The following tactical analysis is from Zach Wu, who’s not a Sailors fan, but we just thought it would be good for someone without rose-tinted glasses to analyse the tactics of our games. We hope to make this a regular column so that we can better appreciate what is going on in our games from a tactical perspective.
This was the big one. With a point salvaged from the Young Lions game, their fate was still in their hands. It was do or die for the Sailors. A win would guarantee qualification while anything less would need results from the Balestier-Young Lions game to go their way.
Lalic’s curious tactical choices
Lalic made very interesting choices, especially in the absence of a proper leftback. Bill came in at right back while Hafiz Nor and Anu stayed in the same positions from the previous game. Curiously, Hariss was used in midfield (who was mostly deployed as a centreback in season) and Anu in defence as compared to the other way round.
From the above screenshot, look at Hafiz Nor’s body positioning just as he is about to receive the ball. He is facing his own goal and the only real option (within his eyeline) he has is to play the ball back to Amirul Adli who then has to launch the ball long afterwards. Hafiz Nor really struggled in an unfamiliar role.
While understandable to keep Bill at rightback given his right footedness and inexperience, it was really a handicap to the team especially with Hafiz Nor being very uncomfortable at leftback and unable to make his trademark overlapping runs we have seen this season. Instead, it might have been better to swap the fullbacks. This would also have helped Gabriel who is a left footer on the right and hence would have a tendency to cut in anyways, allowing Hafiz Nor to overlap and cross on his strong right foot. I will elaborate on this point later in the article.
Also, this would have placed Bill away from the tricky Sugita who has been one of the best wingers in the past season and up against Sambongi, a natural fullback. Bill was anyways not overlapping much on the right and staying back, hence keeping him on the right or left would not have made a big difference while there was big upside if LCS would get Hafiz Nor at right back overlapping and swinging crosses into the box.
The other curious decision was Anu and Hariss switching positions (from what they were usually used in this season). I can partly understand why Lalic chose to play them in those positions. Lalic must have seen Anu’s lack of technical security on the ball and hence moved him to a position that required less technical security, especially against an Albirex side that was going to sit deep anyways and not pressure the centrebacks.
Anu being primarily a destroyer may not have been in Lalic’s vision to play football, unable to switch balls to the flanks as consistently as Hariss or Shahdan could. However with Anu’s struggles in defense earlier in the regular season as compared to Hariss’s calm and composed demeanour, it was still a curious choice.
Instead, LCS could have chosen to line up like this. Hariss would bring much more familiarity and security at the back, Hafiz Nor could overlap comfortably on the right while Shahdan could play this familiar deep lying playmaker position. Anu in midfield could also use his athleticism to cover for Shadan’s ageing legs. By allowing Shahdan to get onto the ball more, his technical abilities would solve LCS’s distribution issues and allow them to connect the back 6 (in picture) to the front 4 (of the LCS attackers) far easier.
Overlaps the key
Despite all the tactical issues, LCS were able to create good quality chances through simple overlaps. Even without fullback support, LCS could still use simple overlaps (with their superior player quality) to fashion chances.
Here, Diego (red) is engaging the player while Lestienne (purple) runs on the outside to overlap him before sending a cross/cutback that falls to Gabriel whose shot is then blocked for a corner.
Likewise here, there is a player holding the ball up(red) and an overlapping runner (purple) to cut the ball back into the box. Unfortunately, Faris misses here when it falls to him.
While it is easy to blame the players who have missed those chances, Lalic should have set up LCS so as to increase the potency of such dangerous cutbacks especially considering LCS were starting without a natural striker who could finish such chances. How should he have done that? In both aforementioned cases, there were only 2 players attacking the cutback, the 2 players in the box. LCS could have increased this potency by increasing the number of players attacking the box.
This hypothetical situation could be created if Hafiz Nor was played at right back and overlapping Gabriel instead. Here, Gabriel is on the ball (yellow star) and being left-footed would naturally come inside from the right. This would lure his direct opponent, the opposition leftback Toyomura inside. With the space now created, Hafiz Nor can now run onto the ball and potentially send a dangerous cross or cutback (purple). Being a winger played at fullback, the delivery would definitely be potent. This would add an extra LCS body into the box, with 3 instead of 2 too, making this simple overlapping move far more potent.
