WEBINAR...

On Saturday, 13th June 2020, MHC organised a Webinar discussing about the Malaysian Hockey Team and it's players - Titled "Kisah Benar Nadi Hoki Negara".

Two of my former teammates were on the platform. The key issues both raised were "Players don't Respect Coaches" & "We gave the best no matter who is the Coach". 

To add on to their views, these are the following points based on my observation. Will divide it to 2 segments i.e. Players & Style of Play for a better understanding.

Players

1. The current Malaysian Hockey Team lack of big talented pool of players. For the past 8 years, the team is made of the same players for every tournaments. Lack of Investment in Project Squad & discontinuing National Development Team/Program for a bigger pool of players.

2. Lack of players with right physique. This was obvious when against the European teams & Australia.

3. Lack of thinking & intellectual players in making decision during crisis management on the field of play.

4. Lack of strength to cope with pressure. It was obvious in the finals of 2018 Asian Games, 2018 World Cup (finishing 15 out of 16) & 2 playoff matches (9-3) against GB for Tokyo Olympics.

5. Insufficient "Bench Depth" of International quality players.

6. Team failure to maintain all round fitness, strength and diet. Our current team standards are far far away than the best teams in the World.

7. Lack of Leadership qualities in Senior players & no cohesive during the play. Players psychology not at optimum level for International stage. 

8. Lack of pride & commitment in representing the country. No hunger in many players and looks like passing the moments just to be in the team as there is no benefit & burden system in placed.

9. No proper system to rotate players for International tournaments. Every tournament are made is similar players. The selection of players must be on merit based.

Style of Play

1. Team stability is weak when under pressure.

2. Current style of play is regimented and robotic in nature.

3. Development program does not encourage various style of play to achieve flexibility.

4. Lack of communication between players during matches.

5. No basic Malaysian style of play, taking account of the strength and weakness of Malaysian players. Changing from 3331 to 32321 was very challenging for the team to adapt as we need thinking players due to many rotation and filling the gap of position is vital.

6. No clear Coaching Methodology, as coaching structure kept changing.

7. The High Performance Unit is dormant and not conducting a check & balance on the performance & review on the style of play after each tournament or matches. Top teams have Strategy Coaches to give a third eye to Coaches to make informed decision on a real time.

8. The quality of International Friendly/Test Matches prior to Tournament is vital to indicate the quality style of play. The team needs to play against the Top 6 teams more often and this would allow to gauge the gap of the style of play. 

9. No emphasis of Indoor hockey, therefore benefits from it are not derived especially the defensive skills, ball possession under pressure, strong basics of ball control & managing the ball in a tight and limited area of play.

Hope the above pointers will be taken into consideration in a positive manner for the betterment of Malaysian hockey in years to come.