The interim head coach leave it to FAM to decide his future with national squad after inaugural Fifa Asean Cup.
FORMER national strikers Safee Sali and Akmal Rizal Rakhli believe interim Harimau Malaya coach Tan Cheng Hoe deserves to be appointed permanent head coach following Malaysia’s impressive campaign in the inaugural Fifa Asean Cup.
Safee said Cheng Hoe had implemented an effective tactical approach, with the players showing a clear understanding of the game plan throughout the tournament.
“Harimau Malaya have shown a very commendable performance. We managed to remain unbeaten and keep four clean sheets in the Fifa Asean Cup.
“Not only that, from an attacking perspective, the national team also showed very good improvement by scoring plenty of goals.
“For me, the tactics implemented by coach Cheng Hoe were very effective,” said the former hotshot when contacted by theSun.
Safee added that the players appeared to have responded well to Cheng Hoe’s methods, which he attributed to the coach’s understanding of the squad.
“From the technical and tactical aspects, we can see that the players are very compatible and able to implement the game plan brought by the coaching staff led by Cheng Hoe.
“For now, he deserves to lead the national squad. He understands the movement, playing style and character of the national players very well,” he said.
Akmal, meanwhile, said Cheng Hoe had handled his responsibilities well after guiding Malaysia to third place while maintaining an unbeaten record and keeping a clean sheet in all four matches.
He believes the squad can continue to improve if the former Selangor coach is given the job on a permanent basis.
“We managed to finish third, maintain our unbeaten record without conceding a goal, and also beat Vietnam. From a tactical perspective, he was also clever in utilising the quality of the players available in the squad.
“I am confident the squad will become even better after this if coach Cheng Hoe continues to be given the responsibility,” he said.
Malaysia finished third in the Fifa Asean Cup after recording three wins and one draw, scoring 10 goals without conceding.
The campaign began with a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh on Sept 25 before Harimau Malaya were held to a goalless draw by Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Sept 28.
Malaysia then produced their biggest win of the tournament, thrashing Singapore 6-0 on Oct 1. However, the emphatic victory was not enough to secure a place in the final as Indonesia also defeated Bangladesh 9-2.
Both teams finished the group stage with seven points and a goal difference of plus nine, but Indonesia advanced on goals scored, 11 to Malaysia’s nine.
Malaysia subsequently defeated Vietnam 1-0 in the third-place playoff on Oct 5 to end the tournament on a high.
The strong campaign also lifted Malaysia three places to 133rd in the latest Fifa world rankings, up from 136th in the previous update on July 20.
Following the tournament, Cheng Hoe said he would leave it to FAM to decide whether to appoint him permanently as national head coach.