Even by committing that extra body (Hafiz Nor in the previous case) into attack, LCS would still have a 5 vs 4 scenario to guard against any Albirex counter attacks, making LCS secure against any transitions that Albirex might spring. LCS were not brave enough to commit enough bodies into the attack and that blunted their attack.
Controlling transitions
Another big issue for LCS was the poor control of space on attack-to-defense transitions. Transitions are the moments when the ball is lost or gained by either team. Having control of attack-to-defense transitions are important so that it allows the team to stop opposition counters and to win the ball back quickly and effectively. LCS failed in this aspect.
This is the screenshot right before Gabriel’s blocked shot that went out for a corner. Outside the Albirex penalty box, LCS have 6 players compared to Albirex’s 4. You would think that LCS have a numerical advantage that makes them safe but that is not the case.
This is the issue. We can divide the players outside the Albirex box into 2 separate groups. In the orange box LCS have a 4 vs 1 situation which is very much overkill while in the red box they are outnumbered 2 vs 3. The red box is of significant concern as that is the immediate area where any second balls such as rebounds, poor clearances etc would fall too. With a numerical disadvantage (2 vs 3) in this area, LCS are not able to win the second ball, allowing Albirex potentially easy counters and not being able to win the ball back quickly to sustain pressure on Albirex’s defense. LCS could have possibly brought a player from the orange block into the red block, allowing them a 3 vs 1 situation in the orange box and a 3 vs 3 situation in the red box. This way, LCS could have control on attack-to-defense transitions better.
On the other hand, Albirex were masterful at controlling transitions. This screenshot is just before Tanaka’s goal in the second half but it illustrates the point. The ball is with Kobayashi (blue) here who is about to cross to Tanaka to score. Behind him, Albirex have a very comfortable 3 vs 1 in the orange box and a 1 vs 1 in the red box. In the event that Kobayashi’s cross is blocked or cleared, even if LCS were to break quickly with one of their players, Albirex would have the closer passing options in the red box man marked out. If the LCS player were to dribble the ball all the way to the orange box, that would take time and the other Albirex players would have time to get back while the players in the orange box would have time to adjust accordingly. This is the attack-to-defense transition control that LCS lacked that Albirex had.
First Half
Despite their numerous tactical issues, LCS actually started the brighter team and created a series of chances only to be spurned. LCS even had a penalty shout when Faris was taken down but the referee ruled that Faris was already falling before the contact. Unfortunately, against the run of play, Albirex scored with another trademark Idetsu deadball who was captain on the day.
Second Half
Yoshinaga, having seen his side being way too passive in the first half, pushed his team higher and decided to press the nervous and inexperienced LCS backline. This was effective and made the Sailors go long numerous times and with no big target man, it was often difficult to win such aerial balls. His wingers were also instructed to double team the LCS wingers when necessary to reduce LCS’s advantage in player quality. His substitutes were generally like-for-like and played similar roles.
LCS’s approach remained largely the same before Kim Shin Wook and the substitutes came on. Haiqal Pasha went to right back, Kim Shin Wook replaced Gabriel and went upfront while Hami came on to play centre midfield while Hariss was shifted back to a familiar role at centre back.
LCS now become very direct, trying to swing crosses in, packing the box, especially now with a target man to aim for. Lestienne managed to get one back, from one such cross from Hami Syahin. Unfortunately, Diego Lopes missed a few chances at 1-1. Subsequently, Amirul Adli lost his direct opponent Kodai Tanaka, who ghosted in on the blind side and with a tremendous leap, directed the ball past Izwan. Game, set and match.
Conclusion
This has been a disappointing end of the season for the Sailors, after the tremendous highs of an explosive start under Lalic fizzled out. While it was not a bad performance as a whole and better finishing could have won it on the day, they should have won the games they needed to win earlier in the group and not be in this predicament in the first place. Their tactical issues are also very glaring for a top team that wants to challenge and go far in the AFC Champions League.
The waters for the Sailors do indeed look choppy ahead. There is uncertainty as to which of the players and staff will stay or go. The playing load has been also very imbalanced amongst the squad this season. While the Sailors should be playing AFC Champions League football, there is a need to seriously improve their collective play, eliminate their tactical issues and establish a playing style to avoid being the whipping boys there. Hopefully management will see the light of day, guide the Sailors out of the doldrums and steer a clear path our of these choppy waters.
Written by Zach Wu (Guest Writer)
Edited by Eddy Hirono
