On last Sunday’s Net TV programme Replay, MFA president Norman Darmanin Demajo tackled various queries from the public and the panel. Konrad Sultana deliberated on the nursery’s grass roots, saying that certain qualified coaches are not up to standard, especially when it comes to teaching children how to kick a ball.

This is indeed quite serious and the coaches should know that kicking is the fundamental technical element because it is required more often than any other.

It takes time and a lot of training but, unfortunately, some parents do interfere in the coach’s programme; they cannot wait for their investment to reach certain parameters! We see established players who cannot kick or place the ball adequately.

Arpad Csanadi, a Hungarian master coach, wrote a two-volume 600-page book entitled Soccer. In his foreword to these volumes, the vice-president of the Uefa, Sandor Barcs, wrote: “If I were the coach, I would have it always under my pillow ready to consult before going to sleep or during any sleepless hour. Even though many things have changed in the game of soccer since this book was published, still the foundations remain the same.”

On kicking the ball, Csanadi wrote: “A player who may not be able to master dribbling, feinting or heading will suffer serious disadvantages but a player who cannot kick or place the ball adequately can hardly be called a soccer player at all.”

Mr Sultana is right when he encourages ex-footballers to take up coaching; Italian TV stations always have at their disposal ex-players giving their professional technical comments.