Early test for Capellas system as PH tackles Thailand

Albert Capellas—CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Newly installed coach Albert Capellas is eager to fully implement the desired style of play for the Philippine men’s football team ahead of the last big buildup for the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

“I’m very positive, but I’m sure there will be ups and downs,” the Spanish-born coach said in a press conference held on Friday at Studio 300 in Makati City, where he was introduced to the media for the first time since his appointment last month.

Capellas, hired after Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet left the team to handle Mali, wants to see the Philippine side play a more attractive approach, which is to go for more scoring chances instead of playing defensive.

The team slowly adopted that style during the loss to Tajikistan in the third-place match of the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia, where Capellas was on hand prior to his official appointment.

“We want to play more from the back, to build up the game,” said Capellas. “We want to avoid long balls without sense, we want to have better ball possession, we want to run more, we want to create more chances, we want to win the ball back as quickly as possible and we also want to lay offensive in order to create more chances.”

Notable player

He’ll get to test how the team can quickly adapt with the Philippines taking part in the King’s Cup in Thailand.

The Filipino footballers face the host country on Oct. 11, before taking on either Syria or Tajikistan in the final or third-place match three days later.

One notable player who was included in the squad is Gerrit Holtmann, the German Bundesliga striker who made his Philippine debut in 2022 at the Asian Cup Qualifiers in Mongolia.

“We’ve been talking to Gerrit for quite a while, trying to get him back,” said Philippine Football Federation director for senior national teams Freddy Gonzalez. “It took some time to convince him and it worked. We’re really excited to have him back because he’s a fantastic player.”

Meanwhile, Kaya-Iloilo and Dynamic Herb Cebu endured more struggles on the continental front with losses in Thursday’s AFC Champions League Two.

Kaya fell to Australia’s Sydney FC, 4-1, at Rizal Memorial Stadium despite taking the lead in the first three minutes on Daizo Horikoshi’s goal, while Cebu fell, 1-0, to Selangor in Malaysia. INQ