September 28, 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