July 2023

In case you thought I’d gone mad and forgotten that Albirex have scored 67 goals, 9 more than Sailors’ 58 and 17 more than Balestier’s 50 goals, I was referring to the individual top-scorers’ tally. Ryoya Taniguchi and Maxime Lestienne are both locked on 20 goals and as the league title is almost a foregone conclusion, I am gonna get invested in this particular race. These, and other thoughts, in our match preview ahead of tomorrow’s game. Hafiz Nor Suspended First up, Hafiz Nor is suspended after picking up his 4th yellow card of the season against Tanjong Pagar United. This is probably one of those suspensions I am least worried about. While Hafiz Nor has been a vital part of the team all season, I’ve long banged the drum of “PLAY MAMAT MORE, ROTATE THE SQUAD”, and so this is an enforced change that will definitely see Mamat come in on the right side of defence. I see Hafiz Nor and Mamat as being very similar players in terms of how they affect the team. If you imagine yourself playing FIFA or Football Manager, then Mamat is essentially Hafiz Nor, but with a bit more defensive attributes and a little less offensive attributes. One thing they do share in common is a love to gallop down the wing and contribute to attack, so we will hopefully see not much change in terms of how we approach the game. It’s also perhaps the perfect time to see Mamat back in the team. He was widely praised for his defensive efforts up against Son Heung Min, and his confidence must be very high. For more on Mamat, check out this excellent article by CNA writer Matthew Mohan. Bailey Wright is Back Bailey Wright will want to make things right (pun completely intended) when he returns from suspension tomorrow night. I don’t think it’s unfair to say that his dismissal against Brunei DPMM was not how he saw his debut going when he went to sleep the night before, and that it essentially torpedoed our chances of getting a victory against the Bruneian team. But what’s done is done, and the players have talked about how it’s important to win our remaining games to try to regain some momentum for the upcoming Champions League fixtures. I completely agree because that’s all we can really do now. A huge part of it for me is to see how Bailey Wright will adapt to this system. He looked comfortable against Spurs, only really being beaten once, when he lost track of James Maddison in the box and it took a good Zharfan save to bail him out. However, that was a back 5 system, and we’ve all seen how defenders usually look good in a back 5 system because they have much less space to protect. It’s early in Bailey’s career, but if he is to give the fans some confidence, this is probably going to be a good test for him, up against Ryoya Taniguchi and Shuhei Hoshino. Which brings me to … Shuhei Hoshino – More Than Just a Goalscorer? All the Balestier talk this season has been about Peter de Roo, Ryoya Taniguchi, and maybe also Daniel Goh. Ho Wai Loon also comes to mind as someone who has taken a lot of plaudits for his limitless energy. Madhu as well, has rolled back the years with some sublime performances at centre-back, so much so that some fans have started calling him Madhu Maldini. But Shuhei doesn’t really get a mention. Which is strange. It might be because Shuhei sometimes is super profligate in front of goal, but I reckon it’s more because of his barren seasons in front of goal when he was paired with Zuzul. 4 goals and 3 goals respectively in 2020 and 2021 is absolutely pathetic. There is a good reason for that though. In those seasons, Peter de Roo had not come yet, and Shuhei was reduced to someone who was just known for being a targetman – knocking down long passes for his quick partner Zuzul to burst onto and score. Since he has come, Balestier have produced an exciting brand of football, which has been accelerated ever since they moved to Bishan Stadium – the better pitch allowing them to actually create nice passing patterns and link up play all over the pitch, advancing the ball methodically and assuredly, instead of just lumping it up the field. And as a result, Shuhei has really come into his own (despite a slow start to the season). He is a vital part of Balestier’s attack, having scored 9 goals and registered 8 assists. His tally of 17 goal contributions is surprisingly more than that of some people who have really excelled this season, such as Hakeme Yazid (15), Shuto Komaki (14), Keito Komatsu (14) and equal to that of Boris Kopitovic (17). (Of course, the Albirex ones being so high up is amazing in and of itself considering their limited minutes, but that’s why they’re gonna win the league.) One other thing about Shuhei that people don’t really comment on, is that he helps with quick transitions with his passing. He doesn’t have the highest passing accuracy, but that’s because he tries some really ambitious passes – and it is usually to set Daniel Goh free. Look at this one vs DPMM – he is circled in pink. Look where he is when he plays that pass over the defence. Harry Kane receives a lot of praise for doing this for Spurs, so I have to point out as well that this is something else that Shuhei has in his arsenal – he drops back into midfield where the centre-backs can’t really follow, picks up a pass, and then without really wasting much time, he seeks to exploit the pace of Daniel Goh in behind. This was something I referenced as well in the preview of our first meeting with Balestier Khalsa. On average, Shuhei

