Thai public opinion is concerned about coach Akira Nishino's tactics.
(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, Coach Akira Nishino held a press conference to announce his preparation plan for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. Thai media was surprised by the way the Japanese coach prepared for this tournament.
According to Siamsport on the afternoon of December 21, coach Akira Nishino has just confirmed that he will adjust the tactical formation of U23 Thailand to compete in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. For a long time, both the Thai national team and U22 Thailand have often played with the 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2 formation and recently U22 Thailand disappointed and was eliminated from the group stage.
Change tactics
This newspaper revealed that coach Nishino will use the 5-3-2 tactical formation to compete in the U23 Asian tournament. This is the formation that Vietnamese teams often apply, with a large number of players in defense, creating the necessary certainty in tournaments at the continental level and above.
![]() |
Siamsport newspaper revealed that coach Nishino will use the 5-3-2 tactical formation to compete in the U23 Asian tournament. Photo: Mmsport. |
Coach Akira Nishino believes that the 5-3-2 formation can be flexibly transformed into a 3-5-2, or a 3-4-3, thanks to the mobility of the two wingers. The application of this new formation shows that Coach Nishino will use the striker duo Supachai Jaided and Suphanat Mueanta (or Sittichok Paso) at the same time.
Late meeting
But surprisingly, when changing the tactical scheme, Mr. Akira Nishino still called up the team quite late, until December 26th, the U23 Thai players gathered. After only a few days of training, they had two days off at the beginning of the new year and will finalize the official list of 23 players before the holiday. Mr. Nishino said that the players need to rest to avoid feeling "bored" after a stressful season.
Coach Akira Nishino and the U23 Thailand players only have 3 days to assemble the squad, before announcing the official list of players who will participate in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. The U23 Thailand team will play the opening match on January 8, 2020 against a very strong opponent, U23 Australia.
![]() |
Mr. Nishino believes that players need to rest to avoid feeling "bored" after a stressful season. Photo: Mmsport. |
“I watched the U22 Thailand team compete in the 30th SEA Games. The young players showed great individual technical skills, even better than the Japanese players. However, they are still immature, lack battle experience and have a lot to learn,” Chanathip Songkrasin, a star currently playing in Japan, recently shared.
In the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, in addition to Japan, the remaining teams will compete for 3 tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so it is expected that there will be fierce competition. After consecutive failures at the 2018 AFF Cup and the recent 30th SEA Games, looking at the training plan of coach Akira Nishino and his team is raising certain concerns.
Not spending much time training for the 30th SEA Games, not even calling up 2 players over 22 years old, the peak of Thailand U23's form for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. But this time, if the results are not good, Mr. Akira Nishino will have a hard time with Thai public opinion.