Dooley takes a gamble on Mahe, Ronan to solve Bangladesh’s No. 9 problem

Bangladesh head coach Thomas Dooley is taking a gamble on teenage forwards Mohammed Mahe Khan and Ronan Sullivan to address the national team’s shortage of a specialist No. 9, admitting that finding a reliable goalscorer will be crucial to their hopes of winning the SAFF Championship on home soil.

Both 18-year-olds earned their maiden senior call-ups when the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced a 28-member preliminary squad on Saturday. Mahe, who plays for ninth-tier English club Moulton FC, has scored nine goals in seven appearances this season, while Ronan impressed during Bangladesh’s SAFF Under-20 Championship-winning campaign in April.

Dooley wanted to assess Mahe in training before deciding whether he could fill the striker’s role, but the requirement to announce the preliminary squad left the coach with little time to evaluate him.

“I would like to have him come into the camp and work with us, so we can see if he can fulfil that No. 9 position. Then, two days later, I get the information that you have to announce the 28 players already. That means I have no chance to look at him,” Dooley told reporters on Sunday.

The coach said the players Bangladesh had previously used as strikers had failed to convince him they could fulfil the role, leaving him to take a chance on Mahe despite the teenager playing in a lower division of English football.

“Maybe he doesn’t play at the highest level, but he is a typical No. 9. He scores goals, and I talked to him,” Dooley said.

The coach told Mahe that he could make a name for himself if he could get into the right positions and finish chances against senior international defenders.

“The goal is the same size, the penalty box is the same size. So you just have to get in front of that player. If you think that you can do that, then you can be a big star over here. If you’re not, then obviously you don’t have a chance,” he said.

Dooley’s gamble on Mahe was soon complemented by the availability of Ronan, who plays collegiate football for Saint Joseph’s Hawks in the United States. The forward scored twice against Pakistan at the SAFF U-20 Championship before converting a Panenka penalty in Bangladesh’s shootout victory over India in the final.

“Two days later, it opened up with Ronan, as we finally got the agreement from the college that he would be available and they let him go,” Dooley said. “So that’s why we said, ‘Okay, now we get Ronan, who played for the U-20s and scored. He is a typical No. 9, fantastic.’”

The coach stressed that the selections were driven by a need for goals rather than simply adding more players to the attacking department.

“We want to have a No. 9 who can actually score goals for us. If we go to the SAFF tournament and we don’t have a No. 9, it will be very, very difficult to be successful.”

Bangladesh will host the 15th edition of the SAFF Championship from November 5 to 17 at the National Stadium in Dhaka. The hosts, who last won the regional title in 2003, are in Group A with Bhutan and Sri Lanka, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his striking options, Dooley remains confident that Bangladesh can challenge for the title if his players deliver their best performances on the pitch.

“If every player does what he can do best, brings that onto the field at that time, I believe that we can do it. I’m really convinced that we can do it,” he said.

The discipline inside the national camp came under some scrutiny after an image of players Saad Uddin and Sohel Rana Jr at a nightclub went viral across social media following the team’s 9-2 defeat against Indonesia at the FIFA ASEAN Cup.

Dooley, however, defended giving his players some flexibility in their daily routines, while insisting that their effort on the pitch must meet his expectations.

“I want my players to do everything on the field, in training and in the game. And for that, we gave them the freedom to come a little bit later for training. For breakfast, somebody needs to get breakfast at 8, the other one would have it at 9. That is fine, but I want you to work your butt off on the field. So if I don't see that, then obviously we have consequences.”

Using Hamza Choudhury’s commitment as an example, Dooley said he expected every member of the squad to show the same fighting spirit during the tournament.

“I expect every single player in this tournament to do that stuff,” he said.