September 2023

There was a moment in the first half of this game, when Balestier scored a blatantly offside goal. It was so offside that the Balestier players didn’t even celebrate it, they just retreated back into position. Izwan also just turned around to retrieve the ball for a free kick. Noone thought it was a goal that would stand. Well, one person did. The person in charge of stadium music got a bit excited and pressed the big red button that said “TIGERS GOAL, GET INNNNNN – PLAY EYE OF THE TIGER“. The song came on for a bit, people realised something was wrong, and then it stopped. In many ways, that was the story of Balestier Khalsa on Monday night. They showed up for the game, but did they really show up? Not in my opinion. Only a handful of players really tried. Just like the song, it was half-hearted, and ultimately, killed very quickly. Let’s dive right into this, and other post-match thoughts. Balestier Khalsa Did Not Show Up Lack of fixtures They just didn’t show up. Could it be that they just haven’t had enough football in recent times, thus killing their momentum? They had a month-long break between 20 Aug and 15 Sep, when they played their last league game. Although there were two international fixtures during that time (like the rest of the world), I am not entirely sure why the break was so long. You compare that with earlier on in the season when Balestier were made to play 4 games in 11 days and you wonder what’s going on with the scheduling. When games are so spaced out, teams do lose momentum a little. The Sailors at least came into the game having played 2 games, once against Geylang in the final match of the season, and then a few days later against Bangkok United. Lack of desire For whatever reason, the Tigers seemed to lack any fight in them. I can remember only a few crunching tackles from Jordan and Madhu, some energetic running around from Ho Wai Loon, but even the usually combative and energetic Hoshino and Daniel Goh seemed to be very muted. The best example of this lack of desire came in the lead-up to the 5th goal. Ho Wai Loon’s disguised pass was read well by Anu, who deflected it into the path of Hafiz Nor. Hafiz Nor showed his mind is even quicker than his pace, immediately playing the ball to Diego Lopes in the centre of the pitch with a one-touch pass. Balestier were in trouble. Ahead of Diego is Shawal, who you can see in the picture above, and Richairo, who you cannot see. He’s with Madhu, slightly out of the shot. I picked this picture so you can see that there are 3 Balestier players who should start busting their gut to get back and help. Note the distances between the players. Look at Iqram’s distance with Shawal. This shows what Balestier is dealing with. It’s a 3v2 at the back – and the distances have widened. Ryoya is further from Diego now, Iqram is further from Shawal now. Iqram’s lack of desire to run back merely 14 minutes after coming on will be quite worrying for Balestier fans. Had he run back to defend, Jordan and Madhu would then be able to shift across and try to cover Diego and Richairo. As it was, this is your classic Attack v Defence drill where the coach puts fewer defenders than attackers to get the attackers used to finding the open man. This is textbook training ground stuff. Madhu tried his best – in fact in this moment above he managed to read and block an attempted pass by Diego on the inside to find Richairo. Had the other defenders come back in time, this might have killed the Sailors momentum or at least made it harder for Diego. Instead, he had the time to get the ball back from the deflection, and play it round the outside for Richairo to leave him 1v1 with the keeper. Funnily enough, even the referee is closer to the Sailors players than the retreating Balestier midfield. Where is Ryoya? The last picture is like those scenes at the end of an action movie, where a couple is being tormented by some psychotic serial killer. They call 911 for help, but the help never arrives. They find ways to keep themselves alive, they fight and struggle and get hit and fall down stairs and whatnot. They will never die of course, but at the end, after the psychotic serial killer is finally dead, the sirens will sound and the police will arrive – way too late. That is how you’d describe the Balestier midfield. Too little, too late by the time they appeared. In a match where Balestier looked very lackluster, I think this was the most glaring example. There is already a gulf in quality, and it was made worse by a lack of effort. I’d be fuming if I was a Balestier fan. Contrast this with an incident in the 30th minute of the game, with Sailors already 3-0 up, and Richairo lost the ball near the Balestier penalty area. He chased down his tackler and managed to win the ball back near the halfway line. For a man who was labelled as “lazy” when he made his debut for us, that was a very encouraging sign. Which brings us to the next topic … Richairo Needs to Get On the Ball More A hat-trick within the first 45 minutes. He is without doubt, one of the best players on the team. Not only is he strong and fast, he can shoot on either foot as well. He also shows a keen awareness of where his teammates are and is able to link up with them effectively. All these qualities were on display against Balestier. His first goal was an example of how difficult it is to

