As the saying goes “ If it ain’t broke , don’t fix it " . But as the Lions crashed and crumbled so miserably in the AFF Suzuki Cup – a Tournament they were expected to progress far without much fuss with an easy Group , something ought to be done . And then came the decision to sack the whole national team . A decision the FAS felt would be the solution to the problem , or so they thought .
So is taking the drastic and unprecedented move to drop the entire national team the right decision ? Or is it just a daring gamble taken by the FAS hoping that it would turn right and reap rewards in the end ? Allow me to draw the Lions fall from grace to two soccer teams as two contrasting views for examples .
Singapore Lions vs England Three Lions
After England crashed out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa last year , there were calls for Fabio Capello to step down and pay with his job for failing to lead the Three Lions far enough in the World Cup . But the English FA not only decided to stick with Fabio Capello for another two years till after Euro 2012 at least , most importantly they did not press the panic button and said they were going to expel the whole national team !
Frank Lampard , Steven Gerrard , Rio Ferdinand , John Terry …. Not a single name was mentioned or axed from the squad . Instead Fabio Capello has promised that he is willing to bring in some new faces while he continues to be at the helm . And look at where England is now in their Euro 2012 Qualifying Group ? For the record , England’s prospect of making it to the Euro 2012 competition proper in Poland and Ukraine looks bright at the moment with them currently in second place in their qualifying Group G with seven points after having played three matches with two Wins and one Draw .
The same could be done with our own Lions National soccer team too . Similarly , we need not drop every single player in the squad and still be able to do well in their next international competitive Tournament – the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers which commences in June . If England can do it , there is no reason why we can’t , considering our plight and theirs are almost identical !
By taking this shocking and ( and I call it a rash decision ) to drop every single player , I felt we are actually taking a step backwards instead of going forward ! Since we need to build a brand new squad right from scratch again . Whereas if we were to retain the original squad , the core of the team is already there , the basic foundation and big game experience etc that the players had have already been installed within the squad , with not much tinkering needed .
Singapore Lions vs Liverpool
On the other hand , one just need to point out the problems Liverpool had all these while to tell you straight in the face that changing just the Manager alone ( with the squad remaining intact ) will not solve the problem either . Gone is Roy Hodgson who took over the Reds from Rafa Benitez , but even the former who led his former club Fulham to Europa League glory is powerless to Liverpool downfall . The Reds inability to perform has been very well documented and publicized all these while from last season campaign till the current one and so it was just not too long ago that Kenny Dalglish – the fans hot favourite to take over from Roy Hodgson came to take charge for the remainder of the season .
Still the Reds struggled , already with two defeats ( to Man United – FA Cup Third Round & Blackpool – EPL ) and a Draw ( vs Everton last night ) under his charge . Even so they were lucky to escape with a point as Everton were leading 2-1 with the Reds equalizer coming from a Kuyt penalty . So the Reds aren’t exactly out of the woods yet under their new Manager , whom they call King Kenny .
One may argue that it is rather unfair to draw comparison between a national team and a club side . It is like comparing an apple with an egg or orange , as a national team comprises of players born and bred in the country they are currently residing in while clubs have many players coming from many different countries plying their trade in the respective Leagues . But one thing is similar . Some national team do accept ‘ foreigners ‘ too – those not born and bred in the country they are currently representing for internationally but only got to play after getting citizenship or PR Status. One such example is Owen Hargreaves who is Canada born but plays for England .
So , what should the Reds do next ? Axe the entire squad and ‘ promote’ their reserve team to play in the EPL instead ? Maybe they should or they would if our very own gamble does pay off with us performing well in the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers !
The FAS may have received lots of stick for their bold decision to drop the entire national squad , but who knows this very same decision may finally see us qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ? You laugh ….? Maybe the FAS will be the ones that will have the last laugh instead !
