Azkals to address defensive flaw in training

MANILA, Philippines -  Learning from their recent test match, the Philippine Azkals will work on gaining cohesion and beefing up their central midfield defense when they go into deeper, more concentrated training for their Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers match against Sri Lanka.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss said the defensive deficiency that was evident in their 3-4 loss to the United Football League (UFL) selection last Sunday would be fully addressed during their two-week training camp in Duren, Germany beginning next week.

“In the next couple of weeks, we have to begin improvising in central midfield defensive position,” Weiss said after conducting practice at the Rizal Memorial pitch Tuesday and also announcing the final 23-man lineup for the Sri Lanka first leg on June 29 in Colombo andJuly 3 in Manila.

“We didn’t have cohesion yet because we’ve been focusing more on physical preparations here in the Philippines to get ready for Germany. That will be the main focus there; cohesion, tactical, technical training and the match experience will all come in Germany,” he added.

Weiss is confident the Azkals will develop a more potent midfield, with the addition of Fil-Dutch Paul Mulders, a 30-year-old veteran from the Netherlands’ Premier League club Ado-den Haag. He planed in last Friday and immediately impressed the coaching staff, earning ticket to Germany and Sri Lanka.

“We have problems switching from offense to defense; we’re not compact in central midfield. But now we have a very experienced player coming in, Paul Maulders, who will fit in well in defense together with (Fil-Danish MF Jerry) Lucena and maybe another one. 

“I think we can be very compact in the central midfield, and the players in midfield and side, (Chieffy) Caligdong and James (Younghusband), will also switch in because we had problems switching from offense to defense. That’s what we’ll work on, he added.

Moreover, Weiss said they will also “focus on set pieces, ball circulation and ball possession in order to put the opponents under early pressure.”