Young Guns on Fire at this years Martyr’s League

By: Dinesh Thapa
football_nepal@yahoo.com

After the completion of 33 matches (about 50% of matches) in this years Martyr’s League, the message is clear for some of the PERMANENT old time national players to hang up their boots to make room for the young guns who are on fire. I think it is time for some of the big names of Nepalese football to step down from the national team to make room for younger generation. They should follow the footstep of Dev Narayan Chaudhari to quit the national team to encourage the younger generation. Some of the stars of Nepalese national players like Hari Khadka, Upendra Man Singh, Ramesh Bidhthoki, Kumar Thapa, Sunil Tuladhar, Bal Gopal Maharjan are not performing to their level. I think age is catching up with them and they are slow and they cannot play with pace of younger generation players. They play older style of football and they cannot cope with the technical game of some of ANFA academy products.

Most clubs rely on the younger generation of players. Asked why, Three Star Club’s manager Gyan Bahadur Shakya said. “It is easy to train the younger generation and they obey the orders of the coach. If we buy the national players they some times don’t follow the coaches instructions as they are stars.” So the managers message is clear. NRT and JYC are leaders in signing the younger talents form ANFA academy and outside the valley. NRT signed 9 players this year. Subash Rai (U19), Pralay Rajbhandari (U19), Sandip Rai (U16), Susan Bhandari (U16) are some of the young guns signed by NRT. JYC singed Bikash Malla, Anjan KC, Tilak Gurung, Gaurav Thapa, Anil Gurung, Rojit KC. Three star also singed 7 players for this years league. Out of them 4 are U19 players.

JYC president Sunil Rana says, “National players are very proud and they don’t play to the expected level for the club as their target is to play on the national team. They fear that they will get injured. That’s why we take youngsters.”

But certainly the comment of Three Star’s manager and JYC president are the reasons why the clubs sign younger player. But there are other reasons too. I just chatted with some of the fans at the stadium and ask them to rate the players' performance in different games. But the fans didn’t give the thumbs up for the national players. In fact they would rather come and watch the young guns. Just look why Three Star is so strong this year. They have some very good young players like Bijay Gurung, Surendra Tamang, Lok Bhandu Gurung, Santosh Shukhala, Bishan Gauchan, Santosh Shrestha. Can you imagine that Balgopal Maharjan and Ramesh Sinkeman are always on the Three Star’s bench?

Younger generation booters in Nepal are better than older generations like Hari Khadka, Upendra Man Singh, Ramesh Budhthoki, Kumar Thapa, Sunil Tuladhar, Bal Gopal Maharjan. Younger generation are faster, technically advanced and have good commitment for the game.

Some of the young guns on fire are listed below. I discussed with some fans, coaches and journalists at stadium about who they think are hot and who are not in every club according to their performances in this years Martyr's League.  

The players in the WHO’s HOT all are young players except for Madhu Karki, Basanta Thapa who represent the older generation of players.

So it’s almost half way through the Martyrs League and we have seen some good football in the completed games. I didn’t find the performance of the national players satisfactory except for Madhu Karki (RCT), Basanta Thapa (MMC), Rajesh Shahi (MMC) and Rakesh Shrestha (MPC). So my best 11 of this Martyrs League up until this moment are: 

1. Bikash Malla (JYC) : GK
2. Sagar Thapa (MMC): DF
3. Lok Bhandu Gurung (Three Star): DF
4. Rakesh Shrestha (MPC): DF
5. Janak Singh (Three Star) : DF
6. Rajesh Shahi (MMC): MF
7. Ananta Thapa (MPC): MF
8. Pradip Dongol (Three Star): MF
9. Bijay Gurung (Three Star): MF
10. Surendra Tamang (Three Star): F W
11. Janamat Karki (Tribhuwan Army): FW

Because of their poor performance in the league only 3 national players got place in my Martyr's League halfpoint best 11.

This means it is the right time for some of the older generation players like Hari Khadka, Upendra Man Singh, Ramesh Bidhthoki, Kumar Thapa, Sunil Tuladhar, Bal Gopal Maharjan to follow the step of Dev Narayan Chaudhari to make room for younger generations. 

This years Martyr’s League certainly gives the message that YOUNG GUNS ARE ON FIRE.

By: Dinesh Thapa
football_nepal@yahoo.com