23 Jan Sathianathan defends his stand

HE is under fire but national coach B. Sathianathan is not backing away from his criticism of the M-League. His “M-League is no football” statement has irked many in the FA of Malaysia but Sathianathan, who could well lose his job, made no apologies in the aftermath of Malaysia’s 5-0 thrashing by the United Arab Emirates in an Asian Cup qualifier on Wednesday. Sathianathan did, though, try to explain his real reason for the remark. “When I said that M-League is no football, I meant that teams and coaches must demand more from the players. We (the national team) can’t send our physical trainer to test the players when they are with their teams,” said Sathianathan. Some, including a former national coach, felt that Sathianathan should have refrained from washing dirty linen in public as players reporting unfit for national training isn’t something new.

This, said Sathianathan, is what must change. “It is the responsibility of the players to maintain their fitness. Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka are always fit because it is their job. That is what they are paid for.” Sathianathan said as bad as the defeat was, Malaysia must accept reality. “We must accept that football in the country is not up to mark, that we need to do a lot of work to achieve better results. “We must monitor our youth development programmes and ensure the school system is functioning well. Only then can we hope to see some results.”

Several members of the sub-committee FAM formed following the failure of the team to qualify for the Asean Championships semi-finals last month, were at the stadium and they would have seen just how poor the fitness of the players was. If Malaysia were breathing fire in the first half and unlucky to trail 2-0, most of the players were gasping for breath in the second as UAE enjoyed a leisurely start to their campaign. What is disturbing is that most of the players were in the Asean Championship squad and have been playing “competitive” football since Jan 3 in the Malaysian Super League and Premier League. Fitness aside, Sathianathan said the reality is that UAE were a technically and tactically superior side. What he didn’t say was that even if Malaysia had been fit, they would have lost but if he had, it would be impossible for FAM to be angry for it would be the sad truth.

OTHER COACHES’ VIEW “Of course it is not right that only three players are fit as in this professional era, all players should be fit. It is frustrating as a national coach when you get players who are not fit to play international football. But that is football in this country.” AZRAAI KHOR ABDULLAH – KEDAH

“Some teams that we played against were not fit, but I don’t have that problem with my team. I think the national coach is right that the players don’t meet international standards, and when you are not fit, you can’t play competitive football.” BOJAN HODAK – UPB MY TEAM

“The national players were together for five weeks for the Asean Championship and they only started training with their teams a few days later. We couldn’t push them hard as the league was about to start and we have to play two matches a week. I don’t think it is right to say the players were not fit as it sounds as though we are not doing our job.” MAT ZAN MAT ARIS – KL PLUS FC

“The local coaches can’t be blamed as this is something that any national coach has to live with. I too had the same problem when I was coaching the national team in 1997, but I accepted the blame and resigned. We know the problems that Malaysian football is facing and we need to get the structure right and only then can football improve.” WAN JAMAK HASSAN – N. SEMBILAN

“The league has just started and the fitness level of players must be high. However, we have to be realistic and accept that the league is not of a high standard and that results in sub-standard players. We also don’t have enough quality players with the winning attitude, mental strength and strong character playing for the national team today. That is a big problem. Fitness can’t be compromised as that is essential for football. M. KARATHU – PERAK