Jason Pine: Football Ferns let down by disgraceful tactics

Football Ferns head coach Andreas Heraf. Photosport

OPINION

Never have I seen a coach so happy after a loss.

Sitting in the post-match media conference after watching the Football Ferns go down 3-1 to Japan, coach Andreas Heraf declared himself satisfied they had not lost by more.

That after his team ceded three-quarters of possession to their opponents and played some of the most defensive and negative football seen by a national team in recent history.

It was a breathtaking display of misplaced smugness from the man in charge.

It had been a great week up until then.

The ground-breaking Collective Bargaining Agreement was officially signed, giving the Football Ferns parity with their male counterparts.

The players spoke eloquently and passionately about the pride they felt representing their country.

A record crowd turned up to watch at Westpac Stadium.

But the side was forced to go out and play like that because the coach didn't want to lose 8-0.

It's actually disgraceful.

The other telling comment Heraf made was New Zealand couldn't hope to compete with higher-ranked sides and this was the only way to limit the damage.

As those words sunk in, my first reaction was a deep sympathy for the Football Ferns.

They are a wonderfully engaging group of athletes who want to represent their country at the highest level and wear the fern with pride.

They want to go to the World Cup next year.

But they're being made to play a dreadful system because their coach believes they're not good enough to compete with better teams.

How are those players feeling when their coach - their mentor - is drilling into them that we can't hope to be competitive, so instead we're just going to park a big bus in front of the goal?

Throwing the players under one, more like.

The players are not to blame here; they would have hated playing that way yesterday, but what choice did they have?

The extremely worrying part of all this is that Heraf isn't just in charge of the Football Ferns.

He's New Zealand Football's Technical Director, overseeing our entire elite football programme.

Is he really going to sit across a desk from Ryan Thomas, playing superbly in the top Dutch league and tell him he can't compete with the world's best players?

Will he be saying the same to Premier League regulars Winston Reid and Chris Wood?

It's a ludicrous mindset, and a dangerous one.

Already his antiquated methods are beginning to seep down into our football system.

I heard from more than one parent last night who told me their children, involved in under-age camps, are being told the centre-backs are forbidden to pass to midfield players inside their own half.

One of the parents told me his promising 14-year old daughter is a defensive midfielder and she never gets the ball anymore.

You reckon she'll stay in the game if this continues?

In truth, this has nothing to do with the players at Heraf's disposal.

Three years ago, almost to the day, on the same patch of grass, the Austrian under-20 side (coached by Heraf) employed precisely the same tactics against Argentina when the two met in the 2015 under-20 World Cup.

Argentina had 71 percent of possession and fired off 27 shots at goal, compared to Austria's four.

Andreas Heraf is an inherently negative coach.

In itself, there's nothing wrong with that; football comes in many forms.

But to deflect attention from that by saying he's forced to play that way because New Zealanders aren't very good at football is completely disingenuous.

Maybe in the past, that was true.

Not now.

Not with dozens of players plying their trade professionally in good leagues around the world.

This simply cannot be allowed to continue.

Our game cannot be hi-jacked like this and set back thirty years.

In a time when there are more talented youngsters playing football than ever before, Heraf - and those who hired him - must come under severe scrutiny.

It's simply not good enough for him to say we're not good enough.