This is not gonna be your regular match preview – because this is not a regular match. No real use writing about Spurs because this is only their second pre-season friendly, and they are using this trip to Singapore as more of a marketing and commercial exercise – this is a game with no stakes for them. Instead this preview will focus more on how this match impacts the Sailors, both positively and negatively. (And OK maybe at the end I’ll talk a little about Spurs). Let’s dive right into it. Initial Reaction – Disbelief When I first heard about the friendly match with Spurs being scheduled in between two league fixtures (vs Tanjong Pagar United and vs Balestier Khalsa), I was not the happiest camper around. I was in disbelief, actually. Why would the club schedule a friendly right in the middle of a title race? It was announced right after we had lost to Brunei DPMM as well and we were barely clinging on in the title race. We had to beat Albirex next, then Tanjong Pagar, play a meaningless friendly, and then play Balestier Khalsa. Not an easy stretch of fixtures by any means, and if we were coasting in the league with a healthy lead, I guess I would have no complaints. However, it seemed like we were introducing another fixture into an already-packed July calendar. It didn’t seem to make any sense to me. There’s the risk of injury and then there’s the risk of players and staff getting distracted by the real challenge at hand – winning the title against a dominant Albirex side, and a spirited Tampines side. I guess rather weirdly, the fact that we lost to Albirex kinda takes some weight off this factor? We are all but out of the title race – I cannot see Albirex slipping up enough from this point to allow us back in. In that sense, whether we play 1 friendly game, 2, or even 3, might hardly matter. We simply cannot control what Albirex does and they should be deserving champions this year. Had we beaten Albirex though, I think i’d still be a little upset that this friendly has been inserted into a packed fixture list. 5+1, 3+1 – Looks Like Math but it’s Actually Chemistry One of the benefits that makes the most sense to me is that this friendly allows us to field 6 (5+1) foreigners at the same time. This is crucial in our preparation for the AFC Champions League (ACL) because unlike the SPL where we can only field 4 (3+1) foreigners, we are allowed to field 6 in the ACL. The brackets may confuse people who are a little less acquainted with the rules. The +1 usually refers to the quota that is reserved for a player hailing from an AFC nation. So you will see in the SPL, players from Japan mostly taking up this slot. Our +1 slot was also taken up by a Japanese player, last season’s SPL Player of the Year, Kodai Tanaka. However, he suffered a bad knee injury and in the mid-season window, we signed Aussie international, Bailey Wright, from Sunderland. Our 4 foreign players registered for the SPL are – It remains to be seen who will be the 2 foreigners added to this list of 4 – we have a few in contention. I will briefly talk about them – OK after that long explanation and setting the context – back to the point. We have not seen Rui Pires play despite him signing a few weeks ago, and we have never played the 6 foreigners together. This friendly might be very telling in terms of who will likely be registered for the ACL squad. The 6 foreigners will not have played together before, except maybe in training – and what better opportunity is there than this for the Sailors to try out how they will line up in the ACL? They will need to gel, so any gametime together would be beneficial. To make things even better, we will be facing a team much better than us, and it will be very useful for us to practise how to play against way superior opponents, given that in the ACL, we may come up against J-League or K-League sides. A pre-season version of Spurs may thus actually be ideal for us to come up against. A Chance to Impress Already, fans around the world are laughing at us. I don’t really blame them – to go from AS Roma to an unknown club in Singapore is a bit of a “downgrade”. Realistically, we will not be able to put up a fight on the same level that Mourinho’s Roma would be able to. However, I guess what is really unsurprising yet still hurtful is the online comments that local fans are making. I have never been one to say that Singaporeans are obliged to watch their local league or support their local athletes. I feel that everyone is entitled to their own choice – it would be a bit strange to admonish someone for choosing to watch Maroon 5 in concert as opposed to say, Electrico just because they are a local band. However, I think some local fans have taken to criticising the Sailors without even having watched them play before. It all seems a bit unfair but I guess I have to learn to ignore online criticism. It will thus be a chance for our Sailors to try their best to impress, or at the very least, not embarrass themselves on a stage like this. There will be viewers from all corners of the world, given that Spurs have such an international following. When we spoke to Chris van Huizen after the Tanjong Pagar game about whether he was looking forward to the Spurs friendly, he mentioned that all his career, he has not had the chance to play against such a big team, so I am

