March 20, 2023

Older fans will remember Hiro Nakamura of Heroes coming back from the future to say “Save the cheerleader, save the world”. If you just read that and have no idea what the hell I am talking about, you’re too young and I am very envious of your youth. That was a phrase from the hit TV show in 2006, where basically one of the main characters came back from the future to tell the characters of the show that the cheerleader was pivotal to their chances of saving the world. For some reason, the Sailors stopping Taniguchi made me feel like bringing back that old reference. In our pre-match preview we talked about the importance of stopping the dynamic duo of Daniel Goh and Ryoya Taniguchi. As it turned out, I felt the overwhelming thought that kept coming back to me was how committed the Sailors were to stop the counter-attacks from Balestier. We did so in two ways – first, by not giving the ball away as much, and second, by running like madmen back to stop the counter-attacks. The First Step – Not Giving The Ball Away The Sailors achieved an impressive 89% passing rate from 493 passes, which helped them keep 59% possession. What was once again interesting was that the Sailors again decided against crossing the ball into the box, and always passed around, looking for a better opening. At times, it meant recycling the ball through to Super and Lionel Tan, but if they had to, they did it. Of course, this isn’t rocket science, but a ball into the box, if cleared, will play right into Balestier’s hands. You can picture it. Ball drops to Kozar, plays a quick pass to Taniguchi, who switches it out to the right wing for the electric Daniel Goh to run down the wing and cross for Shuhei Hoshino to miss. Ok scratch that last part, that was me being mean to Shuhei for his form in front of goal so far this season. But you get it. By not giving the ball away, we dramatically reduced the number of chances Balestier had to run at us – and the best evidence of that is just by looking at Taniguchi’s numbers. Let’s show you a comparison of his numbers before the Sailors game, and during the Sailors game. That’s how quiet we kept him. All the above three stats were his lowest of the season. He was nowhere near as influential as he was in recent games, and as a result, Balestier suffered and were unable to create as many chances as they usually do. Only two real chances come to mind – the early chance for Daniel Goh which was well-saved by Zharfan, and the moment in the second half where Shuhei inexplicably was allowed an eternity to dwell on the ball, settle himself, and then shoot, while in the box. Zharfan once again proved the hero. The Second Step – Running Back to Stop Counters In previous articles on this site, both Zach and I have highlighted that there seems to be a little bit of unwillingness to track back when it comes to our attackers. That was not in evidence in the game against Balestier. Whether it was Coach Risto’s instruction, or the players’ own initiative – there was an extra desire, it felt, to win the ball back and stop Balestier’s counter-attacks. Perhaps that is the biggest compliment I can pay to Balestier – their attacks are so dangerous that all 11 men felt a need to come back and really help out in defence. If you look at Rasaq’s heat map, you will see what I mean. For a forward to put in such a shift in defence, it’s remarkable and is a testament to how hard the team worked to stop Balestier. You can see that not only was Rasaq active in attack, he also seemed to spend quite a lot of time in midfield and even defence. Along with putting his body in there as a screen for the defence, he also managed to win two tackles in the game, and I remember one stopping a rather promising attack from Balestier. He wasn’t alone. Diego and Maxime also put in a good shift on defence and that contributed to the clean sheet – as much as Zharfan’s steady saves. The return of Zulqarnaen Suzliman Mamat ‘s return is a welcome one. He has been out of regular action for a long time – his last start was in July 2022, and so it was great that he managed to get through the full 90min and contribute to a clean sheet. That will do wonders for his confidence. We spoke to him after the game, and he admitted that at first he was a little nervous after this long-awaited start, but he certainly grew into the game. His stats from this game were quite impressive. All this on his first start in so long? Very impressive. We will need him to be in top form, because other than him, the options at right back are kinda thin. It’s either him, Arshad Shamim, or Bill Mahmadou – but Mamat is the obvious one with the most experience and so should be looking to lock down that slot. If he can keep up his form there, then it will also allow Hafiz Nor to concentrate on wreaking havoc further up the pitch, rather than being brought back to be a right-back again, as he was played last season. With Kodai’s injury, it is even more important that Hafiz Nor stays as one of the wing options, so that Shawal Anuar can be deployed in some games as a lone forward. Conclusion In conclusion, a good outing for the whole team. From back to front, everyone played their part. I thought Lionel and Super were outstanding, while the overall energy and effort also helped ensure that Balestier could not play their usual game. Back