Bangladesh first, Champions League final later for Dooley

For most football followers, tonight's Champions League final, beginning at 10:00pm Bangladesh time, offers an irresistible spectacle.

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, guided by Luis Enrique, will look to retain Europe's biggest club prize against Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, who have reached only their second Champions League final after losing to Barcelona in Paris in 2006.

But Bangladesh national football team's new head coach Thomas Dooley has other priorities.

Just days into his tenure, the German-American tactician says he would rather spend the night reviewing footage of Bangladesh than watching some of the world's biggest stars battle for glory.

"I don't have time. I would love to," Dooley said when asked whether he would watch the final. "I'd rather watch our game yesterday, cutting stuff out what we doing wrong... cutting things out what we doing right, spending that time on it. My main focus is right [now] Bangladesh national team."

The response offered perhaps the clearest glimpse yet into the mindset of the newly appointed coach, who has thrown himself into the task of rebuilding a side currently ranked 181st in the FIFA rankings.

Following the announcement of his final 23-member squad for the FIFA friendly against San Marino on June 5, Dooley stressed that meaningful change would take time, especially after having only a handful of training sessions with the players.

"It takes time, it doesn't come overnight," he said, explaining the difficulty of assessing the country's player pool with just two or three sessions under his belt.

While the San Marino fixture represents an early test, Dooley's attention is already stretching beyond the immediate future. He plans to use the coming months to monitor the domestic league more closely before the crucial FIFA windows in September, October and November.

The coach has also begun laying the foundations of a new footballing identity. His preference is for Bangladesh to become a possession-oriented side rather than one that spends matches chasing the ball.

"The premise is we wanna play football. I don't wanna chase football, I like to play football," Dooley said.

For now, however, he is opting for a more conservative 4-2-3-1 system, believing a three-man defence demands qualities his squad is still developing.

A significant part of that development, according to Dooley, must happen away from the pitch. He has repeatedly emphasised the need to eliminate bad habits and improve players' decision-making through detailed video analysis.

The coaching staff's use of footage is aimed at creating what Dooley describes as "brain memory" -- ensuring players instinctively make the right choices in key moments.

"Every player needs to understand his responsibility," he explained. "We need to implement [this] in the brain of the players."

Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan believes the players are already benefiting from the approach.

"When we are having meetings, he is actually using video analysis to show us exactly how we conceded goals in the past," Jamal said.

So while much of the football world turns its attention to Budapest for the battle between PSG and Arsenal, Dooley's eyes will be fixed elsewhere -- on Bangladesh's own performances.