I was called out of class when I made my debut! Another European "star coach" lost in Asia?

The reporter reported coldly Kluivert led the Indonesian team to a 1-5 defeat to Australia in his debut, and the president of the Indonesian Football Association, Tohir, paid a huge price for blindly believing in the "star coach". After the game, "Patrick Kluivert Out" became the hottest hot topic on Indonesian social media platforms, and a large number of Indonesian fans called for Kluivert's immediate dismissal. Following Klinsmann and Mancini, the European "star coach" coached the Asian national team unadaptable, and a new typical case was born.

As early as the beginning of January this year, when Kluivert unexpectedly became the new coach of the Indonesian team, there was a hot search for "Kluivert's resignation" on the Indonesian social media platform. Many Indonesian fans did not approve of the Dutch star's previous coaching experience, and Kluivert responded positively to the matter at the time, saying that everything would change over time. But the Dutchman's debut performance proved that the fans' negative prediction of Kluivert was very "accurate".

After Austrian coach Leedel in October 2010, Kluivert had the worst debut of the Indonesian team in the last 15 years and 10 foreign coaches. In 15 years, Frontdel lost 1-7 to the world champion Uruguay in the warm-up match of his debut, but there was not a single naturalized player in the starting lineup of the Indonesian team that year. Kluivert's predecessor, Shen Tailong, also lost 3-1 to Oman on his debut in May 2021, and the Indonesian team started with a lot of Under-20 players, with only one foreign player and no naturalized player. Kluivert's Indonesian team had as many as 10 high-level naturalized players starting, so the 1-5 defeat was even more unacceptable to Indonesian fans.

Kluivert is the 25th foreign coach of the Indonesian team (including its predecessor, the Dutch East Indies) since 1934 and the 7th Dutch coach. No previous coach has had such a brilliant resume: Kluivert is one of Ajax's "95 Golden Generation" totems, played for Milan and Barcelona for seven seasons, was a member of the Euro 2000 Golden Boot and the best team, and has a glamorous career resume. His only previous achievement as a coach was a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup as an assistant coach, but the Dutch team's success owes more to coach Louis van Gaal.

Indonesian Football Association President Tohir went to Europe at the end of last year to interview candidates for new coaches, and only Kluivert alone finalized the new coach, and the "star halo" is an important factor. While it makes sense for a Dutch coach to coach an Indonesian team with mostly naturalized players from the Netherlands, it is worth reflecting on whether Kluivert is suitable. Tohir's choice of Kluivert was not only blinded by the "halo of stars", but also ignored the traditional "internal friction" culture of Dutch football. Dutch football is known for its players who are keen on tactical discussions and ignore the authority of coaches, and the main reason for the dismissal of former Indonesian coach Shin Tai Long is that some naturalized players question his use of personnel and tactics.

What's more, most of the naturalized players of this Indonesian team joined the team one after another during the World Preliminaries. The total training and competition time for each international break is only about a week, which is a serious lack of running-in. It was difficult for Kluivert, who had little experience in independent coaching, to run in with naturalized players who were unfamiliar to each other in a short period of time, and the first game was Australia, the third strongest opponent in Asia. After the Indonesian team lost to Australia, the Indonesian media also exposed that the players in the team questioned the coach's personnel and tactics. If Indonesia fail to beat Bahrain at home, Kluivert's crisis of confidence will erupt completely.

From Klinsmann and Mancini last year to Kluivert this year, the failure of European "star coaches" who coach Asian national teams has become a noteworthy phenomenon. Since the 21st century, there has been basically no precedent for European "star coaches" to coach Asian national teams. In June 2011, the Saudi Football Association hired Rijkaard, one of the "Dutch Three Musketeers", as the coach of the national team.

As a result, the Saudi Arabian team missed the top 10 of the 2014 World Cup, and missed the final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the first time since the 1986 World Cup, missing two consecutive World Cup finals. At the end of 2012, the Saudi Arabian team stopped in the group stage after four Gulf Cups, and Rijkaard was disgraced. Mancini, who coached the Saudi team in August 2023, received the highest salary of 25 million euros as a global coach, but the Saudi team stopped in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup, and only scored 5 points in the first 4 rounds of the round of 18, and was fired by the Saudi Football Association.

I have to say that the aura of European stars is actually still attractive to the Asian football circle. Chung Mong-kyu, chairman of the Korean Football Association, only heard a joke from Klinsmann in the box at the 2022 World Cup, and insisted on appointing the German as the coach, which resulted in the South Korean team being defeated in the Asian Cup, and there was also player infighting and coach selection scandals. In addition, Paulo Bento (South Korea, 2018-2022), Wilmots (Iran, 2019), Stimachi (India, 2019-2024) have also failed to achieve the success expected by their respective football associations and fans in the Asian national teams.

In 2002 and 2011, the national football team had scandals with Rijkaard, and in 2002, Philips, a sponsor of the Chinese Football Association, proposed that if a Dutch coach was appointed, the annual salary of the coach could be afforded, but in the end, the Football Association chose Alihan, who had more coaching experience.

In 2011, Rijkaard finally opted for a higher bid Saudi team, while the Chinese Football Association hired Real Madrid and Spanish national team legend Camacho. As a result, he missed the top 10 matches of the 2014 World Cup, losing 0-8 to Brazil, and the national football world ranking fell to a record low of 109. In June 2013, he lost 1-5 to Thailand. In 2019, the Football Association tried to invite Italian legend Cannavaro to coach, but he led the team to play in the China Cup in March, losing 0-1 to Thailand and Uzbekistan at the bottom of the rankings, and very wisely returned to the position of head coach of Evergrande.

For Asian football, a star coach from a European football legend may not be a good choice. Limited by the level of football, the coaching environment in Asian football is generally more complex than in Europe, and the work that needs to be done to lead the team is more. Roberto Mancini, Jurgen Klinsmann and Kluivert clearly lack understanding of the complexities of the situation, and it seems a bit crude to conquer players with their charisma alone. The failure of these people to coach in Asia has actually served as a wake-up call for Chinese football. When choosing a coach in the future, there will be fewer detours and less tuition.