Excuse the pun, but a huge Gulf exists between Arab sides and the rest of Asia.
That was seen at the Asian Cup, where with the exception of hosts Qatar, defending champions Iraq, Iran and Jordan all other teams were comprehensively ousted from the competition after the preliminary group stage.
Three-time Asian champions and 2010 Gulf Cup finalists Saudi Arabia fared the worst among the Arab teams as they were dealt three humiliating losses in Group B.
Just like most countries that fell from their perch of football dominance, West Asian countries have overlooked two very key aspects for continued excellence, coaching consistency and youth development.
Coaching Consistency:
The Saudis deserved the fate that befell them and their haughtiness and pride were handed a severe public flogging. They started their campaign with a shock 2-1 defeat by Syria, which was followed by the sacking of coach Jose Peseiro, who was replaced by Nasser Al Johar, the man the Kingdom turns to in such situations
It wasn’t a surprise that Al Johar would fail in his bid to turn around their fortunes, given he had just three days to work his magic. Al Johar would have tried his best, but the Saudis followed their earlier disappointment going down 1-0 to Jordan and then Al Johar was also shown the door when Japan thrashed them 5-0.
The rest of the Arab nations, Bahrain, Syria, Gulf champions Kuwait and the UAE also crashed out, but their coaches were spared.
The plight of coaches in the Arab world was underlined by what Qatar coach Bruno Metsu had to say after his side qualified for the knockout stage. The hosts lost their opener 2-0, but Metsu remained in the hot seat and as his side bounced back with a 2-0 win over China and that big win over Kuwait, and he dedicated the victory to the Qatar FA for giving him a second chance and showing him some mercy.
Metsu’s comments cast the spotlight on the impatient and result-oriented footballing culture of the region. You win, you remain, you lose and you’re out!
Youth Development:
There was a time that the likes of Iran and Saudi Arabia could pose a challenge, if not defeat these teams but not anymore. The truth is, ever since the retirement of the golden ages of these countries, they have failed to invest in youth development, instead resorting to managerial shake-ups in the hope of restoring past glory days.
It speaks volume about the ignorance with regards to youth development in the region when Saudi Arabia’s last appearance in the final of the AFC U-19 Championships was in 1992 and Iran’s was back in 1976. Contrastingly, the last decade of the competition's history has been dominated by South Korean and Japan.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE may have raised their domestic league standard in recent years, but the “money can buy everything” mentality in Middle East has overshadowed all the other necessary investments in professional football.
There are thousands of young players lining up for few minutes of reserve team football in these countries, while ageing local, European and African stars on outrageous salaries are picked ahead of them. As long as the quick-fix mentality of clubs and national team officials is preferred to long-term investment in local young talents, things will only get worse in West Asian football.
As we have seen the golden generation of any national team will eventually have to hang up its boots, to be succeeded by the younger generation. It’s at this point that disaster usually strikes given the failure to discover and develop local talent, as was the case for Saudi Arabia this time around.
It is both amusing and sad that the beleaguered officials from these national federations rush to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. All blame is once again directed towards the managers.
The Middle East suffers from its dated approach, whereas adaptation to change and constant improvement of the fundamentals is the backbone of managerial culture further east.
If the gulf between the East and the West, the North and South in Asia has to be bridged, it is important for federations here to disband their hire and fire policies and adopt a more patient approach, one that looks into the future and considers the long-term goals of each nation.
Football is a progression, you reap what you sow and sometimes patience is key. When the final is played out on January 29, the side that lifts the trophy will demonstrate just that!
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