Thailand won 3-1 against the Philippines after 120 minutes of the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 semi-final (the total score of the two matches was 4-3). This result helped coach Masatada Ishii and his team win a ticket to the final to face Vietnam.
The fact that the "War Elephants" had to struggle to win caused the Thai media to express many dissatisfactions about the tactics and use of personnel by Mr. Masatada Ishii.
Thailand's Siam Sport newspaper published an article pointing out the problems behind Thailand's ticket to the final. In it, the author said that coach Masatada Ishii has not really had a reasonable way of using personnel in this year's tournament.
“The center-back position of the Thai team has changed many times through each match at the ASEAN Cup 2024, it seems that coach Masatada Ishii is still experimenting at this time.
This is definitely not a good problem for the Thai team because in the final match against the Vietnamese team, our defense will have to face striker Nguyen Xuan Son who is in good form. If we do not have a perfect central defender pair, defending the championship will be very difficult," Siam Sport analyzed.
Thailand's leading sports newspaper added more about the issue of using people by Mr. Masatada Ishii: "It is difficult to understand why coach Masatada Ishii often does not include midfielder Worachit in the starting lineup. The quality of the midfielder playing for Port FC is something that the Thai team really needs, but it seems that Mr. Masatada Ishii ignores that.
In addition, the Japanese strategist should give striker Patrik Gustavsson more time on the pitch instead of frequently substituting this Swedish striker midway. The return match against the Philippines was the fifth match in which this striker could not play the full 90 minutes, although he revealed that he was very energetic and confident. Especially in the context that the Thai team does not have a truly quality striker to replace him.
Siam Sport also commented that the Thai team had to "lose strength" in the second leg of the semi-final against the Singapore team when playing 120 minutes because Mr. Masatada Ishii was probably confident of a victory in 90 minutes.
“When Thailand led 2-0, coach Masatada Ishii seemed to have asked his players to play deep and actively defend. Because this was enough for Thailand to win the match and qualify for the final of the 2024 ASEAN Cup. However, the Philippines' goal to reduce the score to 1-2 changed everything.
Since the 10-0 victory over Timor Leste in the opening match of the 2024 ASEAN Cup, it feels like coach Masatada Ishii has not yet found the solution to make the Thai team truly united and play at their best," the article on Siam Sport added.
