6 reasons for Nepal U-23's shambolic performance in Tehran.
GoalNepal’s columnist Ash Chetri points out six reasons for Nepal U23's nightmare campaign in Tehran that every Nepalese football fan is desperate to forget.
1) Fitness & Training
It is clear that not one player in the squad was match-fit for the qualification campaign. The first match against Iran, half of the players went down with cramps as if they had endured a lengthy World Cup campaign. Yet they persisted on entering these players for the remainder of the campaign, as we had no other choice. Such decisions can sustain permanent injuries and hamper the development of young talent. Folks, this is the first rule in how to not destroy your own players. Such a performance has left pertinent questions that Stefanowski must squarely address if Nepal are to achieve in this summer’s South Asian Championship. The lax attitude, and that ‘everything is ok’ can not and will not suffice. Let’s look at what went wrong, and where Nepal can move on from here.
2) Premature progression to U23
A lot of the players in the U23 squad were actually U17 graduates. They haven't even completed their U19 progression, and yet they are hoisted through to U23 to compete with players that are 3 years more developed than they are. I can see Stefanowski’s long term vision in blooding the youth, and I commend him greatly for this. However, I do think that Nepal must have an efficient graduation system akin to every other major football playing nation. Unless in exceptional circumstances, players must play in their own age-level, I cannot stress this enough.
3) Diet and Nutrition
The players were seen days before the match eating fatty energy-draining foods (e.g. McDonalds) at the airport in Tehran. This is not a holiday, these are supposedly professional athletes. I’ve covered diet many times and so have other contributors to GoalNepal. Despite this, I feel that diet tends to be viewed as a luxury among other aspects of the game. I am not completely sure if this is a management issue, or simply down to lack of funding and logistics. However the case, this must be looked into stringently.
4) Poor leadership
I've said it once, and I'll say it again. As much as he is a talented midfielder, Jagajeet Shrestha is not captain material. Given the vast amount of U17 players, it would make much more sense to hand the armband to someone who has leading experience with success, namely Hermant Thapa or even Bimal Gharti Magar. Moreover, Shrestha has a problem similar to that of Italy and Liverpool FC’s Mario Balotelli. He could be one of the greatest players at the moment, but he is far too concerned about other players and cannot control his emotions. Even in the Iran game you could spot Shrestha having a tussle with the Iranians. After all, it was his hot head that landed him a red card in the 2nd friendly against the Philippines in 2014. Jaggu must work harder for the captain role. I would not blame Nepal’s poor performance solely on the lack of his leadership, but I would say it was a contributing factor.
5) Mental wellbeing
Nepal lacks a sports psychologist on the team. How the mind functions is incredibly powering in steering emotions, morale, and momentum in teams. It’s how games are won and lost — yet we cannot employ someone with the skillset to assist the national team in this manner. I do hope that one day the ANFA (with the help of FIFA) assists the national team in its psychology, as I do believe that the young young Gorkhali boys are fighting two battles instead of one (mental and the physical).
6) Discipline
If I had a dollar every time I read ‘Nepal are looking nervous’ in the live text commentary, I would be a very rich man. Nepal have not been keeping their defensive and attacking shapes — and as I’ve covered in my previous articles on GoalNepal, there is no such thing as an absolute formation. World Cup superstar, Robin Van Persie of Netherlands and Manchester United once said in an interview that manager Louis Van Gaal once imposed 3 systems in 1 game during the 2014 Brazil World Cup. 3 systems. 1 game. This is not just Netherlands, every nation is adapting and playing more dynamic football with ‘shapes’ rather than absolute formations. Nepal must address the mental aspect, and retain the discipline to hold and adapt to these shapes through the order of the captain and manager.
Ash Chetri is a columnist for GoalNepal.com. He is a huge advocate of Nepali football and strives to develop the beautiful game in Nepal. He has previously worked as a writer for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games Organising Committee, and currently creates and maintains several Nepal related wikipedia pages including the national team. Follow Ash on twitter @Ashtopher.
