Fair Play: Why I'm not worried with Weiss' experiment

I GUESS, I'd be part of the minority if I say I see nothing wrong with the latest personnel experiment Coach Michael Weiss is conducting with the Azkals--specifically the one involving Jason de JOng and Jeffrey Christaens--who both started on defense in that 3-1 loss to a Chicago club.

Based on what we've seen in previous games, Christaens is an effective winger, why drag him all the way to defense?

Well, why not?



Just because we saw him play brilliantly on the wing doesn't mean that's all he's capable of.  And I think this is what all what Coach Weiss wants to know--to know what Christaens is capable of.  

If he was to play in his usual position, he'd be competing for Chieffy Caligdong's spot, and he's already shown that he can do well as a winger.  And besides, when it comes to the senior team, we are loaded with midfielders and strikers, and we need defenders.

Rob Gier and Ray Johnsson are north of 30, and Aly Borromeo, himself a former striker, isn't 100 percent, yet.

So I think that's why Coach Weiss fielded a winger on defense.  Sure, we have other defenders in the US camp, but I guess, the staff  knows what the veterans can and cannot do.

"Our veterans are here to provide guidance to the younger players. They understand their role now," Dan Palami said in a message the other day.

Dan says Christaens "could be taught by Ray Johnnson and could be an asset with his speed."

Yes, the Suzuki Cup is just less than four months away, but I’m not too worried about how the training camp is being done, besides the last coach I know who experimented with  a striker on defense  ended up finishing third in the UFL second division.

Yes, I may sound as an apologist for the staff but just because we don’t understand what they’re doing doesn’t mean they don’t have an idea what they’re doing. Unless, of course, they start fielding Ed Sacapano on the field and Phil Younghusband on defense.

By the way, I asked Dan if changes will be made for Saturday’s game against the US Virgin Islands, and he said there would be, if the game would push through.

Yep, it seems the USVI team is having difficulties getting to Chicago so it’s not even sure if we’re going to have the match.  

So what’s the contingency?

Dan said, “I treat this as a training camp...We continue to train and we will have scrimmages with other teams here to test player/position.”

Hmmm, so I guess we should expect more personnel changes.