Coach urges Thai clubs to release players for training in Europe
THAILAND’S national football coach Milovan Rajevac has urged football clubs to allow their players to join national-team training in Europe at the end of May in preparation for the AFF Suzuki Cup and Asian Cup.
The Thailand team have no meet-ups scheduled until Fifa Day in September, and the Serbian coach views this six-month idle period as too long for the national team so proposed that the end of May would be suitable for a training camp.
Rajevac raised the issue as Thailand players had limited time together before the recently concluded King’s Cup, where they were beaten 3-2 in the final by Slovakia.
“As we had time constraints for the King’s Cup, players did not have much time to recover from their leagues. We also didn’t have enough time to work on tactics,” Rajevac said.
He said May is the perfect time, as players will need to focus on the Thai League to avoid relegation in September. As leagues in Europe are in the off-season during that time, Thailand can play warm-up games with strong European teams.
“Several teams have shown an interest in playing us in Europe, which will serve as a good opportunity for our players to test their mettle against European players. Also I’d like to get to know new players that I can recruit to the team,” Rajevac added.
Previously, Thai clubs including Newin Chidchob’s Buriram United had disagreed with the Thai Football Association’s plan for overseas national-team training due to concern that players might become exhausted. Newin even threatened not to permit players to join the national team.
The national team will have a long break before the AFF Suzuki Cup in November and Asian Cup in January.
Meanwhile, Worrawut Srimaka, national coach for the under-21 team, has asked clubs to let players join his national camp in May in preparation for August’s Asian Games in Jakarta.
