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The Jamie Day era of Bangladesh football has most probably come to an end. The Englishman, according to the BFF officials, was sent on a break, but with the recent success of Bangladesh under Oscar Bruzon, it can be said that Jamie has no future here.
Jamie Day has been replaced by the Bashundhara Kings tactician Oscar Bruzon, right before the SAFF championship.
Jamie, who had an average stint with Bangladesh, was under heavy criticism after his constant failures since the World Cup qualifiers in Qatar, and the friendlies in Kyrgyzstan.
One of the main causes for his failures has been attributed to the tactics he devised. The old English style of football was what he tried to imply on the national team, which deprived the overall squad of success.
Day’s preferred formation was 4-2-3-1, which consisted of four defenders, two pivots, two wingers, one attacking midfielder, and one striker up front. He followed a defensive style of play, which increased the team’s defensive work rate to a huge extent.
Possession-based game, passing football, and build ups were not often seen from our footballers under his coaching. His methods focused a lot more on long balls and counterattacks, which naturally don’t fall under the strength of Bangladeshi players.
On the other hand, the Spanish gaffer, Oscar Bruzon, asks his team to play a more offensive game. His usual formation is 4-1-4-1 with four defenders, one holding midfielder, two attacking midfielders, two wingers, and one forward.
The style he follows, allows the team to play a build-up football with short passes, importantly by keeping optimum possession. Moreover, attacking intent can be seen from almost every other player on the pitch, even the defenders.
Oscar’s impact on the team can be easily noticed in the first two matches of Bangladesh in this year’s SAFF championship. Under him, the work rate of the attackers had an immense rise.
Unlike previous times, dominance in the final third of the opponent was more prevalent. The attacking midfielders were frequently swapping their positions with the wingers and fulfilled a box-to-box midfield role.
The wing-backs too were offensive and delivered crosses frequently in the opponents’ d-box to help the forward line.
Bangladesh’s first match against Sri Lanka did justice to the tactics of Oscar Bruzon. The Tigers were successful in maintaining a 58 per cent ball possession, with twenty shots attempted, among which four were on target.
They were somewhat clinical with their passes too, achieving a pass accuracy of 79 per cent. Although they couldn’t carry the momentum to the next game against India, a show of resilience from the entire team managed a hard-fought draw and earned Bangladesh a point.
In the match against India, Bangladesh had a better possession percentage and passing accuracy compared to the last time they met the Blue Tigers (in the world cup qualifiers).
This along with the attacking intent and scoring a goal despite being one man down, definitely showed the hunger of the team. However, doubts still remain, whether the success with the new tactics will last long or not.