Heese expects answers from new-look team

Horst Heese may be an old acquaintance of Maltese football but he has promised to deliver a new-look national team.

Talk of new blood, new tactics and new mentality has been commonplace whenever Heese and Carmel Busuttil, Malta's former golden boy now acting as assistant national coach, discussed their plans for the team.

Discarding soldiers from the old guard constitutes a calculated risk by Heese, back at the helm of Malta after a two-and-a-half year spell between 1988 and 1991, but the German is adamant to press ahead with his own revolution.

A 4-0 drubbing to Poland last November heralded the start of the Heese-Busuttil coaching era but to many, the first semblance of a real test will come over the next six days when Malta defend their 2001 International Tournament success against Estonia, Belarus and Moldova.

Heese's initial formation for this afternoon's clash with Moldova - beaten 3-0 by Malta in the final match of the tournament in 2001 - evidences his resolve to trust in young talent.

A host of newcomers to the squad such as Ian Azzopardi, Claude Mattocks, both of Floriana, and Pietà attacking duo Ivan Woods and Cleaven Frendo have been handed starting roles.

Joe Brincat will lead the team out for their first International Tournament match in recognition of his sterling contribution to the Maltese team in an international career spanning more than 16 years.

Skipper David Carabott will start on the bench while other established players such as Gilbert Agius, Chucks Nwoko and Michael Mifsud are out of the squad. They took part in a training session yesterday morning but Heese said they are out of the equation today.

"These players didn't train regularly in the last few days due to injuries," Heese said.

"We have decided not to consider them for selection as we also want to try out new players. However, the absent players could return to the team in the next two games."

According to Heese, the 22-year-old Mifsud, arguably the country's most prolific striker at present, declared himself available to face Moldova today only to be told that the decision to drop him had already been made.

Heese's bold move to include a number of inexperienced players in his starting formation may have a few eyebrows raised but the Malta coach insisted that he is not afraid to experiment.

"I am not too concerned about having so many young players in the team," he said.

"We are using these games to increase our knowledge of who is capable of doing a job for Malta and who is not. We are looking for answers before the start of our World Cup games."

Although the International Tournament forms an important part of Malta's preparations for the Group Eight qualifiers, Heese is looking at the friendly against Finland next month as the first real test for his team.

In the 4-0 rout to Poland in November, Heese had opted for an experimental four-cum-five-man defence, something of a cross between the traditional libero system and the more modern four-in-line module.

The removal of the libero is generally regarded as a significant but risky step for Malta, given that most of our clubs still favour the old-fashioned approach. Heese will stick with his avowed intent.

"We have given a lot of attention to our new defensive approach in training," Heese said.

"I have a good feeling about it. The flat-back four is an easy game but it's very hard to recreate real game situations during training because a proper match can unearth many new scenarios."

Malta's four-man defence today will be made up of Sliema trio Jeffrey Chetcuti, Brian Said and Stefan Giglio and Floriana's Azzopardi.

Heese was quick to insist he wants his players to defend as a team.

"Our defence has to start in attack. I expect our strikers and midfielders to work hard and harry opponents."

Barbara's omission

Etienne Barbara, top scorer for high-flying Marsaxlokk in the league, is a notable absentee from the formation. Heese sounded a sceptical note on Barbara's domestic performances.

"Barbara has been performing well in the league but his movement is not that impressive. There is a big gap between domestic and international football," Heese said.

Self-confidence of Maltese players is also known to be very fragile and Busuttil said this problem is also being tackled.

"In training, we constantly urge our players to believe more in their abilities. Although Malta is a small country, we want our team to always try and win even against bigger opponents," Busuttil said.

"Look at the U-21 team," Heese observed.

"They produced a very good performance in their 2-1 victory over Estonia in a friendly on Tuesday. We want players who are willing to roll up their sleeves and fight for each other."

Heese and Busuttil believe that unity and team spirit are crucial for Malta if our team is to make some sort of an impact on the international scene. "Our only hope of achieving something is through teamwork and togetherness," Busuttil said.

Results may not top the list of priorities of the Malta coaches ahead of the International Tournament but a victory today would serve to raise the spirits.

"Results breed confidence and it would be nice if we can go into our World Cup matches with some positive outcomes under our belts," Heese said.

The Maltese players will wear black armbands today as a sign of respect for the late Robbie Buttigieg. Buttigieg, a former Sliema and Malta player, and father of John Buttigieg who played 96 times for Malta, passed away earlier this week.

Malta's formation: M. Muscat, J. Chetcuti, B. Said, I. Azzopardi, S. Giglio, W. Camenzuli, N. Turner, J. Brincat, C. Mattocks, I. Woods, C. Frendo.

Referee: Valeri Vialichka (Belarus).

Malta Int. Tournament

Today
2 p.m. Belarus vs Estonia
4.15 p.m. Malta vs Moldova

Monday
4 p.m. Moldova vs Belarus
6.15 p.m. Malta vs Estonia

Wednesday
4 p.m. Estonia vs Moldova
6.15 p.m. Malta vs Belarus
Matches to be played at the National Stadium