I often wonder why our International soccer boys like Michael Fifii, Andrew Aba and little know Victor, were never called upon for trial selections. Even Joses Nawo when he was playing in NZ, he was never called for Senior squad trials. But now because he is in Solo so he finally made it to the selected squad.
Michael Fifii and Andrew Aba are very famous and welknown in the NZ league, they have wider experiences playing in competitive leagues.
A little known Victor is currently with the Goldcoast United in the Australian A-League. He used to played with Queensland Roar, playing alongside socceroos Greg Moore, Danny Tiatto and other overseas players from Brazil and elsewhere. He played with the Roar when they drew 1-1 with the SI national team during a friendly in 2007. He's currently on the Goldcoast United payroll, training with other professional players. Yet with his vast experience, he was never called upon at least for trials for the senior national squad.
Solo lost badly in the 2007 SPG because that team was not the best team representing Solo. Some talented, skillful and best players were left out. We do not want to repeat the same fate again come 2011. Let's bring out the best of the land and show to the rest of the Pacific that we are the best in the region. After all this is what all other countries in the world have done. They bring back all those overseas players, combined with the local players so to select the best out of everyone. We have not done that yet. 2011 SPG is just around corner. W have to start putting everyone together now.
A big failure that I noticed was that SIFF also lack finance to support these selected players so that they remain committed to soccer trainings, otherwise they may have to hunt for jobs and miss trainings because they need to bring food on the table as well. Motivation and Financial support is the key to developing a better team for any tournament
I think one organization's dealings and activies is very much like a mafia-run outfit ...... everything is personalized, its-who-you-know, close knit, and 'tweaking' (i.e. bending) of the rules and regulations to ensure the continuity not of the game but of the current ruling clan....yes we have 'audits' but as you know, our activities follow the 'established rules' which are 'legal'. we play on a level pitch even if we have a rugby squad on the field instead of a 11-a-side team.
I remember citing somewhere that overseas based players will be given opportunity provided they have to prove themselves. On the one hand, i tend to think that the inlcusion of overseas based players so far has not give us any winning trends.
I decided to put myself out of misery and not count on our chances in the next SPG. If soccer wins, its better to be surprised then endure the heartache I went through 4 years ago. On SIFF's capability to run the show, I have written on local media and expressed my thoughts already. In a nutshell, I think this current bunch have no more capability on producing the goods for us.
However, to be fair, let me just comment on the selection instead of deviating from the topic and discussing SIFF.
The other day I was driving along the road and saw Matai Vave....the thought occurred to me that there has never been a bunch of players in the class of Matai Vave, Samson Gamasi, Charles Ashely, Robert Natei, Hollis Vato, Joseph Batai and to a lesser extent Willie Fa'asu. One hold out from that era is Batram Suri and to date he is still a winner - our biggest mistake in the previous Pacific Games was leaving him out and banking on an immature but highly skilled Judd Molea. The best possible replacements for the class of the 90's were Robert Seni, Moffat Konofilia, John Mark Ofu, Gideon Omokirio, John Solodia - but that group never scaled the same heights as those before them as a team. Individually, they can boast about better achievements. ie Omokirio to beach world cup and playoff against Australia for 2006 world cup. My point is, soccer is a team sport and although individual talents are abound, we have never since 1991 produced a winning team. Ironically 1991 was the last time we went to a soccer final in SPG.
Management is also crucial to team success. To reinforce this thought, look at the exploits of Kossa in the O-League, they went the closest and apart from a great team, it had probably the best run team management in place. I spoke with Dr. Aqorau about this point and he admits to this fact - the dedication and commitment shown by their management has never been replicated by either Koloale nor Marist FC and we have seen the results for ourselves. Koloale went to the finals but it was never ready for the big stage!
Coaching - the most successful coach in terms of silverware has been Luito Fa'arodo, Joseph Maelaua and Allen Gillet. These gentlemen have been bypassed for lesser known quantities and it continues to baffle me why SIFF would give the responsibility to Luke Eroi etc. Agreed spoke with the designated coach and he seems like he can do it....he has had success with Kossa so perhaps the reasoning is he will perform at the national level....I hope...
But essentially, in conclusion, I propose that without a strong, capable and visionary administrative body in place, ie SIFF - all the other factors I have outlined above run the risk of not being fulfilled. So you can put the best talent on the field but they must be a team first and foremost, a team is made up of 11 players + 7 reserves. You can put the best team on the field but it needs to be guided by the best coach/manager/strategist. Without the best management who looks after the team off field...we would be better off staying at home as advised by NOCSI. Look no further than Soccer Australia - after years of trying to get to the World Cup, they stole John O'neil from rugby and he steered them to the World Cup by getting the best players (who gelled into a team throughout their campaign) to assemble and hiring the best coach available in Guss Hiddink to steer those huge ego into one gigantic success for Australia....Australia now is regarded as one of the top soccer nations simply by appearing in the World Cup....the question is, can we do it? Can we take the plunge and say, ok over to you guys...the guys who will be able to make a difference for soccer in the Solomon Islands.....
Its basically a team effort, and all parts of the team must function in order for us to win....do not focus on just the players! In the meantime, someone said on this forum, he/she will be supporting Tahiti...I am counting on golf to bring back some medals!!!
A better team is as good as its individuals. There has to be individuals who can make difference or cause impacts in a team before a team can win. Put in a better coach but without better individuals, you may just end up as Marist in the current O-league.
Miniti is one of the best coach in the local arena, but his choice of players is poor. If he had pick certain better individuals from other clubs to fill up the key positions, marist would still survive in the o-league.
Look at Kossa - they picked Davani, Koloale - they picked Faarodo & Nawo, and these key individuals made impact. Look at Hekari, with their own players they only drew with Tafea. But with key players from Solo filling up key positions, with the same coach, they threw Tafea out of the game.
So my point is you put in the best coach, best team officials but without the right key players for the key positions, you wont go anywhere.
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