Debates seem to litter news on the Azkals as some fans argue between former National team coach Simon McMenemy and current mentor Michael Weiss—sometimes arguing a little too vigorously. Given McMenemy's greatest success of reaching the Suzuki Cup semifinals that put football back to the Filipinos' consciousness, it's easy to look back at the good old days and wish for a return to that. Reaching the semis was a great achievement and the team deserves the accolades but some fans seem to think every subsequent failure to reach the same heights should mean a change. There is certainly a difference in the systems used by McMenemy and Weiss in the Philippines and in this article we go head to head with Simon McMenemy and Michael Weiss:
Previous experience Neither coach had previous experience handling a senior men's team. McMenemy, before coming to the Philippines, was assistant manager of Worthing FC, a team in the eighth tier of English football while Weiss came from managing Rwanda's Under-17 team.
Simon McMenemy Unofficially the youngest National manager in history, McMenemy found out about the vacant position through Chris Greatwich. Having known some of the core members of the team, particularly the Filipino-British, McMenemy received a two-month probationary contract from the Philippine Football Federation. He then took the Philippines to the 2010 Long Teng Cup and finished third in the group with four points and was given a contract extension for the 2010 Suzuki Cup. He masterminded the Philippines' stunning 2-0 upset win over Vietnam and the two draws against Singapore and Myanmar which pushed the team into the semis and revived football in the Philippines. Ranked 165th in the world before the Long Teng Cup, the Philippines reached its highest position in FIFA rankings ever, jumping to 149th in the world by the end of 2010.
Michael Weiss Weiss, the Technical Director of the Rwandan Football Association and coach of the country's U17 team, came to the Philippines with the backing of the German FA. Also Managing his first senior side Weiss built on the success of 2010 and looked to bring in a more attractive style. This has had mixed results in the short-term, most recently leading to a 2-0 loss to Singapore followed by the Philippines' 4-0 demolition of Nepal. The team improved on their 2010 Long Teng Cup results also by going unbeaten in the 2011 edition of the tournament and reached the final stage of the 2012 Challenge Cup unbeaten in the group stage too. Continually adding and changing players, the team have seen the likes of Stephan Schrock, Angel Guirado and Jeffrey Christiaens play with mainstays Chieffy Caligdong, Aly Borromeo and the Younghusband brothers—Phil and James—who continue to be the Azkals' backbone.
Head-to-head With clean sheets in almost half the games the defensive priority, "parking the bus" was successful under McMenemy. While they played minnows in their first few games, winning 5-0 against Macau and East Timor, the Suzuki Cup results were impressive, an unbeaten group stage and conceding three goals in five games against some of the best nations in Southeast Asia throughout. Weiss, compared to McMenemy's style of defending deep and in numbers, is transitioning to a more attractive, attacking style, which led to the thrashings of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Given both Coaches took over at different points in Philippine football development their styles fit their context: McMenemy defended a lot to gain draws while Weiss built on that success to establish the team as contenders. A lot of the difference has to do with expectations. The 2010 Suzuki Cup semifinals were such a shock that this is what McMenemy is remembered for with Weiss inheriting the 34-year-old former mentor's greatest success. That is somewhat unfair as both coaches have been successful. Formations and the style of play all depends on the players you've got and what you're trying to achieve. Their records don't mean one is better than the other, it means they were looking to achieve different things.
The Future Philippine football is improving dramatically and given the number of Azkals who have come from the European leagues to join the UFL, domestic football is growing rapidly too. The most successful nations tend to have the most successful domestic leagues and this became painfully obvious during the SEA Games where the Philippine U23 squad struggled against the other countries who had brought their players primarily from their well developed domestic leagues. The UFL's expansion is a huge encouragement for Philippine football and will be the platform for long-term success. This is also where the biggest criticism for both managers becomes more obvious though. Both coaches are European and have tended to get on better with the Azkals who grew up in Europe. Not fully understanding Philippine culture has been a problem for both McMenemy and Weiss and this only becomes more obvious the longer it remains the same. Time is on their side, though, with McMenemy remaining in Southeast Asia coaching Indonesian Super League side Mitra Kukar while Weiss continues to learn with the Azkals. The debate over who is better, McMenemy or Weiss, is a useless one. Both Managers have faced different challenges and both achieved a good measure of success. Now the debate can shift towards how we can help Philippine football improve, learning and understanding the true depth of the beautiful game.
— JVP/KG, GMA News 
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