It was not entirely surprising that we lost to Albirex Niigata (S). They are table-toppers and reigning champions for a reason. Anyway, that match is done, we move on. I don’t really wanna talk about it anymore. You can read my post-match thoughts here, or come back later tomorrow when we publish our tactical analysis of the game (HURRY UP ZACH!). We take on second-from-bottom Tanjong Pagar United, and I think we are strong favourites to bounce back from this one – but let’s just give you some food for thought in case you think it will be a walk in the park based on their recent form. Deceptive Form + Player Availability At first glance, you’d think they are in terrible form, and that this will be a stroll. However, if you look closely at those games, they were all over Geylang and perhaps should have scored more than once before Geylang hit back with 2 goals, and they ran Tampines and Balestier very close. It is not easy to do that, because Tampines and Balestier are the form teams in the league, with better form than us at the moment. TPU have simply been on a very tough run. They did lose to us 7-1 the last time, but that was a match where Blake Ricciuto and Shakir Hamzah were both suspended. That really ripped the spine of the team right out of TPU, so I am not surprised at how easy it was to dismantle them last time out. They also posed very little offensive threat to us, though they did score a good goal from a well-worked corner kick. With Shakir and Blake back, they have both their joint 2nd top-scorers and their 1st and 3rd most prolific assist-makers lining up for them. It’s a huge boon for them. Two players who played against us the last time we met sit this one out. Mirko Sugic is suspended for amassing 4 yellow cards, while Fathullah Rahmat has gone for National Service. This will be good for us as we hope to dominate the midfield, as it somewhat offsets the return of Blake. Chris van Huizen is available for selection again as he returns from reservist training, and I wonder if he will get a start – Nur Adam has played a lot of football in the last 10 days or so. Chris also offers an extra dimension in that he can swing in excellent crosses from the left if we struggle to break down TPU’s backline. Abdul Rasaq came on against Albirex and so will most likely be available for this game – unless this photo suggests that he may have had a minor hand procedure done. Not sure! Will Coach Ranko try something radically different and name 2 strikers? It would be quite a sight I think, seeing Abdul Rasaq flanked by Maxime Lestienne and Richairo Zivkovic, with both of them very capable of cutting in to wreak havoc. Let’s hope for some shuffling around as I think the players do look a little tired. TPU’s Foreign Players Marin Mudrazija and Pedro Dias have not impressed or even played much in the league this season. I went down to the U21 game between TPU and LCS last night at Jurong East Stadium, and the pair of them played the full 90min. Marin was full of hard running, and even scored the winning goal, while Pedro Dias was imperious in the air, winning every aerial challenge that came his way. If you’re wondering about the Sailors, Haiqal Pashia was the most-utilised attacking outlet by us, and came closest to scoring for us. Rusyaidi Salime was an absolute beast, as he seemed to smash anything that was in his way (legally, as well), drawing angry responses from some TPU fans. It was a nice experience being in the stadium for a U21 game for the first time, to see the standard of play and hopefully gain some insight into who is bubbling under for the Sailors. I thought captain Asis showed many good touches and is one to look out for as he hopefully gains more minutes with the senior team. A secondary consideration for me going down was so that I could make educated guesses about who was going to play tomorrow. Marin Mudrazija has had his fair share of critics, although he still remains the top-scorer for TPU with 5 goals (3 of them have been penalty kicks). He does seem to be out of favour, having not featured at all in the past 2 games. Could it be an injury and they played him in the U21 game to let him regain some fitness? Even if so, it would be a bit strange to play him for the whole game. Pedro Dias is much the same – he seems to be really out of favour as well after suffering a spate of injuries earlier this season plus a suspension. Having seen him complete a dominant 90min, it is pretty clear that he is back to full fitness. However, once again I do not think he will play in tomorrow’s game. Physical Approach of the TPU Players TPU is known to be a team that has a reputation for a strong fighting spirit – sometimes literal. They are the team with the joint-most number of red cards in the league (5). There are some interesting stats to pick out for TPU when it comes to fouls and cards. While they have the lowest number of fouls in the league, they have the most number of yellow cards and the joint-most number of red cards. It suggests that their players go in hard on the tackle or they are prone to getting involved in scraps/scuffles. Coach Ranko may want to push for an early lead so that at half-time we can preserve some of our more important players for the tougher games that will come ahead, and to protect them from unnecessary injury. Conclusion There

