[Post-Match Thoughts] Not Good Enough (Tampines 4 LCS 3)

It took a while to write this one because work was busy af. If I am being completely honest with myself, perhaps a part of me just knew that this was gonna be painful to write. To lose this game by 1 goal only felt like a major stroke of luck – and I am not just talking about Glenn Kweh’s exquisitely-taken volley which gave us an undeserved glimmer of hope. Really, what a goal. It reminded me of Robin Snake van Persie’s goal against Charlton all those years ago, just of course, at the wrong end.

It was a rare moment of joy in what was otherwise a terrible game to sit through. At no point did I feel that the Sailors deserved to win the game. We played well for 8 minutes, deservedly took the lead with a sublime pass from Maxime Lestienne (of course), and Shawal Anuar got a goal on his first start for the club. After that, it was just terrible to watch. We were so so passive, and although the fans tried their best to keep chanting and keep encouraging the team, I could audibly hear the frustration growing amongst the supporters.

I put off looking at the Instat statistics for a long time, because I was afraid of what I would see. But here goes – a stat attack:

Out-shot, out-passed, out-fought – the stats confirm what the eyes tell us. I think if I wanted to write all my observations and list all my disappointments, it’d take an eternity, so I will limit myself to two or three main points. I will also highlight some positives – ok I’ll start with this because I’ll be done in a jiffy. So, let’s get the positives out of the way.

Nathan Mao

Huge positive, this. Earlier this season, Sailors fans were introduced to the talents of 16 year-old Jonan Tan. On Friday night, it was the turn of an even younger prospect – Nathan Mao. Nathan was only 15 years and 5 days old when he made his debut, in the process breaking the record for youngest debutant in the SPL, previously held by Young Lions defender, Raoul Suhaimi (who I am a big fan of).

Nathan came on late, and I think most of us thought that this was just a chance for the young lad to get some minutes – and it probably was. I don’t think Coach Risto sent him on thinking that he would make a difference and help us clawback a 2-goal lead. But it didn’t matter to young Nathan, who made the most of his time spent on the pitch. Within seconds, you could tell he wasn’t just gonna see out the minutes meaninglessly and just be a stat. He came on, and made incisive runs to try to get the ball. He was also a prolific “scanner”, immediately checking over his shoulder repeatedly to see where the space was, and where any potential opponents may be. For those who may be less acquainted with “scanning”, or “visual exploratory frequency”, this article may be of help.

He managed to win 2 free kicks in his time on the pitch, including the incident where he got crunched by Milos Zlatkovic, who decided not to take any risks, even though the lad was 14 years old barely a week ago. Congrats Milos, you can add child abuse to your CV (just a joke, calm down). A proud moment for the boy and his family I am sure, and it was nice to see that regardless of what happened in the game, the Sailors fans were in full voice welcoming Nathan to the pitch and cheering his every touch. Nathan is one to watch!

Anu

In a match crying out for some movement, some aggression, it was kinda shocking that it took until the 84th minute for Anu to come on. Even though we never stopped singing for the team, it was clear to us once Faris scored that we were not gonna launch any sort of comeback. Anu’s introduction gave us something to shout about. And when Nathan came on too, suddenly there was movement, and even though we fans never truly believed we would get the equaliser, the heart and the effort made it easier for us to be loud and proud.

Fans have a responsibility of lifting the team when they are down, but I truly believe that it’s a two-way process – the players also have to give something for the fans to hold on to, or the fans will lose steam. Anu gave us that. Now let’s move on to the negatives.

Hariss Harun

Believe me, I hate to do this. As a 35 year-old, I grew up supporting football not old enough to really take in Fandi’s talents, or enjoy watching the whole career of legends such as Nazri Nasir, Rafi Ali, Aide Iskandar, etc. So my hero growing up was Hariss. I have Hariss shirts at home and I think it is clear that he is no longer as mobile as he used to be. Thing about Hariss is that he still is able to affect games with his experience, and his decision-making. His leadership qualities are also held up by many as a reason to continue playing him in the national team and in the Sailors team. As recently as a few weeks back, when we spoke to Hami Syahin, he mentioned how Hariss actually gives a sense of calmness to the players when they defend transitions.

