New Record, 12 League 1 Teams Change Coach In The Middle Of The Competition

Persib coach Robert Alberts (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The trend of changing coaches by 12 Liga 1 clubs in the midst of the 2021/2022 season competition is a new record. Persib Bandung coach Robert Rene Alberts also commented on this unique phenomenon.

"In the first round, there was a change of coach. Of 18 clubs, 12 clubs have done it. This is a record that has been broken because there is nothing like this in the world", said Robert as quoted by Antara on Friday, January 7.

According to him, so far there has been no world football competition where the team has changed coaches in the middle of the competition season.

"They (who change coaches) are only 1-2 clubs until the competition is over", said the Dutch coach.

Of the 18 teams participating in Liga 1 2021/2022, 12 teams have changed coaches, namely Borneo FC, PSIS Semarang, Persiraja Banda Aceh, Madura United, Persik Kediri.

Then, Persela Lamongan, PSS Sleman, Persipura Jayapura, Persikabo 1973, Barito Putera, PSM Makassar, and Persija Jakarta.

However, Persija has changed coaches since the start of the competition because Liga 1 2021/2022 requires an AFC Pro coaching license.

Robert explained that the coach definitely needed a long time and process to prepare the team to be really solid going forward.

"Because the coach, I, need time to lay the foundation for the picture of the team going forward", he said.

Meanwhile, regarding the substitution of players, Robert thinks that it is not too surprising because the trend that occurs in Indonesia is only the transfer of players between clubs.

"The transfer of players in the transfer market in Indonesia is a bit different. So, I'm not too surprised because it's only the transfer of players from one club to another", he said.

This means, not players who have really just been brought in from outside Indonesia.

"So, it's not something that makes a 'surprise' because it's only changing places and we already know the players", concluded Robert.