From The Dugout: The Process of Development…….

League Cup, Week Four. Half time at RSN Stadium. Phnom Penh Crown 8-0 Angkor Tiger!! What on earth was going on? I was watching the comments on the live stream and to my dismay the young Khmers are digging out and laughing at their schoolmates and for the most part people were feeling sorry for Tiger.

I could do neither. Instead I put out a message calling for Tiger to win the second half.

Scores can be misleading………

On the face of it was a disaster of a first half but the score was very misleading. Two of the goals were absolute rockets. No keeper in the world was going to save them. Tiger should be closing down quicker and stopping those shots but I often tell our players on the field, if someone is 35m out and puts it in the top corner, clap. A freak cross and a couple set pieces of taken away then the score would be somewhat more reflective.

Speaking from experience with Next Step last season when things start to go bad young khmer players are struggling to handle the situation. Those little bits of gamesmanship, like slowing the game down or stopping their momentum, don’t get used and goal after goal after goal can go against you.

Are Tiger really this bad?…….

Simple answer yes, long answer no.

Simply put 17 against and 3 scored is unacceptable given they’ve played 2 from the League below. It’s also highlighting the lack of depth in the first team squad and their academy is obviously not fancied by Alistair otherwise he’d dip into it a little bit more.

However, looking deeper, in Alistair they have a coach who wants to attack and play football. A year ago we were all praising how well tiger were playing. They have a massive fan base and ambitious chairman albeit if he isn’t forced into the market now then maybe it’s him that should consider stepping aside.

Look after your own…..

In a year this country is hosting the SEA Games is Khmers should be sticking together more than ever. Yes we have teams we support and of course we all want to win football matches. What we should be doing is encouraging these young players at Tiger to go again. They won the second half and that’s impressive given the circumstances. What needs to happen is for the tiger players to watch that game and assess themselves but in order to do so they need to know that they have the backing of the fans and their friends.

With young players it’s learning lessons all the time that helps them develop. Losing teaches you more lessons and we can only hope those Tiger players are ready to bounce back next week.