Booters’ two-week rest questioned
Resting national footballers for two weeks ahead of Joint Qualifiers of the World Cup and the Asian Cup against Qatar and India has raised eyebrows of some of the local coaches and players.
The National Teams Committee of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) on Thursday decided to resume the training camp of the national team from September 25, giving nearly two weeks’ rest to the players on the ground that long-term training may adversely impact them mentally and physically.
Coach Jaime Day believes that his charges are fit enough and need no long-term training; instead just two weeks’ training ahead of October 10 match against Asian Cup champions Qatar would be enough.
However, local coaches and players differed with the decision.
“I think the training camp should continue. After watching the Bangladesh-Afghanistan match, it seemed there are many areas to work on, especially the team combination, before matches against Qatar and India. Besides, there are also no domestic activities for the players, so they could have utilised the two-week period,” said UEFA A licensed coach Maruful Haque.
“If the coach [Jamie Day] is confident with his players, then everything is all right. But I think they players got good time to rest after the completion of the domestic league,” said the former national team coach.
“With due respect to the head coach of the national team, I think the players should be given three-to-four days’ break instead of such a long one. What I have understood after watching the match between Qatar and India is that Qatar played fast-paced football to attack down both flanks after failing to expose the Indian defence directly. The coach could have worked on tactical aspects of how to play defensive block, what would be players’ position, what will be the players’ role on the counter,” opined AFC B licensed coach Julfiker Mahmud Mintu.
“The coach could have even worked on rectifying the mistakes the players made in the last match. There is also room to work on with the goalkeepers and how to defend set-pieces against Qatar,” added Mintu.
Former national team defender Atiqur Rahman Meshu also opposed the idea of two weeks’ break for the national team.
“If the players gain weight in two weeks, then the coach will have to work on it again, lessening the time of tactical work. A one-week break was good enough because we, the players, are not at that level of professional football. The big thing is that we forget instructions of the coach during matches, so the repetition of practice is needed,” said Meshu, who believes the players can be given rest during the training camp by taking them to outings.
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