July 9, 2018 @ 7:14pm
Australian David Ian Bell will coach on 'tackling' while Martijn Drijver of the Netherlands will train goalkeepers for a week.
And while national coach K. Dharmaraj said it would benefit his charges, Olympian and former Malaysian Hockey Confederation general manager Maninderjit Singh believes there are Malaysian's who can do the job just as well.
"My players do lack in the field of tackling (stopping a player from dribbling past) and it would be helpful in our campaign at the Asian Games when we play higher ranked teams like India, South Korea, Japan and China (depending on grouping).
"I have tried my best and even though they have improved in this department since I took over 30 months ago, having a new prespective from a different coach and approach is always welcome in my books," said Dharmaraj whose charges won the Hockey Series Open in Singapore by hammering Thailand 6-0.
And on the world renowned goalkeepers coach from Netherlands: "He has been here many times and coached out national men as well as women's goalkeepers and is here again to help in our Asian Games campaign.
"Some areas need a specific touch from the experts in that field, and we are lucky to get such help," said Dharmaraj.
However, Maninderjit Singh begs to differ.
"The main weaknesses in the men and women's team is in defence and bringing in David Bell as a consultant in that department is not conducive, because his training methods are old and not suitable with Malaysia's playing style.
"It is a waste of time and money as we do have better local coaches and they should have been utilised instead," said Maninderjit.
Malaysia's chances at the Games all depend on the grouping, which the Asian Hockey Federation have yet to release.
In the men's tournament, the qualifiers are hosts Indonesia, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Malaysia, China, Japan, Oman, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Taiwan.
There are only 10 teams in the women's event and they are hosts Indonesia, South Korea, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Kazakhstan.
