The rebuilding process of a new Malta U-21 squad starts this afternoon when Silvio Vella’s young charges take on Azerbaijan in a friendly at the Hibs Stadium (kick-off: 3pm).
Vella replaced Ray Farrugia last summer.
Today’s match will be his first opportunity to monitor more closely a group of upcoming players who the new coach will seek to groom into a solid squad ahead of the UEFA Championship qualifiers starting next year.
“This friendly will give us a chance to introduce some uncapped players. The match will also be a good opportunity for the new ones to show whether they have what it takes to make the grade,” Vella told The Sunday Times of Malta.
“Several players from the previous edition of the U-21 squad are no longer eligible due to age limit but we can bank on some talented others who are showing a lot of promise.
“The squad is young and these are still early days to gauge how far they can go as we’re still in the process of putting together a competitive team. Our only hope is that the ones selected will continue to show commitment and dedication in training to reach the required level.”
Vella admitted that changes to the national squad’s training scheme, from three weekly sessions to just an eight-day period prior to an international, makes it more difficult for the coaches to try out new schemes.
“Eight days are not enough to work with your players. The short period of time we have together makes it difficult for the technical staff to introduce new tactics ahead of the match,” the former Malta defender said.
“There’s very little time to give trials to new players as we have to dedicate every minute of our training sessions to prepare for our immediate assignment.”
Vella added that a major concern at the moment is the fact that a good number of his players are finding it hard to secure first-team football in the Maltese Premier League.
Moreover, he added, if the Premier League Standing Committee proposal to increase the foreigners’ quota to eight on the pitch gets the MFA Council green light, the chances are that U-21 players will hardly ever figure for their senior teams on a regular basis.
“In my opinion this latest proposal to have more foreign players in the Premier League is a huge concern and could hamper the progress of our national teams,” Vella said.
“With the way things are at present young Maltese players are rarely included in match-day squads let alone getting regular football week in week out... the situation will become even more difficult for them if the number of foreign players continues to grow.
“You have to hear the story from both sides but I urge club delegates to keep in mind the interest of the national teams when it comes to decides on this issue.”
Turning his sights back on today’s friendly, Vella is expecting a tough challenge from Azerbaijan.
“They have been here for a week now, training together and preparing for this match,” Vella said.
“Like us, they are also looking to assemble a new squad for the UEFA qualifiers so the Azeri players are here to impress and leave their mark.
“This will be an ideal test for both teams so we’re looking forward to see how our boys fare.”