as we should have," added Rajagobal.
Attention now turns to Singapore although first the national team will have two friendly matches against English clubs Arsenal (July 13) and Liverpool (July 16).
Rajagobal could squeeze in another international friendly before the Arsenal match with Qatar and Laos expressing interest.
The national team will not play the friendly against Chelsea on July 21, with the national Olympic team set to be the English club's opposition.
Even experienced centre-back Aidil Zafuan Radzak admitted to playing below par while his partner Fadhli Shas gave away a penalty and was replaced in the 77th minute by Muslim Ahmad.
Rajagobal said the errors allowed Taiwan, who won Sunday's second leg 3-2, to score four goals over the two legs, all of which could have been prevented.
"As a coach, I don't take any defeat easily. But I have to remain calm because we achieved our aim of making it to the next round.
"I'm not happy with how we played and we need to fix our mistakes and get our confidence back. We have time to work on things until we play Singapore (on July 23 and 28)," said Rajagobal.
The coach pinpointed the defence where the team were mostly at fault.
"The defenders were caught napping. After we took the lead twice, we sat back. Individual mistakes also came in. Mahalli, I have told him a thousand times not to hold onto the ball.
"In the ensuing panic, Aidil let his man escape him. We gave away three penalties and did not play as we should have," added Rajagobal.
Attention now turns to Singapore although first the national team will have two friendly matches against English clubs Arsenal (July 13) and Liverpool (July 16).
Rajagobal could squeeze in another international friendly before the Arsenal match with Qatar and Laos expressing interest.
The national team will not play the friendly against Chelsea on July 21, with the national Olympic team set to be the English club's opposition.
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