December 12, 2023 – SailorFanTalk

[Preview] Sailors v Kitchee – The Deadest of Dead Rubbers

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

It’s the last game of the season for us, and it’s a dead rubber. I think I speak for all fans when I say I wish we were still in the running to qualify for the knockout stages, but it is what it is. There’s still the record for most points achieved by a Singaporean club in the AFC Champions League up for grabs, and it will be our last top-tier game for a while (we’re in ACL2 next season because our league coefficient is not good enough), so let’s cherish this match and take it in. Right, into the preview we go! Is it Really a Dead Rubber? There’s been some confusion over this. Some people still think that our Sailors can get second place if results go our way. I don’t blame them for thinking that way, but let’s clarify this! It looks like our Sailors are still in it, if you look at the points and the goal difference. Surely a win for us and Bangkok Utd beating Jeonbuk by enough goals would see us leapfrog Jeonbuk? Unfortunately, no. The rules state that in the event of two teams finishing level on points, the tiebreaker is Head-to-Head performance. In this case, Jeonbuk beat us 3-0, and we beat them 2-0. So even though we each got 1 win over the other, they did score one more goal than us, so in a Head-to-Head comparison, we lose out to them on goal difference. So even if we win 10-0 tonight and Jeonbuk lose 20-0, nothing changes, and we’re stuck in 3rd place. It is a dead rubber for Kitchee as well – even if they achieve a win, they will be on 4 points, not enough to overtake us. Hence, the deadest of dead rubbers. But there’s a record to fight for, isn’t there? The Chance to Make History Well the players have a chance to surpass the Sailors’ achievements of last year – win and they will be on 9 points, more than the 7 points last year. Call me skeptical but I am not sure this is the best motivator. The club website had this to say – Aleksandar Ranković’s team have their eyes set on writing their names into the Singapore football history books – by setting a new record for the maximum number of points a Singaporean team has attained in the ACL group stage. “We deserved a better result against Bangkok, but we’re totally prepared and motivated for this match. We want to finish strong, especially after the Singapore Cup final, and we want maximum points from tomorrow’s match,” said Ranko, adamant that his charges are not still swooning over the weekend’s Cup Final victory, and instead are determined to bounce back from the loss against Group F leaders Bangkok United on 29 November. “With the format change in the ACL (the Sailors will be in the ACL2 next season), this will be our last chance in this competition and we want to leave our own legacy.” I am not sure I am convinced, haha. I think the players and the coach want it – but I think it is human to not be as motivated as when there is a tangible prize at stake, say a cup, or qualification to the next stage. Leaving a legacy is well and good but I am not sure many people can remember who was in the SAFFC team that previously set a record for the most number of points in the Champions League group stage back in 2010. Can you even name 5 players from the team that beat Henan Jianye? (Fun fact – regular SPL commentator Rhysh Roshan Rai, who sometimes reads SFT articles, is one of them) Regardless, it is the last match of the season for our players, while Kitchee still has a game at the weekend. Alot of intangible factors might come into play here, all of which we have no insight into. Will Kitchee players conserve their legs in view of the weekend’s game? Will our Sailors already mentally be on their holidays? Will we give minutes to players who have not played much or players who are already leaving as a farewell? It’s really hard to say. One thing that we can look forward to though, is the return of a “fan favourite”, Kim Shin Wook. Return of the Wookie Wookie has not had a good time at Kitchee. I take you back to my preview article where I had this to say about him – But how has our Wookie fared since he transferred to Kitchee? Not well, apparently. Go take a look at the highlights from my interview with Kitchee fans Edmund and Tim – pretty scathing. Last season, Wookie finished with the now-overused 007 meme, as he recorded 0 goals and 0 assists in 7 appearances. (I say overused but yet I still use, lol) This season, he has only seen gametime against much inferior opposition. He took to the pitch and scored a hattrick against semi-pro opposition, and just last weekend, he played in a 6-2 victory in the league, but when he was subbed on, he managed to miss a penalty, and also the rebound (which would not have counted anyway because it came off the crossbar). Apparently he approached the hardcore fans and apologised to them for his performance and looked tearful. It pains me to say this because I’ve always liked him, but it’s not going well for sure. – https://sailorfantalk.com/2023/10/03/preview-kitchee-v-sailors-perhaps-no-better-time-to-play-kitchee/ Not much has changed since 2 mths ago. He has scored 2 more goals, and his overall record does seem decent now. 5 goals in 11 matches is a decent ratio. However, I think quite crucially, he still struggles to see gametime because of the availability of the other foreign players, who are deemed to be better than him. 11 appearances in a year is not great. Why I suspect we will see him tomorrow is because of the comments of his coach

