AFC President's Cup: Nightmare for Nepal Police

There is little doubt that the country’s   champion club Nepal Police is on the downward spiral at the moment. The team’s latest debacle at the Asian Football Confederation President’s Cup Group c qualifiers held in Kathmandu   was   a   stunner.

This is the first time   in many years   the team has   struggled   so badly for a long period of time. It is hard to imagine that they have gone sans   a   tournament   win since last year. They have lost considerable spark and sting.

In the race for  the country’s  top  football club  status they have  dramatically fallen behind arch rivals Three Star Club and  Manang  Marsyangdhi Club . 

Understandably coach Birat Krishna Shrestha is under tremendous pressure to put back his team on the right track. Shrestha one of the brightest   coaches in the country stepped into the shoes of veteran coach Yogamber Suwal.

Suwal’s stint with Nepal Police was long and successful. Under his watch the team   totally dominated domestic football for very  many  years.  On the other hand, Shrestha has been in and out as head coach over the years.

Foremost it is important that he settles down and remain focused long as he has the blessing of the  management.  He should not forget the fact that he is   in charge of the country’s leading club.

Nepal Police is well equipped in terms of training facilities and infrastructure. This is one big advantage for a coach, especially in the context of Nepali football where    a majority of clubs are without  their own  facilities.

The ongoing Division A league championship in the capital provides Shrestha ample time and opportunities to work on different    strategies,   experiment fresh blood and regroup the team.

I am pretty confident that Shrestha will be able to put the team back on the saddle.  But having said that, it is imperative for the boys to put in extra effort and shrug off   lethargy and inconsistency to prevail as they want. 

Also equally important is a good working relation between players and the coach, which I suspect is amiss  It is  my assumption  only , and  I hope I am wrong.Domestic football is no more a cakewalk for the   cops considering the gap narrowed by their opponents. 

In addition a good number of  clubs  have  considerably   improved  performance wise and made their intentions clear by  recruiting    the very best  home grown  players along  with a handful of foreigners as well.

More importantly clubs must make efforts to develop    their own   training facilities, which paves the way for the establishment of club culture, the heart of success.

The kind of   mediocrity displayed by the cops in the President’s Cup was   unexpected   and   hugely disappointing. I   was   in the false impression that   they would rebound successfully, however, I was proven dead wrong, following the conclusion of the competition.

Over all it was a complete debacle for the team in every aspect of the game. Not only were they win less but failed to find the net once. They looked a side in disarray   and   out of ideas. Agreed that they were injury hit but that is no excuse for their lackadaisical   and laid-back showing.

This was the third   time   Nepal Police competed in the championship. Prior to this they had performed fairly well in their two outings.

 

Their    ragged   performance   against   Water and power Development Authority of Pakistan (WAPDA), FC Balkan, Turkmenistan and Taiwan Power Company, Chinese Taipei was a big let down to home supporters.

The   setback must have   rung the alarm bell and prompted the management to   turn things around at the earliest. I won’t be surprised if the cops strike back with a vengeance. The manner in which they have been playing in the ongoing national league gives the impression that they are into serious business.