What. A. Win.
I didn’t see it coming at all, and if you had offered me a chance to take a point away from home against in my opinion, the strongest team in the group, I would have taken it, no questions asked. I suspect many supporters would have done the same, having seen us get pummeled away from home 3-0, and 5-0 this season in continental competition.
Yes, Port dominated the ball, and made a heckload of passes. See below.
But when it mattered, we came up with the goods. Besides goals, another key stat to look out for is big chances created – interestingly, Port had nothing on that front. Izwan hardly had a save to make all night. Let’s talk about some of what we saw in an important and potentially historic away victory that puts us in a very good place with half the group matches done.
Intensity Wins Games
In continental games, especially away fixtures, I would love to see how much additional effort our players have to expend. Our Sailors can be accused of taking it a little easy in domestic fixtures, but you can really see them running their socks off whenever they come up against better opposition. I don’t think it’s just a motivation issue – it simply is about survival. If you don’t run, if you don’t close down the spaces, you get punished big time on the continental stage, purely because of the greater quality of our opponents.
And when we talk about intensity, our fans, especially those who have supported since the Home Utd days will think of Song Uiyoung. This season, we have not seen him at his sparkling best, but the image of Song sprinting around the pitch, sometimes seemingly like a headless chicken is one we will associate with him always. He was undoubtedly the star of the show two ACL campaigns ago, as we downed K-league side Daegu once, and almost did it twice. He was also the star of many AFC Cup games back in the red and white of Home United.
I think it’s fair to say that this season, we have not seen the best of him yet. And it looked likely to continue as he blasted over when presented with a half-chance in the box. The score was 2-0 then, and I feared that it would be a costly miss. Of course, we now know that he would score from a heavily-deflected shot in the second half to seal the points for us, but I wanna talk about his intensity instead.
From the first whistle, he sprinted around like a man possessed. I have been critical of Song this season in some games when I felt like he wasn’t at his best, but this was the Song I know and love. Not the biggest guy, but always pressing, always scrapping, always getting his arms and elbows and legs in the way of opponents, making it hard for them to settle. And it was this quality that brought us our crucial second goal, when he fought for the ball that wasn’t even 50-50. I think it was 30-70. Noboru always looked likely to win it.
However, Song’s presence meant that Noboru didn’t get a clean connection with the ball and only managed to scuff it into an area where Shawal could pounce on and capitalise.
Song’s robust presence in midfield (along with some reliable passing – 13 out of 16 successful passes) let our opponents know that we were up for the fight. While that intensity may have been set by some early Song duels, but it was seen in every single person out there.
You think about how our central defensive trio reacted when put under some intense pressure in the second half, you think about how much defending Lennart Thy and Shawal Anuar had to do, often helping out as far back as in the flanks outside our penalty area, and you can see how such results are borne out of a lot of hard work.
But of course, hard work alone isn’t a guarantee of success, you still need some quality. And that brings us to …
Shawal Anuar the Superstar
Everytime we see Shawal Anuar put in such a performance, it is worth thinking about how difficult this journey of his to the top has been. He is 33 this year and isn’t getting any younger, but some of his best football has been seen after he turned 30. Coach Ranko often calls Shawal his MVP, his superstar, and with such performances, it’s easy to see why.
If you don’t know how difficult his journey was, I suggest you check out this excellent article by Straits Times writer Deepanraj Ganesan. From cleaning glass panels in shopping malls while getting paid a S$50 allowance to play, to cleaning the floor with his opponents in the ACL2, he has certainly come a long way.
The first goal was a simple finish for him, set up by an inch-perfect cross by Chris van Huizen (whose name was mispronounced about 400 times by the commentator that night), but it was an example of him making the right run into the right space. I would also like to point out that Lennart Thy and Shawal Anuar both saw the play unfold, and worked together as a strike duo to make the right runs. Shawal burst into the area in front of goal, while Lennart was on his bike as well, but upon seeing Shawal in that position, occupied the area behind Shawal in case of a cutback from Chris.
The second goal is by far the more impressive one. First, he had to have the instinct to sniff that the ball was going to reach him. If you watch the replay, you will see that he already started his run even when the ball was still in the air. He sensed that Song might win that aerial challenge, and while Song didn’t, the effect was the same – the ball came his way. And then, the next two things done brilliantly.
