June 24, 2023

The last time we faced Hougang United, it was a predictable walk in the park. It was Kristian Krajcek’s first game back after an injury lay-off and he looked very rusty, Shahdan Sulaiman was injured, Brian Ferreira was playing, Irwan Shah was not playing in midfield, and the coach was Firdaus Kassim, who was enduring a torrid time. Prior to that game, they had lost 5 of their last 6 games, and the Sailors were flying high and looking good. Since Kraljevic took over at the helm, Hougang have played 6 games, and won 4 of them. They also scored 3 goals in each of those wins. Their only losses came not unexpectedly, to Albirex and Tampines. To say that there has been a marked improvement would be an understatement. Part of the revival can of course be credited to Krajcek’s sustained run in the team after his injury lay-off, but tactically, Kraljevic also did made a change by deploying Irwan Shah in midfield, which has led to Hougang looking a little more solid. Finally dropping Brian Ferreira has also proven to be beneficial to the team, as he was a clear passenger in most games that he played, allowing opponents to easily overrun the midfield, something that we pointed out in our preview before the last game. Ahead of the game tomorrow, here are some of our thoughts on what might be key to the outcome. The return of Shahdan Sulaiman Shahdan was always a popular figure to us fans, both for his exploits as a Sailor, and also as a national team player. His control of the ball in midfield and his technical quality was always a treat for the eyes, and when we found out that the Sailors were not renewing his contract, most of us felt sad and also wondered how we would maintain a dominance in midfield this season. Shahdan has passed his Beep test after a long injury lay-off, and is now fit for selection. If he is up to speed and is selected, then he should add even more control in the middle of the park for Hougang. There is of course also his quality from set pieces. Imagine a freekick outside the box, and on the ball are Zulfahmi Arifin and Shahdan Sulaiman. How would the keeper even position the wall, and which side would he “show” to the taker, considering that both of them hit a sweet dead ball? I shudder at the thought of such a situation even arising. Of course, Shahdan’s return to the team remains a theoretical possibility only, considering he may not be match-fit to start the game, and even if he does start, I would hope our midfield is able to take advantage of his lack of fitness and rust to reduce his impact on the game. The unknown quantity that is Djordje Maksimovic Hailing from the Serbian Superliga, he seemed to be used mostly as a substitute, starting 8 games over 2 seasons, scoring 2 goals and assisting none. Of course, there can be no meaningful comparison given that we are no experts on how the quality in the Serbian league compares with our SPL. We also have not watched him play yet so there is an element of unpredictability of what he can or cannot do. I spoke to a friend who told me that goalscoring is a skill that people either have or don’t have – and if you can’t score at least a few goals, chances are that even if the league is lousier, you still won’t be able to score. We then decided to dig up Sime Zuzul’s goal record before joining the SPL, and we chuckled. We’ll leave you to look at it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Risto’s sacking Will Risto’s sacking have any impact on the team? The last time we sacked a coach, it didn’t go too well, as we surrendered a lead at the top of the table and started conceding all manner of calamitous goals. The team was in OK form when Risto was sacked, and given that a new coach has not been announced yet, I don’t think there will be drastic changes to how we line up against Hougang. It would not make sense for a new philosophy to be taught to the team, and then a new coach comes in, and then seeks to impose his own philosophy on the team. I guess the only change is that hopefully Diego Lopes comes back into the team. The SPL website says he is back from injury, and the official club training highlights also shows Diego back in training. Interestingly, Izwan is also back in training, but I cannot imagine him slotting right back in after so long out with injury. Will Super’s gametime be affected? I think it was pretty well-known that Super was “Coach Risto’s man”, someone he coached and really trusted at both Real Betis B, and later, Ceres Negros in the Philippines. I think he has earnt his gametime on merit, but it will be interesting to see if the current staff in the club concur with my opinion on his ability. Other than the above, I think our team pretty much will remain the same, with the focus very much on Diego, Maxime, and Shawal. The trio of them have been in great form and on paper, Hougang should be more worried about our attack, than we will be about theirs. But I am a bit of a pessimist sometimes (Arsenal fan upbringing), so there is just this nagging feeling that all the unpredictability and unknown factors will play a part in the Sailors dropping points. I reiterate that I have no real basis for predicting that our beloved Sailors won’t win – but it’s just a weird nagging feeling. Let’s hope I am wrong – COME ON YOU SAILORS! [UPDATE]: After I published this, I saw this post which kinda makes it clear that Zulfahmi