No need for physical trainer, Held says

Sigfried Held, the national coach, does not see the need for a physical trainer for the Malta squad. This emerged from Tuesday's Malta FA council meeting which discussed the national teams.

Joe Mifsud, the association president, said the national teams are discussed regularly during meetings with the coaches and other members of the technical staff.

"Lately, we have asked Mr Held whether he recommends the engagement of a physical trainer but he insisted that he can take care of the players' physical preparation," Mifsud said as the council members debated the reasons which are hindering the progress of the national teams.

Mifsud remarked that Held's appointment last year was aimed at ensuring the best preparation for the squad ahead of their EURO 2004 qualifiers.

"Held was our chosen candidate because of his experience, especially after taking into account the impact he had on Iceland when he was in charge of their national team," Mifsud said.

"But the conditions in Malta are different. The players in Iceland are not spoilt, maybe because the cold weather there encourages them to work harder. Iceland is a modest nation but they have many players in some of the best leagues in Europe.

"The situation is very much different here. Most of the players have their jobs and this makes it difficult for them to concentrate fully on their football even if we have put in place a scheme of two training sessions daily.

"Despite this, we have been finding it hard to improve attendance for the morning sessions for a variety of reasons. Suffice to say that some are reluctant to leave their job because they don't want to jeopardise their chances of promotion."

Mifsud said the results in the friendlies before the Euro qualifiers were very positive but the team has since struggled, losing its opening four group games against Slovenia, Israel, France and Cyprus.

"We were hopeful that the team would achieve something at home against Israel and away to Cyprus. Against the latter, we had two clear goalscoring chances in the first half and had we scored at least once, the result would perhaps have been different. We managed to score a late goal to make it 2-1 and that at least shed a positive light on the team's physical condition because the players kept driving forward till the end," Mifsud said.

This criticism may sound rather mild but the MFA president did not hold back from questioning the character and dedication of the players.

"Cyprus and Israel are two problem-dogged countries but their players have displayed good physical and psychological attitudes. Over there everyone is obliged to do one year of military service and that helps to strengthen their character and resolve.

"It certainly shows in their committed performances... they are determined to stand up and be noticed even when the going gets tough.

"On the contrary, we have a knack of giving up the desire to fight when a goal down. The game against Slovenia, where Malta lost 3-0, was a case in point. Character problems among our players persist. The prevailing attitude in Malta is too laid-back," Mifsud commented.

The training scheme has often come under fire in the aftermath of poor results by the national team. Mifsud defended the policy, claiming that they have been doing their best to enhance the standard of Maltese football.

"Our commitment to the national teams is total but these efforts are not necessarily reflected in the results of the team. Moreover, we also have to bear in mind that our selection options are limited and this is mirrored in the standard of the league.

"The pace is slow. Indeed, it is very difficult to eradicate certain habits when our players get used to this kind of environment," Mifsud said.

New Premier League format?

The format of the Premier League has been changed a couple of times over the last decade to boost the standard of play. For the last three seasons, the ten teams in the league have been playing two rounds of matches against each other before they are split into two groups. At the end of the regular two rounds, the best classified six clubs make the championship pool with the remaining four forming the relegation pool.

This format has often been criticised as being too drawn-out and failing to capture the interest of local fans in the early stages.

Mifsud said that the MFA would not hesitate to change the format again in the future, suggesting that the association is prepared to discuss a reduction in the number of teams.

"What's wrong in revising the format of the Premier League if this is done for the good of our football?" he asked. "To enhance quality and competitiveness, we may have to reduce the teams in the Premier League to eight and have a league of three or four rounds."