It was a dream start for us in our first ever home game in the AFC Champions League. Last season’s “home” games don’t count because they were all played in Buriram in a centralised tournament due to Covid-19. As is so often the case, whenever Chris van Huizen gets a cross into the box, things happen. Last night was no different. As the left-footed cross was whipped into the box, it was half-cleared to our Brazilian magnifico, Diego Lopes. He had sent a shot high and wide just 5 minutes ago, but this time, he hit it sweetly on the volley, and it nestled in the bottom corner of the net. Jalan Besar erupted. After a long period where we sat deep and frustrated our Thai guests, this was a much-needed boost of energy. We all know how this one ends, so there’s no need for a spoiler alert, but at the time, it was a sweet moment for the fans. It’s now a day later, so there’s been some time to process my thoughts about the game. Tactical stuff I will touch on, but not in detail – I will leave that to Zach as usual in our upcoming Tactical Analysis article. Let’s go. Angst about the Angst Post-match, after I went about doing all the interviews (both player and fans), I went online to look at the reactions to the Sailors’ defeat. While there were some comments commending the atmosphere, and others acknowledging the effort put in by the players, there were also annoyingly, rather many comments having a go at our players, saying that they lacked effort, were very poor, or were not well-prepared – often a combination of all the above. I felt that based on the eye-test and what I observed during the game, these comments were unfair and were perhaps borne out of angst at the final result. Not analysis, not rational thought, just angst. And then I ended up getting angsty too. I think for me what really swung it was that it was not only the faceless Internet trolls having a go – it was our fans in the SailorFanTalk Telegram chat. Comments such as “they aren’t well-prepared for the tournament during training“, “it feels like we suddenly cannot play football and play like YL“, “players have no desire “, “when we have the ball, how do we keep [the ball]? It’s got nothing to do with opponent“. Where was all this negativity coming from? And in the case of the last comment, how can someone be so angsty that logic flies out of the window? How can your success in keeping the ball not be at least in part affected by the quality of your opponents? These are unfair comments that unnecessarily shit on our own players, players we should be supporting. It was as if people had forgotten that the Sailors were the underdogs coming into this game. Maybe they should read this blog a bit more! Haha. [This way if you wanna re-read the preview.] Then there were people who asked a fair question – could we really count ourselves as underdogs? We were after all, a little lucky in the draw and had escaped drawing the likes of Urawa Red Diamonds and Kawasaki Frontale. Some people felt quite rightly, that we were in the “easiest” group. I think however, the reality is that in the ACL, almost any group we get drawn into, we are gonna be underdogs. Here was my response in full – And that brings me to my next point – in the cold light of day, having rewatched the game, and also with the benefit of statistical reports, can we say that Bangkok Utd didn’t really create any good chances? Our Sailors Did Well Defensively Against a team top of the Thai League, a team that finished 2nd in the league last year, and that had also beaten the reigning champions 2-0 this season, we did well. Really well. Considering the quality of our opponents, I think to limit them to under 1 xG, is very impressive. This was also borne out by the eye-test, where they hardly created any good opportunities. The best chance for our opponents I think was the second half opportunity for Mahmoud Eid which shaved the post on its way out – he was kept quiet all night by the impressive Mamat. As mentioned in my Telegram message earlier, the goals came from slightly bad marking at one set-piece (disappointing of course), and a piledriver right into the top corner. While the players are not blameless in this, I am not sure we should be faulting their effort. Here’s another interesting stat to show you which I think speaks to the effort the players put in – duels won. In terms of duels, we pretty much outperformed them in almost every category, which suggests desire was not the problem. In fact, one of the enduring memories for me from this game was the sight of Richairo Zivkovic running back on more than one occasion all the way to the line of our penalty area to help out in defence. Desire was definitely not the issue and defensively our Sailors frustrated our opponents. In the post-match press conference, Bangkok United manager Totchtawan Sripan said that in their pre-match analysis, they had prepared for the Sailors lining up with 5 at the back despite not doing so in the domestic league. It is to our Sailors’ credit that even though our opponents knew what was coming, they still struggled to create chances. But could we have been slightly more attacking? Let’s discuss that. Should Sailors Have Opened Up More? I can’t lie – this was a thought that kept nagging away at me after the game (and maybe even at times in the first half). While we limited our more illustrious opponents to nothing more than half-chances and long shots, we ourselves did not pose a consistent threat. Often, our

