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Published on January 19, 2008

Chanvit's team are in England for the final stage of their preparation, before embarking on their World Cup campaign in the group which also includes Oman and Bahrain.

They are currently on their two-week training stint at the Blues, owned by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

However, with the opener against Japan in Saitama just a few weeks away, Thailand seemed far from prepared for the most difficult-looking fixture after they succumbed to a 3-1 loss at the hands of City's reserve team.

It was the Thais' second  defeat, on the heels on the embarrassing 4-3 loss to the Blues' Under-18 squad. In both games, the Thais appeared to have difficulty in playing amid cold conditions, which they are likely to face in Japan. Chanvit conceded that he had a load of work to do in preparing the team with little time given.

"We're not disciplined in defence while our attackers are wasteful. They could have done much better with the opportunity that was presented to them," Chanvit said.

"We need to resolve these problems quickly. I hope to see some improvement in our remaining matches against Hyde United [on Monday] and Manchester United's reserve team [on Wednesday]."

However, Chanvit fancies his team to come away with something from the away tie against the Japanese after he looked on with awe an advanced method that Man City used to help them analysing their opponents.

"The analysis from the Asian Cup's semi-final between Japan and Saudi Arabia showed that even though the Japanese had 75 per cent of the possession, they still ended up losing.

"That statistic suggested that it was not necessary that the team who control the game would win. Against such strong opponents, a tight defence is what matters," the coach said.

The Nation