Johor FA President and FAM advisor, Tunku Mahkota Ismail has slammed Dollah Salleh over his player selection policy, just few days before the AFF Suzuki Cup begins.
Dollah finalized the Malaysian squad for the Suzuki Cup earlier today, with Gopinathan and Aidil Zafuan being eliminated from the provisional 25, due to injury concerns.
However, what puzzled most people, including the Crown Prince of Johor himself, was the fact that names like Norfarhan Muhammad and Razman Roslan were not given a call-up despite being absolutely stupendous for their club sides throughout 2014.
In fact, Norfarhan was even voted the Best Striker of the Year at the recent National Football Awards, while Razman claimed the Best Defender of the Year title; precisely why TMJ felt that Dollah Salleh’s decision to leave them out was absurd.
Speaking via a statement that was released on his Facebook page, TMJ said: “I wish to ask Dollah Salleh a question on why Norfarhan, who won the Best Striker of the Year award and Razman Roslan, an award winning defender who played with Pahang, winning two championships this year, are not in the National Team squad?”
Fans on social media sites were equally perplexed at the decision, with some even claiming that it was unfair for the likes of Azmi Muslim and Safee Sali, who are both struggling for form, to be included at the expense of Norfarhan and Razman.
Hmmm. Norfarhan dengan Razman tak ada tempat. Tapi Azmi Muslim dengan Safee Sali ada tempat.
— Nizam 🇲🇾 (@NizamArchibald) November 15, 2014
If one were to analyze the Super League top scorers list, Norfarhan’s name would appear as the highest scoring Malaysian player, in a league where foreign forwards consistently dominate every week. Whereas Razman, formed a rock solid partnership with Damion Stewart at the heart of Pahang’s defence, en route to them clinching the Malaysia Cup title.
https://twitter.com/kh4lilul/status/534222792040783872
Thus, their exclusion from the side definitely warrants a legitimate question, especially since Malaysia have conceded 5 goals and only scored one in both their preparatory friendly games against Syria and Vietnam. And with the tournament now just a matter of days away, pressure will be heaped upon Dollah Salleh, should his charges struggle to impress this weekend.
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