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.
Having needed to bounce back after a heavy loss to Albirex, there was a need to bounce back and the Sailors responded emphatically.
Both games were extremely similar from a Sailors point of view – they took the lead relatively early on, scored the second around half time and then wrapped up the game late on.
Team Setup
Against Geylang, the Sailors set up in a 4-5-1 shape with Diego upfront as a false 9, dropping deeper and linking the play.
Against Balestier it was a more customary 4-2-3-1, with Diego in his preferred #10 role and Abdul Rasaq as a natural striker upfront.
Both teams’ approach differed slightly too. Geylang wanted to go man for man (i.e. assigning one man to mark each Sailors player), especially when the ball was shifted out wide.
On the other hand, Balestier wanted to protect the central areas and allow LCS to play through to their fullbacks.
Van Huizen targetted in both games
Van Huizen was clearly singled out as a weak point in the Sailors defensive line.
Against Geylang, Yushi Yamaya was told to run at Van Huizen and caused him trouble while Van Huizen picked up an early yellow card by fouling Daniel Goh from a Taniguchi diagonal pass.
Teams have clearly picked out the former winger as the weaker fullback given that he is a converted winger (from earlier in his career) and are actively targeting him. Up against Faris tonight, it could be a long night for Chris. (Editor’s Note: Some cause for optimism comes from the fact that the Sailors have still recorded two clean sheets in a row. In the post-match thoughts article after the Balestier game, I pointed out that Maxime had put in quite a shift on defence – this may be crucial again today to help protect our fullbacks)
Consistency is Key
With their plethora of offensive star players, LCS would have no issues in offense as highlighted by Eddy earlier. However, their lapses in defensive concentration came to a head once again.
In both games, LCS did give up quite a significant number of Expected Goals (xG). Against Geylang it was 0.94 while against Balestier it was 1.4. These values should be much better for a side that wants to challenge Albirex for the title.
If you look at the positions Geylang and Balestier got into above, late on against both teams, LCS gave up high-quality chances. They were only saved by Hoshino placing it too close to Zharfan in the Balestier game while for the Geylang game, Tezuka’s goal was ruled out for being marginally offside.
Against better sides (and Tampines is a better side), they will surely take advantage of these defensive lapses while also perhaps limiting LCS’s free-scoring attack. LCS have to get it right on the defensive end sooner rather than later. Eddy spoke about Tampines’ impressive defensive stats in his Preview article, and this is something the Sailors must emulate.
Conclusion
Having just signed Bernie Ibini to replace Tanaka, it must have been a big relief for Sailor fans that Tanaka has been adequately replaced. He will definitely be one to watch out for, having won league titles in both Korea and Australia.
Sterner tests will definitely await the Sailors. Table-topping Tampines should be a good litmus test for Risto and hopefully any defensive lapses will be ironed out for the big game tonight. Chris van Huizen will have a big task on his hands especially, up against the technical and tricky Faris and a former Sailor himself, who will have a point to prove.
Written by Zach Wu
Edited by Eddy Hirono
If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!
