KUALA LUMPUR: Football critic Sadek Mustafa has predicted a challenging road ahead for newly appointed national senior team head coach Peter Cklamovski.
"From his credentials, Cklamovski appears to be a solid choice, but coaching a national team is a completely different challenge compared to a club," said Sadek yesterday.
The national team chief coach's post fell vacant following the sudden resignation of South Korean Kim Pan Gon in July, and Spaniard Pau Marti Vicente is now acting as interim coach.
The FA of Malaysia announced yesterday the appointment of Australian Cklamovski as the new head coach of the national team.
Earlier, Timesport had reported that Cklamovski, 46, who had worked with Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou in Australia, was identified by FAM as the coach to lead Harimau Malaya.
Cklamovski was assistant to Postecoglou at the Australian team that won the 2015 Asian Cup, and he also coached J1 League side, Yokohama F. Marinos, in 2019. His most recent job was with FC Tokyo.
Cklamovski will be tasked with preparing Harimau Malaya for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers in March next year and improving Malaysia's world ranking.
"He will need to do plenty of homework to raise the team's tactical and physical levels. Malaysia's performance against New Zealand (in a friendly) recently showed we still have a huge gap to bridge, especially in sustaining high performance for 90 minutes," said Sadek.
He said the structural and political complexities of Malaysian football, including systemic issues within local clubs, except for Johor Darul Ta'zim who he hailed as a paragon of professionalism, must be addressed.
"Cklamovski must navigate not only the performance challenges but also the political dynamics in Malaysian football."
Sadek also expressed cautious optimism about the appointment of new national Under-23 coach Nafuzi Zain as his role is vital for the nation's footballing pipeline.
"The Under-23 team are the feeder for the senior squad. Nafuzi needs to expose his players to competitive matches abroad and push them out of their comfort zones to prepare them for international challenges."
However, Sadek lamented about the neglect of local grassroots talent in favor of foreign-born players.
"It's sad to see local kids losing opportunities because their talent is going unnoticed. We need to ensure that development at home is prioritised, even as we seek talent abroad," he said.
FAM, which is restructuring the national football set-up, will also appoint a new CEO and have an upgraded medical team utilising advanced technology to enhance players' fitness, recovery, and overall performance.
"This is part of several initiatives and changes to implement a new organisational structure for Harimau Malaya.
"Today, we officially announce two key individuals to lead this revolution," said FAM in a statement yesterday.