KUALA LUMPUR: The Young Tigers need to overhaul their playing style to make an impact at next year's Junior World Cup (JWC) in India.
I. Vickneswaran's squad displayed moments of brilliance but were largely inconsistent throughout their campaign in the recently concluded Junior Asia Cup (JAC) in Muscat, Oman, where they finished fourth.
Key issues included poor finishing, shaky defending and subpar penalty corner conversions.
Malaysia earned 32 penalty corners in six matches but converted just nine.
Ranked No. 11 in the junior world rankings, Malaysia defeated world No. 48 China 5-2 and Oman 9-1 (No. 33) but struggled in a 2-2 draw against No. 21 Bangladesh.
The Under-21 side failed to match eventual finalists Pakistan and champions India (No. 2), losing 4-1 and 3-1 in the group stage and semi-finals, respectively.
In Wednesday's third-place playoff, world No. 18 Japan edged Malaysia 2-1.
Coach Vickneswaran faces a minor rebuild with six players becoming ineligible for next year's JWC.
They are goalkeepers Rafaizul Saini and Daish Afnan Kamarul Azlan, defenders Disairul Fazrien Nazrien and Zulhanif Safran, midfielder Danish Danial Abdul Wahab, and forward Che Nur Aqilrulah Che Khaiulzi Anwar.
The coach has about a year to prepare the team.
Former national junior coach Nor Saiful Zaini noted slight improvement in the Young Tigers' performance at the JAC compared to their last-place finish at the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) in October.
"If we want to improve, we must change how we play hockey. The team need to adopt modern hockey to match the top sides," said Saiful.
"They must improve their strength, ball control, passing, and finishing."
Saiful also recommended 30 high-level matches against European teams ahead of the JWC, along with improvements in penalty corner execution and goalkeeping.
For the record, Malaysia finished 12th out of 16 teams in last year's JWC in Kuala Lumpur.