Having passed up a golden opportunity to return to the top of the table, our Sailors go into tonight’s game knowing it’s pretty much do-or-die. Let’s take a quick look at the permutations for us. If Sailors win – we will be 1 point ahead of Albirex, but they will have 1 game in hand. If Sailors draw – we will be 2 points behind Albirex, AND they will have 1 game in hand. If Sailors lose – we will be 5 points behind Albirex, AND they will have 1 game in hand. As you can see, even a win doesn’t leave our title hopes in our own hands, as we will still need other teams to take points off Albirex. But it’s all we can try to do tonight – so let’s get right into the preview. Seia Kunori’s fitness and availability To say Seia Kunori is an important part of the Albirex lineup is a bit of an understatement. He tops Albirex’s goalscoring charts, while also is in the top 2 for assists. While there’s been no news about him being unfit or injured, I do raise this question because of how much he has played in his last 2 games. He did not start against Young Lions, and I assumed it was just rotation, because he came on at half-time to play the second half. It looked like just load management, letting him share minutes with the likes of Riku Fukashiro. However, in the game after that, he did not start against Brunei DPMM either, and despite Albirex desperately needing a goal to win the game, he was only subbed on in the 84th minute. Unless he’s had some falling-out with the coach, I cannot see past the possibility that he might be carrying some sort of injury, which has limited his minutes in the past 2 games. Of course, it’s been a week since Albirex last played, so if it’s a small knock, he may well be in contention to start against us tomorrow. If however he doesn’t start, it will be a massive boon for us, and will make things slightly easier for our defence. Hassan Sunny Returns Hassan Sunny’s red card against Tampines Rovers landed him a 2-match suspension, but as luck would have it, he comes back against us. On a side-note, Syazwan Buhari’s red card for Tampines in last night’s game against Young Lions also means that he lands himself a 2-match suspension. Once again, as luck would have it, he is suspended for the Geylang and Albirex games, but will be back against us. Jared Gallagher also picked up his 4th yellow card, which means he is suspended for the Albirex game. Life. At this stage of the season where every win is important, we are looking for any little advantage that we can get, and make no mistake about it, despite Kai Yamamoto’s excellent performances while Hassan was out, Hassan is still the best keeper in the country, and his experience and know-how will be crucial to how Albirex approach this game. He will, of course, be fired up to perform against us given that he was let go by the club last year, and his side are in pole position to win the title. Some people have asked why the Sailors fans in the two Albirex fixtures this year have been so hostile towards Hassan Sunny. Let’s not sugar-coat the truth – some fans did very audibly shout the word “traitor” at Hassan Sunny, while others resorted to the usual vulgarities on him. I do not think this is acceptable conduct, because I feel that the term “traitor” is a bit too harsh. However, for reasons that I will elaborate on below, there is some reason for Sailors fans to be a little disappointed in the conduct of Hassan Sunny. So let me reluctantly take a walk down memory lane to try to set the record straight. Not a lot of people will read this, but Sailors fans will at least know why there is some ill feeling. In totality, this is why I was OK with some of our fans booing him. There will be those who don’t believe me and say that we are booing just because he joined our rivals. Or they told me that LCS fans booed because Hassan Sunny celebrated Albirex scoring against us. For that, I will just ask them – did you see anyone booing Faris Ramli who joined Tampines, a team where we have had fiery encounters in the last few years and are also a title rival? No. Did we boo Faris when he scored that banger against LCS, denting our title hopes? No. And the reason is simple. Faris left with class, as did Gabriel. When interviewed by the Straits Times, he didn’t moan about LCS not offering a contract, he just accepted it and moved on. Same with Gabriel, who in fact wrote a very nice farewell message. At the Dortmund game, they stayed, and applauded the fans. The fans got to say a proper goodbye. They still talk to us fans, even now. There was no such closure or continuing relationship with Hassan, and so I can understand the way some fans felt. I reiterate that calling him “traitor” is harsh. He’s not Judas, he is just like the colleague who after tendering his resignation, starts giving less effort, starts chaokenging MCs, evading obligations, and just generally leaving in a sour way. But “traitor” is still harsh. We would have preferred if he moved on without fuss and didn’t badmouth the club, but “traitor” is a whole new level. He’d have to be leaking team lineups for example (rumour has it another ex-Sailor did that, but no proof so shhh). On my part, I have urged fans to move on from this, and try to focus our efforts on cheering on the Sailors, and not to shit on people who are no longer part of our