Five Positives from Akira Nishino’s First Six Months as War Elephants Head Coach

Opportunities For New Players

Akira Nishino made it clear right from his first game in charge that younger and fresher faces would be the way forward. Phitiwat Sukjitthammakul was handed his debut against Vietnam while attacker Supachok Sarachat also made his first competitive start with the senior squad in the same game. 

Arriving after a disappointing 2019 Kings Cup, the young players added a positive vibe to the senior squad. By mixing new and more experienced members together, Nishino succeeded in creating a competitive, yet still upbeat, environment within the training camp. Ekanit Panya and Nitipong Selanon repaid Nishino’s trust in them with a stellar performance in the UAE victory. 

Former Chiangrai United president, Miti Tiyapairat, has spoken of increased motivation and hunger from his players after returning from international duty with Nishino. He also observed that the improved mentality from players such as Phitiwat and Sivakorn Tiatrakul has rubbed off on the entire squad, aiding the club to their historic league title. 

This speaks volumes of Nishino’s impact by just leaving the national team door open.

Contact With The Selection Pool

Following on from the previous point, there is more drive for players to improve themselves if they know the door to the national team is open - and this includes those in the selection pool who didn’t make it to the squad as well.

Nishino arrived on short notice and was short of preparation time ahead of his debut match against bitter rivals Vietnam. To make up his opinion on players, Nishino attended Thai League clubs' training sessions. 

One player who has come out and praised Nishino’s willingness to get to know the Thai selection is Sanrawat Dechmitr. Last season, the left-footed playmaker has fallen out of favor with the national team and his club side Bangkok United. Still, Sanrawat revealed that Nishino complimented his playing style, even though he couldn't offer him a return to the national team setup is difficult due to Sanrawat’s limited playing time. 

In the past, conversations between the National Team head coach and players in his wider selection pool has been rather little. Sanrawat is not the only one who appreciates Nishino’s effort to explain his squad selection. And it seems this communication between the national team staff and plays is the way forward.  

Always Open to New Solutions

When you’ve got an impressive CV like Nishino, fans come to some sort of tactical mastery in every game - and so far he has delivered in that area. 

Under Milovan Rajevac, the first head coach to be appointed in Pol. Gen. Somyot Pumpanmuang as FAT president, Thailand played in a rigid 4-2-3-1 formation with some failed tactical tinkering in some friendlies. Replacing Rajevac after the Asian Cup defeat to India was Sirisak Yodyadthai whose biggest quality was simply that he was not Rajevac. 

Unfortunately, that honeymoon period didn’t last long. Soon complacency and tactical negligence surfaced at the 2019 Kings Cup. Yodyadthai resigned and Nishino became the third head coach in this regime. 

Since then, Nishino has pulled off many tactical surprises, especially when it comes to his starting XI. We’ve seen Thitipan Puangchan fielded and a ‘forward-destroyer’, bulldozing past the opponents, on the right side of a front-three system. Theerathon Bunmathan excelling in his inverted fullback role. Sorawit Panthong, an injured Muangthong United backup player who spent the final leg of the season on loan at second-tier Police Tero, is now one of the country’s most exciting central midfielders after Nishino moved him inside from the left-wing.

National team coaches often have little resources to work with, therefore, Nishino’s eye for solutions and bravery to change is like a breath of fresh air after years of meager experimentation. 

Right Balance of Discipline

During Rajevac’s reign, the players were very unhappy with the football they are playing. Sanrawat Dechmitr was open in his criticism of Rajevac’s pragmatic approach at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 while right-back Tristan Do cheered publicly after Rajevac’s dismissal, saying the Serbian had sucked the fun out of the squad.

But like we’ve mentioned previously, Rajevac’s successor, Sirisak Yodyadthai, couldn’t take the side to the next level. His “mister nice guy” personality was unable to keep the team focus and before he knew it, freedom and creativity had turned into complacency.

In spite of that, things completely changed for the Thais following Nishino’s appointment. There were reports of much better discipline and professionalism within the training camp. Influential squad members who usually got away when taking things slightly slow (or as we Thais call it, “Jai yen yen”) are now much more focused. 

According to reports, the players and staff were extremely impressed with how Nishino had outlined his plans. The team was won over by the former JFA technical director from their first team meeting. The players bought into Nishino’s vision right away and the result is a sense of self-discipline within the team. 

 Man For the Big Occasion

Football is a results business. Nishino was bought in to take Thailand to the next level, and so far it looks like things are heading in the right direction. 

The triumph over UAE was a massive result, plus that was one of the best performances from the Thai team in quite some time. The War Elephants may have been slightly unlucky to only picked up two draws against Vietnam but that was always going to be a tough game.  Indonesia was there for the taking and the team got the job done.

Failure to make it out of the group stage at the SEA Games may have upset some fans but the boss more than made up for it in the AFC U23 Championship. Putting a thrilling style of football on show, the Japanese boss took Thailand to the quarter-final rounds, only to be edged over by eventual runners-up Saudi Arabia.

Nishino’s only fault so far is the away defeat to Malaysia but other than that, overall results are pretty encouraging. Particularly in games where Thailand really needed the result.