As mentioned in the preview piece, this game mattered little to us, and so it was interesting to see such a strong lineup. Maxime, Diego, Richairo, all started. Other players you would expect to see start on Wednesday, such as Hafiz Nor, Chris van Huizen, Hariss Harun, and Zharfan Rohaizad played 90min as well. Curiously, Bailey Wright was not on the pitch and also not on the bench, so there may be some doubt as to whether he will be fit to start Wednesday’s game. There were some positives for us to take from this game, so let’s dive right into it. Noone Got Injured + People Got Minutes I think the first positive out of this is that nobody picked up an injury. With the Singapore Cup and the AFC Champions League right around the corner, we are gonna need everyone on board, not just for the numbers, but also for the variety. Long-time followers of the Sailors will know that we have some really good players, but each offers something a little different. Hafiz Nor and Mamat both defend and get down the wing pretty much all game – however Hafiz Nor packs a better shot, while Mamat is perhaps that bit more solid defensively. This is just one example – but I think you get my point. Coach Rankovic will want his full arsenal of talent available to him so he can pick the right weapon for the right game situations. Zivkovic and Lestienne got 45min each – and I think this is your most quintessential “get some minutes under your belt” kind of performance. Neither of them looked anywhere near their flying best, and I really don’t think Geylang had anything to do with it. Subconsciously, I think some players already thought ahead to Wednesday’s crunch tie against Bangkok United, and wanted to make sure they didn’t pick up an injury. Some players on the other hand, probably knew they were not gonna start on Wednesday and so turned in great performances to try and play themselves into the manager’s plans – more on that next. Haiqal Pashia – A Man on a Mission Shoutout to Haiqal Pashia – who I thought really changed the game when he came on. By his own admission in a post-match selfie interview, he should have had a hat-trick. First, when he cut in around the 52nd minute and hit it hard in front of goal, but Hafiz Ahmad did well to save it. Then, late on in the game, Nathan Mao did well to put two chances on a plate for him, but he only managed to score one. It was an energetic performance, and one the team really needed because the first half was very flat. Haiqal’s runs in behind made Geylang’s defence look a bit more unsettled, and when Haiqal’s first shot was well-saved, eventually the pressure told, and when the ball was recycled and played to Chris on the left flank, he whipped in a delightful ball for Shawal Anuar to score with a commanding header. It was a crucial goal that put us level on the scoreboard early in the second half. Perhaps the more recent followers of the Sailors might not know this, but Haiqal Pashia wasn’t always a bit-part player for us. In the 2021 season, except for when he was out injured, he started every game for us. This was in part, due to the rule which required all SPL clubs to start a U23 player and not substitute the player until at least the second half. To his credit, this did not happen all the time, and he was an integral part of the team that won the title for us that year. This season, until the 1-1 draw with Tampines in June, he had only made a single appearance and even then, for only 11 min against Geylang in March. Since June, he has made 9 appearances, although most of them have been as late subs into the game. Not much gametime for him. If you really wanted to see him play more minutes, you would have to watch him in the U21 league, where he is often the main attacker, and has a role of the “veteran” leading the younger boys. I have watched a few of the U21 games, and the pattern for him seems to be that he makes very good runs, and often ends up with good chances, but perhaps he could do a little more with his end product. If he can combine the 2, he’ll be a cracking player. Which is why it is so satisfying to see him score 2 goals in 2 substitute appearances for us. Some may remember the title-winning season where we went into a game with Albirex at Jalan Besar Stadium, and a win would see us seize the title initiative heading into the final few games. It was September, crunch time in the season. In a game where we had to dig deep and defend for long stretches, our threat on the counter-attack was gonna be our main weapon, and so it proved. Midway through the first half, Haiqal Pashia was on the end of a Faris Ramli cross, and he put us 1-0 up, allowing Sailors fans to dream. It was however, also the same game where Haiqal made a similarly good run, was again found by Faris Ramli, and somehow he managed to miss with an open goal to aim at. Eventually Albirex snatched a late equaliser and we thought we lost the title, but Tampines did us a big favour, held them to a draw later in the season, and we were still CHAMPIONS. Oh shit I digressed big time. Point is this – Haiqal Pashia could prove crucial for us in the ACL when we will have to sit deep and defend well, and hit opponents on the counter. I cannot imagine us playing any other way against Jeonbuk, for example. The starting