Malaysian team need more time to progress

More often than not it takes just one setback for the knives to be sharpened as national football coach K. Rajagobal is discovering.

Criticisms of the national team's display against Singapore in the recent World Cup qualifiers have been coming in fast and furious from all directions.

From the upper echelons of the FA of Malaysia right down to the man on the street to the media, pundits and bloggers, all have aired their piece.

But lost in the tumult of recriminations is the realisation that the national team are facing a new experience, one that has not been seen in more than 20 years.

 

Quite suddenly, expectations have soared to the extent that the national team must win every game they play. And when they don't, the call for change is rung ever so loudly.

Winning the Sea Games and the AFF Cup two years ago has apparently created a false impression among Malaysian fans that we have arrived at a point where we should be making giant strides of improvement.

But improvement comes in small measures and while the defeat to Singapore hurts more than most, one setback should not result in the damning of an entire project.

Two years ago, barely 1,000 people showed up to watch Rajagobal's first match in charge of the national team, a 0-0 draw with Kenya in Shah Alam.

Last Thursday, close to 90,000 watched Malaysia being held by Singapore in Bukit Jalil. The change in the national team's fortunes in the intervening period has been staggering.

That in so small measure has been due to Rajagobal's own planning but now that plan, one that is supposed to take Malaysia higher up the ladder, is no longer seen as sufficient.

Rajagobal's priorities have changed not least because his initial target of winning the AFF Cup in 2012 was borne two years early. So he has set his sight on qualifying for the 2015 Asian Cup.

The 2014 World Cup qualifiers was never part of the equation but when Malaysia were drawn with Singapore in the second round, it was a golden opportunity to break new ground.

Pressure like never seen in two decades began to build on a national team that are younger than most in the region. In defeat, Rajagobal admitted to a "missed opportunity" in that higher-level games against quality opposition have been denied.

Perhaps, Rajagobal should have caved in to demands for a short-term fix to his ailing defence by recalling a couple of seniors. But he had not counted on losing Aidil Zafuan Radzak and also striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha to injury in a pointless "friendly" (there was nothing at stake) against Arsenal.

Should a few more seniors be brought in to lend some experience to the side? In hindsight, yes, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Few have pondered, however, whether the many seniors discarded previously have it in them to make the step up from the ponderous Super League to the fast pace of international football. If you had been watching the Super League this season, you'd know the answer.

The clamour for S. Subramaniam, who was peerless in the game against Chelsea, to return to the national team has its merit but the Kelantan defender's heroics came too late for Rajagobal, who had already left with his team for Singapore for the first leg, to make changes.

Rajagobal's insistence in keeping faith with Fadhli Shas, Muslim Ahmad and Mahalli Jasuli has actually paid off more for the Olympic squad than the senior team.

They were never meant to be first choice, it was only due to injuries to Zamani and Aidil that Muslim and Fadhli had to be introduced so soon.

On the flip side, Rajagobal is seen as resistant to change. But that argument he put to bed when he recalled Safee Sali for the AFF Cup due to a dearth of reliable goalscorers. And we know what happened next.

In truth, Singapore was the first time Rajagobal's team had failed to deliver. A Facebook campaign calling for Rajagobal's sacking is rather premature to say the least.

We should not become too accustomed to the national team's success, having endured years of frustration before-hand. Many of those at the stadium on Thursday night were youngsters who probably did not remember the humbling defeats to the Philippines (1991), Laos (1997), the failure to score a goal at the 1998 AFF Championship and the 6-0 mauling by Indonesia at the 1999 Sea Games.

The current batch is nowhere near those abysmal squads. Patience is a virtue few possess but patience is exactly what is needed now.