KBRN, Jakarta: Indonesian football analyst, Mohamad Kusnaeni has welcomed the decision by the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) to appoint John Herdman as the new head coach of the Indonesian national men's team. He was appointed as the Indonesian coach last Saturday (3/1/2026), replacing the Dutch coach Patrick Kluivert.

The British coach was previously the head coach of the Canadian national women's football team from 2011 to 2018 and later of the country's men's football team until 2023. He last served as manager of the Canadian club Toronto FC from 2022 to 2023.

Kusnaeni believes the football management that Herdman brings is clear and well-structured-something Indonesia urgently needs at the moment. He referred to the improvement of the Canadian national team, which became more efficient and structured under Herdman's leadership.

"When he led the national team of Canada, he had the same problem as our national team. Similarly, Canada never qualified for the World Cup (before). But with his leadership, with his program, with his football philosophy, he can make Canada undergo a major change," he said at the RRI Voice of Indonesia's VOI Talk program on Tuesday (1/6/2026), as monitored in Jakarta.

"A major change is not only in terms of achievement but also in terms of football philosophy. Canada became a more efficient, more powerful, and more structured team," he said.

Herdman had secured two consecutive bronze medals for the Canadian women's team in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He later successfully led the country's men's team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022 after a 36-year absence.

However, Kusnaeni emphasized that Herdman first needs to adapt to the dynamics of Indonesian football before he can develop a solid concept for the national team. He noted that the team has been trained by Shin Tae-yong of South Korea and Kluivert, two different coaches with different approaches.

"Of course, he must adapt first before he transforms our national team. He must know first, (for instance,) about how Indonesian competition, our national football philosophy, (and) our football community (works)," he said.

Kusnaeni hoped Herdman could improve Indonesia's national team performance in international FIFA match days. He also expected Herdman could boost Indonesia's FIFA ranking to around 60 or 70, from its current position of 122.

"We must give him more time to adapt and learn more about our national team. I hope Herdman will have more time, more opportunity to see many young players in our competition, so finally he can build a stronger national team for the Asian Games," he said, citing the country's preparations for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan.