With the Sailors 2nd in the table (with Tampines Rovers having played one more game), and Tanjong Pagar languishing in the bottom 3, everyone is expecting the Sailors to just turn up and win. In this preview, we’ll look at Tanjong Pagar’s performances thus far, assess the need for rotation, and answer the question “Is it really gonna be that easy for our Sailors to beat Tanjong Pagar?“
Tanjong Pagar have an Awful Attack
Yes.
The answer to the question posed above is “Yes”. I couldn’t say Yes loud enough. For those who are of a certain vintage, imagine the “Yes” to be as resounding and as loud as Sally’s “Yes” in the restaurant in 1989 classic film When Harry Met Sally.
With 6 goals in 5 games, Tanjong Pagar have the joint-worst attack along with Albirex Niigata (S). (At the time of writing, Albirex have played one more game and failed to add to their goal tally, after a disastrous 6-0 loss to Geylang.)
They create very few chances because they sit back most of the time, and thus struggle to get bodies into attack. Their top-scorer is Salif Cisse, who has overcome a slow start to the season to score 2 goals in his last 2 games. He has looked quite a handful, even if his CV is quite unimpressive.
In fact, by scoring 2 goals, he has already equalled his highest-ever season tally. Of course, some of those leagues, like the French 2nd tier, Bulgarian 1st tier, and the Lithuanian 1st tier, are likely to be of a higher standard than our SPL. It seems he has finally found his level in the SPL, and if they are to get anything from the game, much hope should lie on Salif Cisse’s shoulders.
The other player that our Sailors will do well to try to shut down will be Shodai Nishikawa, a player more known usually for his industry than for his skill. He has 3 assists in his last 2 games.
Overall though, with the lowest xG in the league, and our defence being the stingiest in the league, we should be keeping Tanjong Pagar at bay.
Is Their Defence as Bad as it Seems?
If you asked someone not to refer to the table and guess where Tanjong Pagar lies in terms of goals conceded, I think most would guess that they are near the bottom.
However, with 14 goals conceded, they are actually near the middle of the table when it comes to number of goals conceded. Young Lions (19), Hougang (20), and Albirex (23) have worse defensive records, whiile Brunei DPMM have conceded the same number of goals (14). Teams like Geylang and Balestier have only conceded one fewer goal than Tanjong Pagar.
Why then, is there this impression that Tanjong Pagar cannot defend?
Upon closer inspection, one stat perhaps goes some way to explaining this. Out of the 14 goals conceded by Tanjong Pagar, 12 have been inside the penalty area, but even more shockingly, 7 have been scored from inside the 6-yard box. Half their goals! This suggests that Tanjong Pagar is laying the red carpet out for teams to slice them right open and walk their way into goal.
This stat is all the more surprising when you consider that Tanjong Pagar sit so deep inside their own half for the majority of the game.
Against the tricky and skilful players that the Sailors have, Tanjong Pagar might find themselves having a tough time.
Bart’s Injury Brings Up Interesting Possibilities
Bart limped off in the game against Geylang, and was clutching the back of his hamstring. We have no injury updates to go on, so I am gonna assume that he will be sitting this game out, because usually even the slightest of hamstring strains rules a player out for about 2 weeks.
Add to that the fact that we are facing a team much weaker than us, and I truly believe there will be some common sense applied to protect a player who is so key to the way we play. Simply put, we shouldn’t have to rely on him being available to beat Tanjong Pagar.
This raises some interesting possibilities because we get to put another foreigner into the starting lineup. Our foreign players selected has usually been –
Maxime Lestienne, Lennart Thy, Bart Ramselaar, Toni Datkovic (any foreigner, any age)
Bailey Wright (foreigner from AFC nation)
Obren Kljajic (U21)
Besides these players, there’s realistically only two players who can expect some gametime – Rui Pires, who cannot fit in the U21 or AFC foreigner slot and Sergio Carmona who takes up a U21 slot. It is interesting to note that Obren Kljajic is a versatile player not just in terms of on-pitch position, but also foreigner eligibility, because he can take up a U21 slot, or an AFC slot. If for some reason Bailey Wright isn’t playing, Obren could take his AFC spot, and that would allow Carmona to take the U21 slot.
With Bart injured/rested, I think it might be timely for Rui Pires to make his return. He has been missing from the team because of injury, but he was featured in the Inside Training video released by the club yesterday. He has been out for some time, so I don’t expect him to start, but I think we might see him from the bench. Something to look forward to.
It seems apt also to comment on a recent debate that took place – some fans (both LCS fans and rival fans) felt that LCS did not plan their transfers well, because they had more foreigners than they could play. On the contrary, I think it is fantastic planning. Having one additional first-team foreigner might mean that someone gets disgruntled, but that is something that coaches need to take care of. By having an additional foreigner of first-team quality, it offers the Sailors some security in our options. Should we unfortunately lose someone to an injury, we have a replacement to beef up another area of our team.
It also gives us more variety. Certain foreign players may be more suited for certain types of games. We saw in our last 2 ACL campaigns how Diego Lopes would sometimes be dropped in games that require more intensity.
With 4 rounds in the league plus Shopee Cup, ACL2 and Singapore Cup commitments, we will have a very long season. Better to be over-prepared than underprepared.
Need for Rotation?
Even leaving aside Bart’s injury, the Tanjong Pagar game might be time for some of the fringe members of the squad to get a runout.
When we spoke to Coach Ranko after the previous game, he felt that some of the players looked tired. The players really struggled to show anywhere near the same intensity they showed in previous matches in the first half of the Geylang game, and I wonder if he might try to freshen up the lineup a little.
If he does, I would like to see Anu and Adam Swandi rewarded for their good performances when they were substituted on against Geylang. Players like Chris van Huizen and Hafiz Nor will also be wondering if they can see more gametime.
Conclusion
There really isn’t much to say for this one. Our Sailors have to win, and win convincingly. Tanjong Pagar may be slightly buoyed by their win over Brunei DPMM, but they will still be massive underdogs coming into this one.
I hope we put up a confident performance in the first half, score a hatful of goals before the 60th minute, and then we get our chance to see some fringe and young players come on.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Zharfan Rohaizad
Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Obren Kljajic
Adam Swandi, Hariss Harun, Anu
Maxime Lestienne, Lennart Thy, Shawal Anuar
Score Prediction
Joseph and I predict the scores and track our success in a table. Stay tuned to find out who is the prediction king!
3 points for exact scoreline predicted correctly, 2 points for predicting the winner and margin of victory correctly (but not the exact scoreline), and 1 point for predicting the outcome correctly (win, lose or draw).
Eddy’s prediction: Sailors 6 Tanjong Pagar 0
Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 4 Tanjong Pagar 0
Written by Eddy Hirono
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