The football vision of Azkals coach Thomas Dooley 

“If people see a standee of Messi, they'll say 'This is Messi? This is how tall he is and he can do [football wonders]?'”

Thomas Dooley was early for the FTW taping on Monday night. Before the online show's cameras rolled, the new Azkals coach chatted candidly with us. One topic was about the Michael Jordan standees back in the day, which kids and adults alike would stand next to and see how they compare physically to the basketball player.

“He was a few inches taller than me,” said the new Azkal's coach, standing up with his hand over his head, estimating Jordan's height.

Lionel Messi is nowhere near the Chicago Bulls legend's stature. But despite being 5'6.5", the FC Barcelona booter stands tall with his skills as one of football's icons.

Having a Messi standee, perhaps in sports events, Dooley thought, could help drive the point to Pinoys that height, or lack thereof, is not proportional to football performance.

“It's not about the size,” he mused. “It's about 'How skillful are you?'”

Dooley's leadership was a breath of new life for the national men's football team. When he met them for the first time, he had an audio-visual presentation prepared. Before training started, he set up training areas wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

[Related: Thomas Dooley, old Azkals, and new tricks]

On Monday, Dooley came in simply dressed: blue pants with a black shirt that said “Love = football” and a scribbled white heart equated to the team logo. He helped himself to a packed meal, took a seat, and started chatting with FTW panelists present.

“[He's] such a trooper, he didn't even ask what the pancit and puto in the box were,” said Ceres Lina, FTW producer.
  

Dooley as a football player

The German-American booter is more than just a friendly face from TV and photos. He asked more about the Azkals' past, getting personal perspectives on the team's rise to fame. The former US international was also generous with his tales, giving a glimpse of his playing days.

“We played FC Barcelona and we lost 2-nothing,” said Dooley, talking about 1.FC Kaiserslautern's European Champions Clubs’ Cup second round meet with the Spanish side back in 1991.

“The pitch was really good, the supporters were strong,” he said about Camp Nou. “After the warm-up, they sprinkled the pitch so the ball glides smoothly. It works for their style of play. Look where they are now.”

Dooley didn't feature in the second leg at home due to injury, but he still remembers how Bakero's last minute header was “heartbreaking” as FC Barcelona won the round with that away goal.

Barca' would win their first European Cup that season.

Made to pick between rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, he immediately picked the Catalan side.

But when he was asked to choose between two English teams: Manchester's City and United, he choose neither.

“If you have a bad experience in one place, you really don't like it. One great experience in another place, you'd love to be there,” he told GMA News Online. “That's how it was with me and England.”

Dooley admitted that if he had lived and played in England, “Maybe I have a different story."

“I can let you know, I'd rather have eight months vacation in the Philippines that I have to pay than [have a] two-week vacation in England that they pay for,” he said with a laugh.

For Dooley, growing up with the German league meant there was little need to look at England and Spanish football. When he scored his first goal wearing a US kit in a home match against the English side in 1993, it was a great feeling for him.

“But to go to England and play there, we lost in England two-nothing... it's a bad experience,” he said about the 1994 friendly at Wembley with a huge stadium against them. “And I'm pretty sure the English people are very nice!”

Asked who he'd pick between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the USA's 'German Giant' said it was a tough call.

Dooley likes Bayern because of personalities like Franz Beckenbauer. “With Dortmund, I only like them one way: because of the coach. I like the coach very well. He played while I was playing.

“But why I pick Bayern over Dortmund is also because I played for Schalke 04, and if you have a rivalry, it's not Dortmund-Bayern. It's Schalke-Dortmund” he said.

His team's feud with Dortmund is a real one, explained Dooley, comparing the two side's proximity to Makati and Bonifacio Global City.

“Most people live in a blue collar area with coal mines, people don't make a lot of money,” he said about the Revierderby. “They make $2000 but they spend $3000 to go watch the games, something like that."

“When I played with Schalke, we weren't allowed to say the name 'Dortmund.' So when we went to TV stations, we said 'those guys over there' or 'the yellow-black guys,'” he added. “That's a true rivalry.

“If you ask me Dortmund or Schalke, Schalke of course.”
  

Dooley on coaching the Azkals

At one moment before taping started, Dooley asked if it's possible to get a huge Philippine flag for the team's use overseas.

“We need a big flag, we put that in our hotel,” he said, stressing that it's a nice reminder for the players to remember what they're playing for. “In the US, we had a flag as big as the wall.”

Two games have gone by for the Azkals and Dooley's stay in the country has been little over a month. So far, he is enjoying the Philippines and the company of Filipinos he meet.

“Everything that I heard about the people in the Philippines, I feel it now, it's true,” he told GMA News Online. “The players, they're the ones I have more contact with, are honest, hardworking, playing with their heart. And the people I meet outside [of football] like you guys, it's nice and it's easy to hang out with. It's enjoyable, so I'm really humbled to be here.”

Dooley's said his life-changing moment was when he read the Power of the Subconscious Mind at around age 17. “It's all about being positive, being nice, treating people like you want to be treated.”

Dooley said that he makes mistakes, and he might at times see things differently from a player and spectator. But he maintains that he will always let people around him now that is in his mind.

“If you do something wrong, I will let you know. If you don't play the way that I think, I will let you know. It has nothing to do personally, it has something to do with me and you as a soccer player,” said Dooley. “If I have to let you know and you'd be a little upset, it's just about the job."

He noted that the players are very reserved at first, testing the waters with a new coach around. But after the two friendlies, he noticed that the team enjoyed his system. “That makes it a little bit easier for me.

“There will be, down the road, some issues. Either we don't win a game or some of the players are unhappy because they're not playing but this is normal life in football,” said Dooley, having dealt with those issues as a coach in Germany. “I told the [Azkals] players right from the beginning that 'any questions you have, ask me, I will give you my honest answer.'

“Am I the best coach in the world? Heck no.” - AMD, GMA News


Catch Thomas Dooley talk about coaching the Azkals, how he's experiencing the Philippines, and more soon on FTW Sports