THE Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) latest effort to raise the standard of Malaysian soccer indicates that those in charge are missing the big picture (”FAM’s winning formula … Rush + United + Khairy” - NST, Feb 5).

Hiring an ex-great footballer to teach our strikers the art of scoring goals will not do it for Malaysia. Neither will sending a coach to Manchester United for three short weeks to shadow their assistant manager, Carloz Queroz.

A study of the modern game will show us that the strongest strikeforce starts from the team’s defence.

How often do we see defenders in top European leagues going all the way into the opposition’s territory to cross the ball for the strikers to score.

Strong defence and midfield will also keep the ball in the opposition’s half for longer, maintaining pressure on the other team’s defence, thus allowing the strikers more scoring opportunities.

But, more importantly, I believe that Manchester United (or Arsenal or Chelsea for that matter) is a hugely successful team not only because of Sir Alex Ferguson or their star players.

I don’t believe it’s the money either. Look at what happened to individuals such as David Beckham, Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke - all accomplished players during their MU days - after they left their clubs.

I believe it has something to do with the entire MU organisation, from its top executives to the talent scouts to the various trainers, all the way down to the lowly backroom staff.

What about their training regimes, players’ diet, and soccer academy to nurture young talents? In short, we need to take a careful look at the entire way we manage not only the team and players but also the FAM.

Some call this a “systemic view”. To quote W. Edwards Deming, the guru of gurus in quality improvement: “Workers work within a system that - try as they might - is beyond their control. It is the system, not the individual skills, that determine how they perform.”

Quality improvement is not rocket science. But there is a method to it. Third-world countries in Africa can do it. Our neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam are showing signs of marked improvements all the time.

For FAM, it will take some soul-searching, a bit of strategic thinking, and sheer determination to succeed. The rest is execution and the discipline to carry it through. Classic Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle for those who are into management.

But, of course, we also need full-time professionals, not career politicians, to run FAM. This is to avoid interference, whether for political or personal gains, to the detriment of the organisation’s set goals.

Politicians are fine, only if they can add value by helping the professionals to run the organisation smoothly. Their numbers, though, must be kept to the bare minimum.

A. RIZAL, Subang Jaya

Source: NST – February 14, 2008