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Singapore Cup Champions (Sailors 3 Hougang 1)

It’s been 3 days since we won the Singapore Cup, but the sense of euphoria is still very much alive. I know we still have a game to go, but I think the fact that we’re already knocked out of the AFC Champions League means that this Singapore Cup final really felt like our last game. For reasons I will go into later, I don’t think the game really felt like a cup final, but I am glad we managed to come out of Jalan Besar Stadium with a Cup to show for it. Let’s dive into some quick thoughts! Atmosphere of a Cup Final The fans on both sides were on form, and I think this led to a very special atmosphere. Throughout the season, the Hools have not been at their sparkling best, owing to many of them having personal/work commitments. The move to Jalan Besar Stadium probably did not help as well. However, for this Cup final, they turned up in full force, and colour-coordinated to wear all-black, which was a real spectacle. On our side, the Crew stood loud and proud, as we belted out chant after chant, song after song, in our bid to spurs our boys on. As a long-time supporter of Home United and LCS, I think the atmosphere right now is at the highest level in recent years. Long may it continue. A picture paints a thousand words, and a video paints a bajillion words – pretty sure that’s a saying. So go check this video out. At the final whistle, the atmosphere only got louder, as the fans celebrated a first silverware since 2021. In my opinion, the Community Shield of 2022 doesn’t really count, but ok if you count it, then this is our first silverware since early 2022, still a cause for celebration. The trophy ceremony was glorious, seeing the players throw Rankovic and Forrest Li into the air was also fun. Even as fans of a rich club (in the local context), where trophies may come by a little easier than for other clubs, a cup win is always nice. However, if I were to be completely honest, the 2-0 win over Jeonbuk probably made me go a little crazier than the win over Hougang. I don’t think it’s just the quality of the opposition. It’s partly because the result never felt in doubt – there was no sense of jeopardy which would have made the win feel even sweeter. This is not to criticise Hougang by the way – I feel their circumstances rendered it almost impossible for them to compete with us. So why was there no sense of jeopardy? Hougang Didn’t Land a Punch If you watched the full game and wonder why despite Hougang looking solid at first, the result never felt in doubt, it’s because our Sailors didn’t allow them to shoot from anywhere threatening at all. Hougang registered a total of 7 shots, of which only 1 was on target. And that came in injury time in the second half, when the game had long been won already. Maksimovic, highlighted by me as a dangerman, and one to watch, did not even get one shot off. Zero. Nil. Nada. The backline marshalled him expertly, and almost came out of the game with a clean sheet. Funnily enough, Hougang scored right after the Crew did the “CAMPEONES” chant. We were ever-so-patient, waiting till the clock hit 90 minutes before doing it, and yet we still didn’t manage to ward off the jinx effect, and Hougang duly scored with their only shot on target. Shoutout to old boy Abdil Qaiyyim for the assist. The SPL website somehow credited the assist to Naoki Kuriyama – but make no mistake, it was old boy Abdil with a great flick-on header that led to Takayama heading in for the consolation. The SPL website also doesn’t think Sahil’s 2nd minute try from range was a shot, but in my opinion it was, hence the disparity between Wyscout and SPL stats when it comes to number of shots. But yeah – Hougang really didn’t generate any threat. Just look at where they were taking their shots from. And if you look at how many times they even entered our box, they came in 5 times. In comparison, we entered the Hougang penalty area 18 times, an average of once every 5 minutes. You can’t blame them for their approach – if you’ve read the preview, you’d have seen their horrendous injury list. They are truly unlucky that their key players weren’t available, or they might have been able to hurt us a bit more on the counter. If they were to try playing more expansively, I am sure our forwards would have got even more goals on the counter and the finnal would have been super lop-sided. To make things worse for them, we benefited from a stroke of luck or two too. Our First Two (Lucky) Goals I will start by saying that if the penalty kick given by the referee had been awarded against the Sailors, I’d be livid. I think it’s an incredibly harsh call. The cross comes in from van Huizen (and as we know now, everytime he crosses, something happens) – and Richairo flicks it on. It hits Kuriyama on the arm. Kuriyama barely raises his arm, and it is still near his body. He is also looking away, and I don’t feel he has enlarged his silhouette. To award a handball for this kills the game in my opinion. It is a Cup final, and a call like that instantly gave us the advantage, and sealed Hougang’s fate. I was really surprised when the VAR asked him to review the decision on the pitchside screen and he still gave the goal. But I am a Sailors fan, so I shouldn’t complain. I also will not complain about the big stroke of luck for our second goal. In the preview for this game,