"We let the Ethiopians inside our tent and they took control," Tergat said at the Kenyan national cross country championships.
"It will need extraordinary planning and a concerted effort to get them out. During our time, fear was palpable in their faces when they competed against us." No Kenyan has won the senior men's title since Tergat's last victory in Belfast in 1999, while Ethiopia have won in every year but one since 2002.
"We have talent, we have facilities, we have good weather yet we keep giving excuses for the past 11 years. This must end and it is up to the coaches to find a way of ending it," said Tergat, 41.
The 38th championships in Bydgoszsz, Poland, on March 28 will be the last annual edition of the event, which will then switch to every two years.
"We must get our house in order and leave a mark on the last edition of the annual format. We must win all the four team gold medals," said Tergat, a former 10,000 meters world record holder who won silver medals at two Olympic Games.
"I have watched the way our boys run in the past years and I realized they fail in the last kilometer. They also don't run as a team. It is a question of endurance and running without a team strategy.
"Coaches must identify priority areas and start early. One month in (residential camp) Kigari does not transform one into a champion. World champions start build-up three months early, fight to get to the national team and put final touches in camp," said Tergat.
"Training is crucial. Coaches should be selected carefully and athletes motivated. Cases like training kit or allowances not being ready when athletes proceed to camp...only divert attention and impact badly on training."
At the national championships, world 10,000m champion Linet Masai, who was runner-up at last year's world cross country championships in Jordan, won the women's 8km in 26 minutes 43.0 seconds, ahead of Lineth Chepkurui, who clocked 27:03.5.
Paul Tanui, fourth in the junior category in Amman, upset the established order in the men's 12km race, winning in 35:12.5 ahead of Lucas Rotich (35:42.7) and Joseph Ebuya (35:44.8).
Leonard Komon, who has been the top Kenyan in the past two world championships with second place in Edinburgh in 2008 and fourth in Amman, trailed in fifth.
