Five takeaways from Tito Jay: Azkals training camp in West Asia, Hit or Miss?

Photo credits: Kuwait FA

After two matches in the gulf region, the Philippine Azkals, not only takes home a very valuable lesson but also uncover the areas where the men's national football team needs to focus on in order to move forward and deliver better results for the three stars and a sun.

A two-nil defeat against Kuwait who's ranked 14 places below the Philippines and a four-nil drubbing from Jordan gave the Azkals the reality check they need in order to see the real score of the nation's football team that has been yearning to see yet another historic run to match the current achievements of their female counterparts.

Given the circumstances beyond the control of the Azkals' management as well as the disparity in the level of experience and tactical abilities, the training camp's main goal was just to see where we're at and start rebuilding from there. Let's not prolong the agony and get right to it. We now talk about Tito Jay's takeaways from the training camp. Beware, this might hit where it hurts.

1) Another botched opportunity for the youngsters

In a country where the youth has been lingering for exposure and experience in the beautiful game, every window of opportunity deserves to be used for the young and budding talents of the national team.

Ever since its qualification to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Filipinas have been in the hunt for new talents that could fit into their system and could possibly used as reinforcement come their debut in the world's biggest stage. They've setup camps where, not only do they fine tune their chemistry and match fitness but also to see where our young talents can be used.

This isn't the case, however, for our men's side. Heading into its West Asia camp, the Philippines have named mainstays like Daisuke Sato, Patrick Reichelt, and Neil Etheridge in squad. There were also the likes of Carli De Murga and Kevin Ingreso.

Since the Azkals Development Team has been established, the Philippines have yet to see a squad peppered with players coming from the pipeline that has been built for its purpose.

In consolation though, either they are going to be used as a sub or be named to the squad just for the sake of being there yet barely seeing any international experience.

Instead of following the roadmap laid out in the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup where plenty of young individuals break through the barriers of the international team for their exposure and to add more experience to their resume, the men's national team worried more about its ranking by fielding what could be its strongest lineup, supposedly to be used during the qualifiers, to match the middle eastern powerhouses. If this is the kind of mentality we're going to have heading into the qualifiers, it goes without saying that we could be in for yet another unpredictable journey.

2) Local talents deprived of yet another chance to show their worth

The 2022-23 season of the Philippines Football League have been the closest by far since local club football transitioned to full-blown professional league which gave everyone the feeling of seeing local talents finally showing their capability of matching its foreign-based counterparts.

Talks among the fans brought about names like Audie Menzi, JB Borlongan, Daniel Gadia, and the likes to be included to the West Asia camp of the Azkals but their plea possibly falling on deaf ears or there may have been a disconnect between the national team call-ups and their respective clubs.

Even a few years back since the resurgence of Philippine Football, there has been this debate and even confrontations because of the disparity in the number of players plying their trade in the local league to be included in the national squad against the foreign-based players.

Now that the league is seeing a more intense action and players being on their form, those who were touted to be part of the national team seems to be either begging for it to come their way or do something astronomical just for them to named to the squad.

This opinion is coming from a standpoint that we are blinded with how the process works with the call ups and the lack of information coming from both the national team's management and the respective clubs in the country.

Unless we see something concrete and logical explanation about these exclusions, the fans, let alone columnists like us will continue to assume or base their facts on previous experiences. Oh, this goes hand in hand with the next point by the way.

3) Judgements or comments about the progress of the national team, especially coming from the fans, should never be invalidated... EVER.

In a recent interview with Manila Standard's Erel Cabatbat, who's also the Azkals' media officer, newly-minted technical coach of the national team Stephan Schröck spoke up about some unfair judgements or comments on the call-ups coming from loyal Azkals fans, especially those who just followed the Azkals in its recent campaigns and were not used to poor results just like what we've witnessed in their recently-concluded camp.

Schröck said, " It is very, very easy to say a judgment or a comment on the call-ups but there were a lot of things that happened there. Some people only see the squad list, they only see the results but they don’t know the entire process that was behind it. What I’m asking is to trust the management on what they are doing because they put a lot of work and effort to assemble the best possible team."