Unfortunately, I think the Tampines game is one where he was really shown up. On transitions, it did not look like Hariss knew how to stop Tampines. On more than a few occasions, instead of pressing up to the ball, us fans were disappointed to see Hariss decide to take up a conservative position as he actively jogged away from the ball instead of trying to win it. This resulted in Tampines having a lot of the initiative and they absolutely toyed with us (472 accurate passes is more than our TOTAL number of passes on Friday night).

In the lead-up to Kyoga’s goal, Hariss, along with the rest of the Sailors, just sat off and allowed Tampines to play passes without pressure until it dropped to Kyoga in a dangerous position. Quite why everyone was so passive, I will never know. Zero attempt to put pressure on the ball.

In the lead-up to Faris’s goal, which effectively sealed our fate in the second half, Hariss’s poor first touch was compounded by his failure to stay with Joel Chew and apply meaningful pressure on him. This meant that Joel Chew had the easiest of tasks to play a pass to Faris Ramli. Had that been Anu, you can be sure that Joel Chew would not have had such an easy task – Anu might very well have taken the yellow card to stop what was clearly a dangerous situation.

In the lead-up to Taufik Suparno’s goal, Hariss was directly culpable, giving the ball away in a dangerous position.

Safe to say, this was not Hariss’s best game. However, it must be pointed out that even in games where we have won this season, Hariss has shown his age a little. Given that we do have other more mobile options such as Anu and Rusyaidi, I think we can start with Hariss in midfield, but once it is clear that more mobility is needed, I think Coach Risto must be more willing to change things up. It is no coincidence that once Anu came on, we were able to put much more pressure on the ball, and that created a sense of panic among the Tampines ranks, something they had not experienced all game.

Once again, it pains me to say this, but perhaps it is time to reduce the minutes for Hariss in the team.

Not Targetting Glenn Kweh

This was Maxime Lestienne’s heatmap against Tampines. It baffles me that he was not instructed to try his luck down the right wing against Glenn Kweh, who is not a natural defender. Not only is it common sense to try and target a converted right-winger playing at left-back, Maxime also faced Irfan Najeeb in particularly good form. Irfan Najeeb won 2 out of 3 challenges against Maxime and generally looked solid. It would have made a lot more sense if Maxime was allowed to attack Glenn Kweh.

You compare this with how Tampines targetted Chris van Huizen, also a converted left-back. They did this repeatedly, and it reaped rewards. All 4 goals originated from that side of the pitch, even if you can’t blame Chris for all of the goals. But it was a deliberate and obvious strategy to target a weak spot, and it generated a lot of unease for our defence.

Goalkeeper

I highlighted in the preview that Tampines were deservedly top of the table, playing some really good football. When you play against a team in such top form, you absolutely have to do your basics right to have any chance of getting a good result. And one of the basics, is to have your goalkeeper hang on to a speculative cross. It was undoubtedly a blunder from Zharfan, and having done so well to get an early lead, it was just the setback we did not need. That his immediate response was to berate his defenders was also a little baffling, considering that he was the one who made the error.

It seemed to really fill Tampines with confidence, and after the equaliser, it was just wave after wave of attack from them.

Zharfan has had a mixed start to the season thus far, combining some good saves with some dodgy moments. If we are to challenge for the title, we will need him to find form and do the basics right.

Conclusion

Frankly, I could go on and on about the negatives, but I think I should stop. I expect better from our Sailors, and I think the rest of the fans expect better too. We don’t expect a win every game, but what we do expect is some fight, and some spirit. For long stretches in the game, it looked like we just sat back, and said to Tampines, “come, please come and tear us apart”. Passive, insipid, and uninspiring. We can do better than that.

COME ON YOU SAILORS.

Written by Eddy Hirono

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