Go for counterattacks, Wittaya tells Thais
The Football Association of Thailand’s technical director, Wittaya Laohakul, has suggested that the Thai side need to rely on swift counterattack if they are to come away with victories in their back-to-back World Cup qualifiers in Middle East next week.
The Kingdom are in desperate need of points after losing their opening two matches against Saudi Arabia (1-0) and Japan (2-0) in the last-12 Asian qualifying for the 2018 finals in Russia.
Lying bottom of Group B without a point and even a goal, a Thai side that slipped down from the 120th to the 135th spot in the latest world rankings, have two games in Middle East starting with a trip to UAE on October 6.
They then play Iraq, with whom they have drawn twice on way to making it to Asia’s decisive qualifying round for only the second time, at a neutral venue in Iran five days later.
According to Wittaya, coach Kiatisak Senamuang’s side needed to be clinical on the break, especially against an UAE side who stunned four-time Asian champions Japan 2-1 in their group opener earlier this month in Saitama, if they were to get their campaign off the ground.
“Against Japan, we defended too excessively, not looking to launch any swift raid. That will be important when we face UAE because they’re susceptible to counterattack. If we only look to defend against UAE, it will be difficult for us to create any opportunity.
“As for the Iraq game, we have a good chance to get our first points since the Iraqis also lost their first two matches and scored just one goal. We even look better than them, offensively. They have a simple game plan, hitting searching balls for a No 8 player [Mohanad Karrar]. That should not be too difficult for us to cope with,” said the former Chonburi FC coach.
With Kiatisak, whose side look to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time, eyeing four points from Middle East trips, Wittaya, the first Thai to ply his trade in Europe with German outfit Hertha Berlin in the 80s, said it was something achievable.
