THAILAND LIFE AND CULTURE
Football — A Thai Club with a Brighton Vision
Muangthong United, competing in Thailand’s top level, have turned their focus inwards, adopting a similar approach to that of England’s Brighton Hove Albion.
Football in Thailand
Football has been played in Thailand since 1916, and the era of professional competition began in the 1980s. Muangthong United (MTUTD), founded in 1989, have become on of Thailand’s most successful clubs.
Professional football in Thailand leapt forward in 2009, when The AFC (Fifa’s Asian Football Confederation) announced the rules and regulations for the newly minted AFC Champions League, set to launch in 2011.
Thailand’s FA followed suit, raising the bar on club competitions. MTUTD were well positioned to jump to the front of the line. In 2008 they earned promotion to the Thai Premier League (today’s T1), and doubled that by winning the 2009 championship. The club went on to rack up four TPL/T1 trophies.
Top Thai Talent
MTUTD achieved this success by signing the top players available. Leading the way was Thailand international Teerasil Dangda, signed in 2007, aged 19. Other top Thai players to join the club that year, or soon after, were Datsakorn Thonglao, Nattaporn Phanrit, Jetsada Jitsawad, and Adisak Kraisorn.
The club also purchased top international talent, the likes of Dagno Siaka, Mario Gjurovski, Cleiton Silva, and Heberty Fernandes. In the coaching realm young manager Slaviša Jokanović took the reins in 2012, taking over from Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, who acted as player/manager for a season.
PLAYING THE LONG GAME
Sustained success in terms of trophies requires a tremendous amount of luck, effort, timing, and most of all money. Since 2017, MTUTD has fallen from the top and is no longer a team pundits expect to challenge the league.
The Brighton Model
Like Brighton Hove Albion (BHA), the goal is to remain a mid-table team, and put in place the structure for success in the long term.
At BHA, Technical director Dan Ashworth describes the leadership set by CEO Tony Bloom, which is shared by manager Graham Potter and permeates the organisation.
The focus is on developing talent within, and giving opportunities for young players, or players on loan, to have an impact on the first team. A strong emphasis exists in the organisation for people to express themselves and have room to give their best and succeed. One measuring stick used is that academy talent comprises 30% of first team minutes.
Supporting the development at the academy of technical skills, tactics, health, fitness, etc, is the importance of knowing the personality and psychology of each player, and ensuring his mental well being. This means developing the attitudes, mindset, and relationship skills of the athlete.
Other English clubs have recognised this importance. Arsenal have brought in young coach Carlos Cuesta. His role will be to mentor individual players according to their unique needs and psychology, looking at their technical skills, tactical knowledge, and responses on the pitch to different situations.
MTUTD: Promoting from within
The challenge for MTUTD is applying this methodology with significantly less funding. While BHA have a small army of support staff and management, most of these roles don’t exist at Thai clubs.
Said Ashworth, “When I started working in football in 1998, there was no such thing as an analyst. You were lucky if you had a physio, you were lucky if you had an S&C coach.”
MTUTD are one of a handful of clubs in Thailand with a dedicated academy system for ages 10–18, as well as feeder teams in lower divisions which serve as a training ground for post academy development. The club has also invested in a training centre so as to not put strain on the first team pitch.
What’s missing is the army of support. The academy coaching staff put in tremendous hours at very little pay, and have to take on all the roles needed (physio, strength and conditioning, tactical analysis, etc.).
It’s full steam ahead, however, and in 20/21, MTUTD had the youngest team in the league, and academy players such as Wattanakorn, Korawich, Poramet, and others, suddenly in the starting XI or getting the nod as substitutes.
As well, the club made the brave move of bringing back former legends to take on coaching and leadership roles. Mario Gjurovski and Dagno Siaka manage the first team, Nattaporn and Jetsada are involved with academy and feeder teams.
This has been exciting for fans as former heroes of the pitch bring their playing style and knowledge to leadership. When Mario took charge part way through the 20/21 season, the club started scoring colourful and exciting goals.
Is This Sustainable?
The concern for many fans however, is the BHA model is not sustainable without the small army of support people. What if a player has the potential, but lacks the attitude and mindset needed to develop? Likewise, who in the organisation has the time to video the training sessions and then sit down, one-by-one, to give a tactical analysis?
The Covid-19 pandemic has only worsened thefinancial strain Thai clubs are under. This makes MTUTD’s decision a brave one. While other clubs, without the overhead of academy systems are buying up the best players, fans are holding on for dear life for that long term success.
