Kluivert and Troussier: Failed reformers in Southeast Asian football

(Dan Tri) - The efforts of two coaches, Patrick Kluivert and Philippe Troussier, to bring an attacking, ball-controlling style of play to the Indonesian and Vietnamese national teams were both unsuccessful. They both had the same outcome, which was a miserable failure.

Coach Kluivert dreams in the archipelago

On January 8, the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) made a shocking decision. They fired coach Shin Tae Yong, who was helping the Indonesian team play well, and appointed famous player Patrick Kluivert to the "hot seat". The reason given by PSSI is that coach Kluivert can communicate well with the players in Dutch.

Coach Kluivert failed with the ball control and attacking style of play with the Indonesian team (Photo: Reuters).

The dream of turning the Indonesian team into “the Netherlands 2.0” of billionaire Erick Thohir (President of PSSI) has taken a significant step forward. On the day of his debut, Coach Kluivert appeared in a smart suit and a traditional Indonesian Peci hat. He loudly declared: “I really like attacking football and controlling the game. I am familiar with this tactic. I used to be an assistant to Coach Van Gaal, we perfected the same tactic. Normally, I will apply the 4-3-3 tactic but it depends on the comfort of the players.”

Obviously, right from the beginning, Coach Kluivert determined the guiding principle of the new Indonesian team, which is attack, attack and attack. As a person with Dutch blood (famous for the total playing style), who played for Barcelona (a super attacking club) and was a student of the master of ball control Van Gaal, Coach Kluivert is clearly a crazy follower of attacking football.

This style is in stark contrast to what Indonesia had previously pursued under coach Shin Tae Yong. The Korean coach advocated defensive counter-attacking play. This style of play has helped Garuda (the Indonesian team’s nickname) gradually progress to the stage of Asia’s top teams. They won 1, drew 1 against Saudi Arabia and held Australia to a draw in the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Not to mention whether coach Shin Tae Yong continues to lead Indonesia, can enter the 2026 World Cup or not, but it can be seen that PSSI has done something that few people dare to do. That is to suddenly change the team's playing style when it is playing well in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. From playing the role of stalkers, Indonesian players have to "hold guns and go hunting", playing with the mentality of a strong team.

In the long run, PSSI is not wrong in wanting the team to switch to a possession-based style of play, gradually asserting its position in Asia. However, they seem to have been too hasty in appointing coach Kluivert.

Saudi Arabia played high pressing, blocking Indonesia's attacks very well. That made Garuda passive for most of the match (Screenshot).

The Dutch tactician had little time to experiment, and had to immediately enter the intense battles in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He was “welcomed” by a 1-5 defeat to Australia on his debut day. Not stopping there, Indonesia also lost 0-6 to Japan a few months later.

Kluivert's Indonesia also dared to play fair with Saudi Arabia away from home and even continuously pressured Iraq in the matches in the 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. As a result, they tasted bitter fruit in both matches and their dream of participating in the World Cup was shattered.

One thing in common is that Saudi Arabia and Iraq both use high pressing to paralyze Indonesia’s system. The Indonesian team is just a collection of second-rate players from Europe. They are not good enough to break down the opponent’s system and create breakthroughs.

In particular, in the match against Saudi Arabia, Indonesia’s midfield was almost paralyzed, leading to the attack being “starved of the ball”. Coach Kluivert continuously instructed center-back Kevin Diks to use long passes to take advantage of the attack’s speed, but to no avail.

Indonesia’s central midfielders Joey Pelupessy and Marc Klok were given a rather low rating by Flashscore at 6.2 and 5.7 points. The duo were quite slow and had poor maneuverability, which resulted in their inability to intercept and lack of flexibility in launching attacks.

It can be seen that Coach Kluivert’s attacking and ball-controlling style of play has not been able to help Indonesia make a difference against big opponents. In fact, in some ways, it can even harm the team, such as the losses against Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Japan or Australia.

Kluivert’s dream of turning Indonesia into “Total Netherlands 2.0” was shattered. His dismissal when he could not complete the task was inevitable.

The Indonesian Football Federation once almost invited coach Troussier to be the Technical Director (Photo: Manh Quan).

Kluivert follows in the footsteps of his predecessor Troussier.

There is a little-noticed detail: after appointing coach Kluivert, PSSI contacted coach Troussier to take the position of Technical Director. PSSI Executive Committee member Arya Sinulingga confirmed this information to Bola: “It is true that there were discussions between us and Mr. Troussier. Everything went very smoothly and successfully. However, we still have many other candidates.”

In the end, the PSSI chose Jordi Cruyff, son of the late legend Johan Cruyff, to take over. Assuming Troussier is chosen, it would be an interesting combination of him and Kluivert.

Before Kluivert, Coach Troussier wanted to completely “transform” Vietnamese football with an attacking style of play and ball control. He believed that only by doing so, Vietnamese football could reach new heights and assert its position in Asia.

To carry out this plan, the French coach “destroyed and rebuilt” the Vietnamese team. The team’s veterans were eliminated from the plan, replaced by young players. He hoped that this completely new generation of players would no longer be dependent on the defensive counter-attacking philosophy of his predecessor Park Hang Seo, so that they could “absorb” his playing style as quickly as possible.

Before coach Kluivert, coach Troussier failed with his ball control style of play with the Vietnamese team (Photo: Manh Quan).

“When we control the ball well, the opponent has to defend and react to us. Controlling the ball is the best defense,” coach Troussier shared before the match against Iraq in November 2023.

The French coach’s point of view is not wrong. Ball control is the trend of modern football and is the only way to help a team grow “sustainably”. However, this “formula” is not easy to absorb in a short time, especially in Southeast Asian football, when teams often tend to play counter-attacks.

In the end, Coach Troussier's plan was completely ruined. The Vietnam team lost 10/14 matches under his management. In which, we suffered extremely heavy defeats such as 0-6 against South Korea, 2-4 against Japan, 0-3 against Indonesia. Notably, in all three matches against Indonesia under Coach Shin Tae Yong, the Vietnam team lost.

And then, when they could not "absorb" the ball control style of coach Troussier, the Vietnamese team returned to the defensive counter-attacking style with another Korean coach, Kim Sang Sik.

There is one thing in common between the two coaches Troussier and Kluivert. They both wanted to “enlighten” Southeast Asian football with a possession-based style of play, but in the end, they both received the same result: being fired after failing miserably with this style of play. While coach Troussier was too hasty, wanting to make a complete change, his colleague Kluivert did not have time to experiment.

The Vietnamese team was forced to return to a defensive counter-attacking style of play with coach Kim Sang Sik and has had some success (Photo: Huong Duong).

Southeast Asian football is generally still at a fairly low level compared to Asia and the world . Even if the entire team is naturalized with second-rate players from Europe, Indonesia or Malaysia will find it difficult to rise to the "top table" in Asia overnight. Therefore, applying a ball control style of play, which requires high-level players, is not easy to do.

As public pressure grew and patience in football diminished, both coaches Kluivert and Troussier left Southeast Asian football as failures. They may have had the right ideals and strategies, but everything still needed time.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/kluivert-va-troussier-nhung-nha-cai-cach-that-bai-o-bong-da-dong-nam-a-20251017004815742.htm