While his statements are a bit justified, it still somehow invalidates what the fans are feeling about the national team. The last time the Philippines saw some fantastic results were back in 2014, when players like Rob Gier, who's now the head coach of the U23 squad that will be playing in the SEA Games, Dennis Cagara, Jerry Lucena, and Javier Patiño.

I might be speaking out of bias here but that has to be the squad that should've given the Azkals its first AFF Cup finals appearance, let alone its first major international silverware.

Since then, it has been a rollercoaster of a performance from the Azkals and if not for their historic run in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers that gave the country its maiden appearance to the intercontinental competition, the fans would either be longing for better results or just continue to criticize the national team.

These loyal fans have seen it all. They've been with the Azkals through its roughest days up to their glorious moments. If there are folks who should be making these kind of comments, they are the ones you would expect.

And don't get us started with us not knowing the entire process behind all of it. The only reason they don't know the entire process is because there hasn't been much transparency about it not until recently when the fans were treated to social media posts from the Azkals about the exclusion of Sandro Reyes, Kevin Hansen, and Sebastian Rasmussen.

If you want the fans or any of the stakeholders to make fair judgement about the call-ups and everything involved about the national team, at least be transparent about it or have the decency to have the initiative about being open about it.

These things shouldn't be demanded from the national team as they are almost mandatory. Withdrawing some information about the process or anything about the developments about the national team would really open you to criticisms.

4) Silver lining is, at least we now know where to start

Despite all the negative things you can say about the recently-concluded training camp, there are still some positive takeaways that we can talk about. At least, now we know what's the problem and where to start fixing it.

The only question now is, how are we going to fix it. For starters, allow Barae Jrondi to take full control of the national squad. On paper, Jrondi looked to be calling the shots but it somehow feels that the only thing he's contributed so far since his appointment to the Azkals is the fanfare about his credentials and the difference in approach in their tactics from his predecessors.

Take for example, Shin Tae-Yong of the Indonesian National Team, since his appointment with the Garudas back in 2020, he already brought them to their best results in recent years including a return to the finals of the AFF Cup in his first year in control of the squad.

Though they still lack the silverware and the results to prove the massive changes he's brought upon their program, it goes without saying that he already turned things around for a nation longing for dominance in the region.

Shin Tae-Yong was able to achieve this by having full control of the national team. How, you may ask? Just to give an example, one of his mandates is to include an under-23 player from an Indonesian Liga 1 side to be included in EVERY training camp or national team call-up.

An initiative that brought about massive turnaround for the Indonesians who have now finally achieved an average age of 23. This allowed continuous development for their young talents and an inspiration to even younger players to follow the pipeline and make their senior national team debut.

Should Jrondi be able to have the same control as Shin Tae-Yong, maybe, just maybe, we could see a growth in our national team program and more younger players battling it out against their regional counterparts.

We can only make such suggestions but in the end, it would still be up to the national team management can make its final decision and in return, all we have to do... is to wait.

5) 2023 should be a year full of learning experience

As cliche as it can be, learning experience should be the primary thing the Azkals have to focus on this year instead of chasing bigger dreams such as returning to the AFC Asian Cup.

Yes, Dan Palami said five years ago since the Azkals' maiden appearance in the Asian cup that making it to the biggest stage in Asia should be the minimum requirement for the national team but I beg to differ.

If we can't dominate in Southeast Asia, what's the point of making it to the Asian Cup? If we can't win a single AFF Cup, what's the point in trying to blend in with the big boys of the continent?

I think, the prerogative should be an appearance in the semifinals of the AFF Cup in its next edition is a must and in about two more cycles, an appearance in the finals of the regional tournament, or, by the footballing god's miracle, a maiden AFF Cup trophy win we should be aiming for. By then, we can say that finally, we have dominated the region and can finally think about sitting with the giants in one table again.

Believe it or not, this has been the roadmap that our Filipinas are currently following. Since revamping the movement back in 2012, it has been a consistent upward trend for the Filipinas capped off with its qualification to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Not to mention, their sheer dominance in the 2022 AFF Women's Championship gave us the thought that it can be done.

It is possible for a nation like the Philippines, a country crazy about basketball, can dominate a sport loved by our neighbors to the death. They've shown us that it is doable provided that there is a concrete plan and solution to the men's national team's problems. But for now, we have to wait... patiently.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of this writer does not reflect the views and opinions of the organization, its writers and contributors.