The future of coach Akira Nishino with the Thai team has been questioned, as the "War Elephants" were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. As a famous strategist, who was the Technical Director of the Japan Football Association (JFA) as well as leading the Japanese team to the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup, this coach has not been very successful with Thai football.
Mr. Laohakul shared that Nishino's failure was predicted in advance. "To be honest, since the first time Nishino came here, he hasn't brought an assistant. I knew he couldn't stay. I told the Chairman FAT at that time not to marry Nishino. One is because he doesn't have an assistant, the other is because the salary is too high," Thairath quoted Mr. Laohakul as saying.
Coach Akira Nishino has led the Thai team since July 17, 2019, with a 2-year contract and a record high salary. The Japanese strategist receives a salary of 970,000 USD/year, higher than Kiatisak or Milovan Rajevac.
Notably, only Nishino received this salary, because he did not carry any personal assistants. On the contrary, under Kiatisak or Milovan Rajevac, there is always a separate crew to help him.
According to Laohakul, when negotiating the contract, Mr. Nishino worked with FAT himself. Financial factors are mentioned frankly by the Japanese strategist. On the other hand, FAT has not made strong arguments and has too little information to fully understand Nishino. In the end, FAT still signed Nishino, asking him to concurrently lead the U23 team.
In addition, according to Mr. Laohakul, Mr. Nishino's preparation for the Thai team for the 3 matches in the UAE was unreasonable.
"Nishino has watched many matches at all football fields in Thailand. But I don't understand why he brings so many players to the UAE. You have to know who you need, which system the team will play according to, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 and who is the most important... Those details, Nishino should have had the answer soon".
With his elimination, Nishino's future in the Thai national team is being questioned. Chairman FAT said he will talk to the Japanese strategist after the match against Malaysia on June 15 ends. According to Mr. Laohakul, if FAT still keeps Nishino, they need to ask the Japanese strategist to choose a trusted, careful group of assistants and do everything more thoroughly.
