Mangia conducts workshop for national teams’ coaches

The process to introduce a unified playing philosophy for all the national selections is gathering pace. Devis Mangia, the Head Coach of the National Teams who is responsible for defining and implementing this tactical and technical blueprint, has conducted a three-day workshop for the coaches of all the national teams and other members of the Association’s technical sector. A defined game philosophy for the national teams at all levels is part of a series of technical projects being undertaken by the current Malta FA administration in pursuit of improved performances and results at international level as well as long-term progress.  “We have started to share our ideas in line with the direction we would like to take,” Mangia said. “The initial session focused on footballing principles before moving on to more concrete topics with regards to the unified game philosophy we want to adopt. “The aim is to explain in detail the concepts and convey our ideas to the coaches. This workshop was attended by all coaches of the national team selections but in the coming weeks, we will work specifically with the teams in the different age categories. “We wanted to initiate this gradual process before our Under-16, Under-17 and Under-19 squads convene for training in the coming weeks. At present, all the work is taking place in the lecture rooms as one team. “We have also discussed the selection criteria for the national teams, especially in terms of proper scouting. We are now looking forward to start working with the respective coaches on the pitch, beginning with the U-19s who will be the first to commence training in the forthcoming international period.” The workshop, at the Malta FA Technical Centre, precedes the upcoming international window in March during which the Malta senior team will be playing friendly matches against Gibraltar on 26th March and Azerbaijan four days later. These friendlies, both at the National Stadium, will be the first matches for Mangia in his role as Head Coach of the National Teams and the other members of his technical staff, namely assistant coaches Davide Mazzotta and Guillermo Giacomazzi. Alessandro Zinnari has taken up the role of technical co-ordinator of all the national team selections. The Malta Under-21 team, under the guidance of coach Silvio Vella, will resume their UEFA Under-21 Championship Group Eight campaign with home qualifiers against Ukraine (27th March) and Finland (31st March) at the Gozo Stadium Also next month, the Malta Under-19 team are due to play two friendly matches against Montenegro on 10th and 12th March at the Centenary Stadium.