THE state of Singapore football is indeed worrying.
Some blame Bernd Stange's coaching, but I would rather take a hard look at the failings of our footballing structure.
A strong national team needs a strong local league that supplies its players.
Two years after the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) decision to rejoin the Malaysia Super League (MSL), we see a shrunken S-League that reduces the playing chances of aspiring footballers.
The attention paid to the LionsXII aggravated the already limited media coverage given to the S-League.
Young Singaporeans dreaming of playing professional football one day no longer aim to get into one of the S-League teams, but seek to become one of the LionsXII.
That means the technical standard required would be at the level of the cohort of Singaporean players around the age of 23.
This compares with the more stringent technical standard of play required to compete for a playing slot in any of the S-League teams, which have no age limit, and have foreign players.
Since the formation of the LionsXII, our junior and senior national teams have been unable to compete internationally, even at the Asean level.
Our league clubs also fare poorly in regional competition.
Football as a career choice has been given a shock by the weak S-League and the mindset behind the aborted plan of early retirement for the S-League footballers based on age instead of merit ("Axed rule may not pave return for older players"; Nov 24, 2014).
The succession belt for producing quality national players has been damaged.
Our participation in the MSL is reducing the quality of a generation of our footballers.
What hope does the FAS give to Singapore's aspiring footballers? The message to them seems to be: Please aspire to be counted in the LionsXII, and, thereafter, good luck to you.
Liew Eng Leng
Some blame Bernd Stange's coaching, but I would rather take a hard look at the failings of our footballing structure.
A strong national team needs a strong local league that supplies its players.
Two years after the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) decision to rejoin the Malaysia Super League (MSL), we see a shrunken S-League that reduces the playing chances of aspiring footballers.
The attention paid to the LionsXII aggravated the already limited media coverage given to the S-League.
Young Singaporeans dreaming of playing professional football one day no longer aim to get into one of the S-League teams, but seek to become one of the LionsXII.
That means the technical standard required would be at the level of the cohort of Singaporean players around the age of 23.
This compares with the more stringent technical standard of play required to compete for a playing slot in any of the S-League teams, which have no age limit, and have foreign players.
Since the formation of the LionsXII, our junior and senior national teams have been unable to compete internationally, even at the Asean level.
Our league clubs also fare poorly in regional competition.
Football as a career choice has been given a shock by the weak S-League and the mindset behind the aborted plan of early retirement for the S-League footballers based on age instead of merit ("Axed rule may not pave return for older players"; Nov 24, 2014).
The succession belt for producing quality national players has been damaged.
Our participation in the MSL is reducing the quality of a generation of our footballers.
What hope does the FAS give to Singapore's aspiring footballers? The message to them seems to be: Please aspire to be counted in the LionsXII, and, thereafter, good luck to you.
Liew Eng Leng
