POST-MATCH THOUGHTS – BLUE (YOUNG LIONS 1 LCS 1)

Well, that was bleak.

In my post previewing the Young Lions game, I talked about how it was a must-win game. I also spoke about how Young Lions were missing Raoul Suhaimi, one of their most promising players. Yesterday, when the line-ups came out, two things stood out to me.

1) Jordan Emaviwe wasn’t playing. He’s been their key attacking outlet, so this was definitely good for us. Their “striker” was a central midfielder.

2) Bizarrely, we chose to line up with only 1 recognised defender.

I was hoping to see lots of goals in the first half, because I had to leave at half-time to go play in the Fan Club Futsal League. The Crew had a match against Olympique Marseille Fan Club (we got smacked 11-0 haha), and I had high hopes of seeing the Sailors kill off the game in the first half.

Instead, I was treated to a lacklustre display where players seemed to not want to take any risks when they circulated the ball, passing it about in a U shape. Try to visualise it – but basically the passes would go from left wing back to central midfield, back to Anu, Anu passes it to Amirul Adli, who then passes it to his right, and then it ends up at the wing again, and they do the same thing the other way round this time. It was painful to watch.

There were also moments when the Young Lions started playing tiki-taka football. It is not often you get to associate the Young Lions with dynamic one-touch passing moves, but it happened, and it unfolded right before my eyes. I guess if I wanna be truly optimistic I can be happy that Singapore has some young players who are able to play good football. But as a Sailors fan, it was horrifying to watch.

This is real football, not FIFA

Also, is it just me, or does anyone else think it was absolutely crazy to play so many non-defenders in a back 4? Anu has deputised there this season on a number of occasions but I think even he himself would not say he excelled in his stints there. Then on the fullback positions it gets more bizarre. Hafiz Nor at rightback we’ve gotten accustomed to seeing due to long-term injury to Mamat, and the expulsion of Tajeli – but this time he was shifted to leftback. Rightback Haiqal Pashia? He’s never played there before in his life I think – please correct me if I am wrong.

Was this arrogance? Tactically naive? I don’t know what it was, but what I do know is that when you’re trying to score a lot of goals to rack up goal difference, it’s not as simple as sticking on as many attackers as possible. I can only assume that this was Lalic’s idea of squeezing in as many goal threats as possible. However, how can people attack with conviction, if they know that behind them, their teammates might not be equipped to deal with a counter-attack? This isn’t FIFA, where defending is easy as long as your players are fast. Defence is an art, managing the gaps, dictating the height of the line, knowing when to push up, and when to drop back, etc etc etc.

I felt that the defenders seemed not to know when they should press higher, and when they should drop off. When things got tougher and they came under pressure, I felt they dropped too deep. But can I blame them? No I don’t think so. When you have Iqram Rifqi on your bench, and you decide to play Hafiz Nor as your leftback, I have to ask “Bro, what?”

The shocking own goal

And then we come to the incident just before half-time. Was it Amirul Adli’s fault? Izwan? Both? I would say both, but I lean towards Amirul Adli more I think. It’s almost half-time, the stadium announcer had already loudly announced that there was only gonna be 1 minute of injury time. A hopeful long punt forward saw Amirul Adli do well to get in front of his opponent – and he would have seen that he was being chased down. The whistle was gonna blow very soon – why not just clear it to the sides? For Izwan, goalkeepers are sometimes told to stand to the side as well, so that even if they fail to trap any backpass, the ball will go out for a corner. Well, no need for me to relive the goal for you. If you haven’t watched it yet, do go and see it. It has to be seen to be believed. These are our national team players.

Kim Shin Wook – should he have been sent off?

Yes. Not much debate here. The answer is Yes. We got away with it. That he managed to score after that will make Young Lions feel even more shit.

Conclusion

We now need to beat Albirex – something we have only done once in our history. I have to say I am not confident, but with Maxime and Diego, you never quite know. Stay tuned for Zach’s in-depth tactical analysis. That should be out tonight.