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Singapore's Under-18 players doing their warm-ups before a training session. With 2017 panning out poorly for Singapore's national youth age-group football teams so far, Channel NewsAsia's Noor Farhan takes a look at the possible reasons for the slide in fortunes. SINGAPORE: Recent results have painted a bleak picture for the future of Singapore football, especially across national youth age-group competitions in 2017. On Wednesday (Sep 20), Singapore's Under-16 side suffered a 6-1 defeat against Malaysia in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U16 Championship qualifiers. The warning bells first sounded in June, when the Singapore Under-15 team was hammered 12-0 by Indonesia in a friendly. The same team did not fare any better in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Under-15 tournament, where they finished with five defeats in the group stage, with their heaviest defeat being an 8-nil drubbing against Australia on Jul 11. Singapore’s Under-22 side – most of whom will likely form the bulk of the senior team in due course – exited the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in the group stages for the second time in a row, with the Garena Young Lions still winless in the ongoing S-League season. The Young Lions' 1-0 defeat against Balestier Khalsa in the S-League on Wednesday night (Sep 20) was their 14th defeat after 17 league games this season. Another of the defeats at national youth level that raised eyebrows was the Under-18s’ 3-1 loss against minnows Timor Leste at the AFF Under-18 tournament in Yangon earlier this month. While Asian-level youth competitions have traditionally been out of reach for the Cubs, Singapore has also yet to make it out of the group stages of ASEAN-level tournaments for both the Under-16 and Under-19 squads, stretching back to more than four editions of their respective age-group competitions. With the S-League's professional ecosystem – supposedly the incubator of national youth talents – set to face funding cuts next season, a number of local football stakeholders Channel NewsAsia spoke to shared their concerns about the future of local football. LACK OF MENTAL STRENGTH TO BLAME? Former S-League coach Tohari Paijan - who now coaches school-level youths - said that there is a lack of a winning mindset among some young players. “The first hurdle is always in the mind. Singaporean youth players in general tend to put their opponents on a pedestal and give them too much respect,” said the Crest Secondary School coach, who has some of his players in the national youth sides. “When (Singaporean footballers) play, they put extra pressure on themselves. This is a big issue with our young players, whereby their mental strength is simply not there,” he said. Citing the national Under-18s’ defeat against Thailand at the AFF Under-18 championship, Tohari explained how mental fortitude could have made a difference. “Nowadays, it’s not just about physical fitness,” he said. “I truly believe that the reason why we keep losing is because we can’t concentrate for that amount of time due to mental exhaustion. Why is it that in the first half, the Under-18s could hold Thailand 0-0, but in the second half they can’t? "It’s because they ... couldn't concentrate on keeping the ball, so that the Thais can’t play their game. That was why Thailand felt mentally superior in the second half and kept coming at them all the time,” added Tohari. “Just ask any national or youth player, how good is Thailand? In their minds, they think that all of Thailand is good, even any rural Thai team is good. As long as they have the name Thailand, they’re good. “It’s the same if they were to face Vietnam or Indonesia. The game is lost in their minds even before they kicked the ball.” Singapore's Under-18 players during training. NOT FOR THE LACK OF TALENT Having recently set up a youth training session involving a select group of about 20 boys around the age of 11, former Woodlands Wellington general manager R Vengadasalam is proactively trying to identify talented youngsters who have the potential to make the grade in local football. The open trial organised earlier this month was an attempt to prove that youth talent still exists in Singapore, he said. According to Vengadasalam, the plan is to draft some players into Balestier Khalsa’s youth development ranks. “For me, there’s no personal interest … I just want to see these boys become national players and some to play overseas,” he said. “I will soon hire a coach and train these guys.” When asked why the country is losing badly in age-group youth tournaments, the former Woodlands boss said: “In my opinion, it’s a reflection of the coaching, in addition to not discovering and scouting for players outside the National Football Academy (NFA) system. “I think coaches should look further away fromthe National Football Academy (NFA) youth players at the Jalan Besar Stadium,” said Vengadasalam. “There is indeed talent out there, and we must look after them from now till they reach 17 years old.” A number of former S-League and youth coaches Channel NewsAsia spoke to have called for the disbanding of FAS initiatives like the Young Lions club side in the S-League, as well as the NFA. There is a sense among some that grouping players together in narrow age ranges limits their potential, and there could be benefits to following the example of some other countries. In Europe, most clubs allow junior players to train alongside senior squad members in the hope that they will develop better skills and fight for places in the first team. Former Woodlands GM Vengadasalam holds such views, and believes that it is the clubs who should be developing young players, who should then fight for a place in the respective age-group national teams. “Singapore is getting left behind, the hunger to get the result isn’t there,” he said. “The FAS thought that when they put all the good boys together in the NFA, that it’ll come good. Somehow, it has been instilled to the NFA players that they’re already national players. “Once they think they’re national players, they feel that they don’t have to work hard anymore … You must always have an influx of people coming in and out to challenge for places,” claimed Vengadasalam. SOWING THE SEEDS FOR FUTURE SUCCESS Having trained the national Under-18 team for about a year, coach Christophe Chaintreuil knows all about the challenges his youth players face, balancing school and training. “They wake up very early for school, and after school, they’d come to training around 730pm. We then train at a high intensity and finish about 9pm to 930pm and they’d then go back to eat and rest,” said the Frenchman. “The cycle continues as they train five times a week. Four days is football training on the pitch, and one day is for fitness sessions. Plus they also play in the Prime League.” “For most of my players, they’re okay after one month … but after four or six months they’d be tired out,” he added. National Under-18 coach Christophe Chaintreul (background, holding ball) overseeing a training session with his players.
Chaintreuil believes more work and patience is required to develop Singapore's younger players. “With the youth, it’s not a matter of one or two years, it’s more of a period of six to seven years. For me, in Singapore now, the most important group of players now to work with are the Under-13 and the Under-14,” he said. He suggested that if players can be nurtured over five to six years, Singapore will improve. "It is possible for sure to catch up with other countries, which I’m certain of. But we have to work harder, coaches also must learn. To have better players, you must have better coaches as well,” insisted the Frenchman. Aware that other national age-group teams have also been unsuccessful, Chaintreuil explained that there is perhaps something positive to be drawn from the defeats. “For youth teams, when they lose with big score lines it represents a good learning experience. In Singapore, if you play Prime League games it is definitely not enough to gain exposure,” he said. “It’s only after you play strong teams like Thailand or Japan that you really see the aspects in which you’re lacking and at times it doesn’t even feel like you’re playing the same sport.” He added: “We must adapt, and learn from it. Like in one of our friendly games against India this year, we were down 6-1 at half-time before eventually losing badly. But in our second game with them, we learnt and eventually won 1-0. “That’s why we have these types of games, as sometimes you learn more from when you lose rather than when we win.” |
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