Stange must take responsibility for defeat

Head coach Bernd Stange should take responsibility for the defeat and poor performance by the Singapore national football team against Syria ("Give me more time: Stange"; Nov 18).

The team is toothless in attack, clueless in defence and seems to have moved backwards instead of forward in the two years under him.

Stange has a history of playing players out of position, and this was evident in the match against Syria.

Safuwan Baharudin was pushed from centre back to striker, Sharil Ishak and Sahil Suhaimi were not used, and the team played defensively when they needed goals.

The players looked lost against the professional Syrians.

They did not seem to string their passes well and kept relying on long balls, hoping that Safuwan could head them in.

Stange's tactics have bewildered Singapore fans. It was not a matter of losing but, rather, the way we lost.

As a long-time football fan, I feel that we have had enough of Stange and it is time to give a local coach a chance. After all, they know local football well and can do no worse.

Bai Zhongkai

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