KUALA LUMPUR – Ahead of the 2020 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup in Singapore next month, national squad head coach Tan Cheng Hoe has finally opened up relating to views and criticism on the quality of the Harimau Malaya’s game.
After recording only one win out of seven matches in all competitions this season, the Harimau Malaya have not only become a hot topic among the country’s football fans, but also attracted the attention of local observers and critics.
Among the elements questioned were the selection of players and team tactics with some parties thinking it is time for Cheng Hoe to breathe new life into the squad, in addition to changing the formation used.
However, Cheng Hoe, who is known for his calmness, defended his methods while explaining that the suggestion that the national squad use the 3-4-3 formation should be seen from the point of view of availability of players in certain positions.
“I think the proposal is good but we need to see if we have players who can play in that particular positions and we also need to see and review whether we have quality in the game (with the new format),” he said when contacted by Bernama.
“Maybe the view is because they (critics) look at the EPL (English Premier League), the Italian League or even the Spanish League, so they will make a comparison but have our players reached that level?,” questioned the 53-year-old coach who prefers risking the 4-3-3 formation.
The only victory for the national squad so far was against Thailand in Group G of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers last June, but the statistics are linked to the fact that the team was without 18 months of international action due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite having won the Malaysia Cup, Premier League and Charity Shield during his tenure as Kedah coach from 2014-2017, Cheng Hoe has yet to win any championship in almost four years since being appointed to coach the national team.
However, Cheng Hoe has managed to bring positive changes and breathe new life into the pattern of the national squad’s game since filling the vacancy left by Portuguese coach Nelo Vingada, so much so Malaysia emerged runners-up in the 2018 AFF Cup.
The Kedah-born coach also stressed that overall his coaching is not much different when compared with Southeast Asian champions Vietnam.
“Although we have never won in the few matches against Vietnam, but overall we are not much different. I think in the Southeast Asian region, Vietnam also I feel are worried about our team,” said Cheng Hoe.
In the meantime, he said the AFF Cup 2020 championship was part of the team’s preparations ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in June 2022 in an effort to hunt for a slot to the finals scheduled to take place in China.
“The players have to sustain the momentum, if we do not participate in any competitions, it is difficult for the team to improve their performance and it is the same for the players, so that’s why we need to continue this momentum,” he said.
At the AFF Cup 2020, Malaysia, who are drawn in Group B, the “group of death”, will start the campaign against Cambodia on Dec 6, followed by Laos (Dec 9) and two tough matches against 2018 champions Vietnam and Indonesia on Dec 12 and 19 respectively in the bid to hunt for a slot into the semi-finals.
In the 2018 edition of the AFF Cup, Cheng Hoe guided the Harimau Malaya to emerge runners-up after losing 2-3 on aggregate to Vietnam.
