Indonesia's change of coach has accelerated Dutchization, but the new coach has been questioned

The reporter reported coldly Although the Italian newspaper "Torino Sport" revealed last week that Tohir wanted a European coach to coach the Indonesian team, when the president of the Indonesian Football Association suddenly announced on January 6 that the South Korean coach of the Indonesian team, Shin Tae-ryong, would be out of class, the Indonesian media and football circles were still shocked and puzzled.

In fact, Shen Tailong's dismissal was not due to the poor performance of the just-concluded Southeast Asian Cup, but to the failure to make full use of the naturalized players. Tohir said that the Indonesian team needs coaches who can continue to improve according to the established strategy, and announced that the three candidates for the Indonesian team's successor coach are all Dutch coaches. The new coach will be officially announced on January 11 and will attend the debut press conference on the 12th.

At present, Dutch football legend Kluivert has become the biggest favorite, and the famous transfer expert Romano even claimed that the 48-year-old Dutchman has agreed with the Indonesian team for a 2+2 contract. With the arrival of a Dutch coach and the entry of more naturalized players with Dutch backgrounds, the "Dutchization" of the Indonesian team is accelerating.

Shen Tailong, who just renewed his contract with the Indonesian Football Association last summer, was suddenly fired, not because of his recent poor performance in leading the team. After all, he just led the team to defeat the strong rival Saudi Arabia 2-0 in November last year, and the Indonesian team ranked third after 6 rounds of the round of 18, which was in line with the pre-match expectations of the Indonesian Football Association. Indonesian media analyzed the deep reasons for Shen Tailong's resignation, first revealing that after the Indonesian team lost 1-2 to the national football team in October last year, the Indonesian Football Association had intended to change the coach. It's just that the time is too tight to find the right person to give up.

Tohir said that the change of coach is the result of a comprehensive evaluation to improve the performance of the Indonesian team, emphasizing that the Indonesian team needs leaders who can better execute the skills and tactics. He also claimed that the change of manager was the result of negotiations with the players of the Indonesian team, but naturalized defender Habner and homegrown midfielder Ferdinand both said that they did not approve of the change of manager. Tohir hopes that the coach of the Indonesian team can have better communication skills and increase team cohesion in the national team, which is dominated by naturalized players. The Indonesian Football Association will rely on naturalized players to improve the performance of the Indonesian team as a long-term strategy, and the cooperation with Dutch football is deeply bound, and the Dutch coach will definitely play a more important role in Indonesian football.

Indonesian media revealed that Tohir continued to send naturalized players to the Indonesian team last year, but Shen Tailong did not reuse all of them. Wing-back Reinders, who was naturalised in September, played just 45 minutes against Bahrain in October and did not play in any of the next three games, including two games against China and Japan. In addition to Reinders Jr., who was not on the list of games in the national football team, there were also two naturalized players on the bench, Walsh and Haye, who were very dissatisfied with Tohir, who was struggling to find naturalized players. Tohir hopes that the coach of the Indonesian team will communicate with the naturalized players without barriers, and can give priority to the reuse of naturalized players, so it is inevitable that Shen Tailong will be removed and the Dutch coach will take over.

Shin Tai Long's results are not bad, which is the main reason why the Indonesian media believes that he should not be fired. In the more than four years since Shin Tailong took office, the Indonesian team has risen 50 places in the world rankings. At the beginning of last year, he led the Indonesian team to the knockout round of the Asian Cup, defeating the number one opponent in Southeast Asia Vietnam three times in half a year. In addition, they won the gold medal in the 2023 Southeast Asian Sports Men's Football Championship, finished second in the U23 Southeast Asia Youth Championship (2023) and Southeast Asia Cup (2019), and finished fourth in the U23 Asian Cup (2024). But it did not meet Tohir's requirements, and Shin Tailong could only calmly accept the reality of being fired.

After Shen Tailong left class on Monday, Fabrizio Romano, a well-known transfer expert, broke the news that the 48-year-old Kluivert was the new coach of the Indonesian team. Thohir only admitted that Kluivert is one of the three candidates for the new manager, but confirmed that the new manager's contract is 2+2 years, which is in line with the contract year revealed by Romano. Thohir also announced that the new coach will be officially announced on January 11 and will participate in the debut press conference on the 12th. Later, the new coach will meet with the Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, and may even be received by the Indonesian president, which shows the importance that Tohir attaches to the new coach of the Indonesian team.

Indonesian media have listed seven candidates who are currently idle and may be on the list of three candidates for the new coach of the Indonesian team. In addition to Kluivert, there is also Ten Hag, who was sacked from Manchester United in November last year, Van Bronckhorst, who is of Indonesian descent, as well as Van Bommel, De Boer, Cocu and others. When asked by reporters if it was Ten Hag, Thohir smiled and left the suspense for the new coach of the Indonesian team. But with the revelations of the famous transfer expert Romano, Kluivert has become the biggest favorite for the new coach of the Indonesian team. However, then Indonesian media reported that the Indonesian Football Association admitted that negotiations were underway, but it had not yet reached the point of signing.

Like Shin Tai Long's sudden dismissal, Kluivert's emergence as a big hit has also raised questions in the Indonesian media.

Kluivert's football days led to the death of a speeding car accident, as well as a scandal involving alleged sexual assault and a gambling debt of up to 1 million euros after retiring from football. In addition to the scandal, Kluivert's coaching resume is also very bad. The only achievement was the Dutch Youth League title with FC Twente in 2011/12.

He then joined Louis van Gaal's Dutch coaching staff and finished third in the 2014 World Cup as an assistant coach. In 2015 and 2021, Kluivert coached the CONCACAF Curacao team twice, but the results were not ideal. Curacao also suffered a 4-0 defeat to Bahrain in October 2021, leading the team to 4 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses in 14 games. Kluivert has coached four times independently, involving only two teams, and the results have been poor. Adana, who coached the Turkish Super League in the summer of 2023, was fired in less than half a year due to poor results. The Indonesian media expressed cautious optimism that Kluivert, who has little coaching experience and poor results, will become the new coach of the Indonesian team.

In addition to appointing a Dutch coach, Thohir announced that he would naturalize Dutch winger Rommeni and midfielder Ledwald. He has also brought Romeni to his Championship side, Oxford United, with a view to completing the naturalisation of the duo to Indonesia by March. The "Dutchization" process of the Indonesian team has made great strides, but even the Indonesian media have warned that a change of coach in the middle of the process is not always successful, just look at the Saudi team.