First, he had to take a good touch to ensure that the defenders couldn’t pinch the ball from him and that it would set him up nicely for an effort on goal. That he did. And then came the finish, which was unerring. But I invite you to take a look at the angle he had before made the shot.
No blame attached to the goalie at all, who came out quickly to close the angle, spread himself wide, stood up tall till the last second, and even did a split to ensure he wouldn’t get lobang-ed. I was discussing this goal with Leon and he too agreed that the keeper did very little wrong here. Just an amazing finish by Shawal to calmly slot this into the side netting.
And Shawal wasn’t done – his tenacity in the second half when our Sailors badly needed a goal kept the ball alive for Song to convert. Before that, was a move we’ve seen hundreds of times – Maxime cutting in on the right side of the pitch onto his left foot, to clip a pass to Shawal. Leave aside the praise that comes very readily from both Maxime and Coach Ranko for Shawal – the real proof that Maxime trusts Shawal is how often he looks for him.
You’ll remember that in Lennart Thy’s first few games, Maxime repeatedly turned down a chance to pass to him. That is in stark contrast to the partnership and chemistry we see shared between Maxime and Shawal. Long may that continue.
2 goals, 1 assist, against a top Thai side away from home? Shawal is a superstar.
Hami Syahin the Right Wing Back
Prior to the last 2 games, who would’ve thought that this is even an option? Usually, wingbacks are blessed with pace, or are great defensively. Hami doesn’t seem to be either at first glance, but he has really excelled in the two games he has been played there against Persib and Port.
I think besides his tenacity and workrate, he also offers a bit of a safer option when it comes to passing out of defence, given that he is usually a midfielder. When we build from the back, he joins the midfield and gets involved with the passes. When we defend, he helps with numbers at the back by keeping it tight and hard to break down.
It is to Hami’s great credit that Port’s biggest threat on the night came from setpieces, and not in open play from his flank, given that his direct opponent was Kevin Deeromram. Deeromram’s delivery reminded me of Shaiful Esah – just such a consistent good delivery into the box. No surprise that one of those deliveries led to Noboru’s headed goal.
Lennart Thy
Another game, another talking point. Instead of focusing on the massive result achieved, some fans discuss whether Lennart Thy is good enough to play for the Sailors.
I think it’s a fair discussion to be had, and while I don’t have the answers – for me he passes the eye-test. I think he makes good runs, gets into good positions, and doesn’t get in the way of his fellow attackers. More importantly in away games, I think he really works very hard, and that is of utmost importance.
You will remember that in crucial ACL games in the past, Diego Lopes would sometimes be dropped or start from the bench. Unthinkable, ain’t it? Considering that he was our record signing, and responsible for a lot of our creativity. However, I think such decisions tell us a lot about why Diego Lopes was not renewed.
A marquee player should play every single important game. If the coach can’t trust you to put in your fair share of defensive work, or if your playing style is just so unadaptable to more defensive gameplans, then I’d argue that you’re not the right type of player for LCS. The Sailors will undoubtedly have a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to our style. This is because we are the top dogs in Singapore, and need to play an expansive, attacking style, but once we are out of Singapore, we are almost always underdogs.
So the skills needed vastly differ, depending on whether it’s a local league game or a continental game. I think in Lennart Thy, we have a guy who is a good mix of both, but unfortunately that also means that he doesn’t thrive as much as people think he should in terms of goals and assists. I like to view it more positively – having someone come down from being a regular starter in the Eredivisie to play in Singapore and yet always make unselfish runs for the team and help out in defence? That has to be a good thing for us.
Conclusion
A great result, and one that leaves us unbeaten in the group. 7 points, and having already cleared 2 of our away fixtures. That is an amazing return.
Yes, Port and Persib were not at their best. Yes, Port did not have Asnawi, who would have given us problems both offensively and defensively. However, we didn’t have Ramselaar as well, and every result in this competition is not to be sniffed at.
We are in a great position to advance to the next round, and I really hope that we can keep this intensity up against Persib when we face them next week at the Jalan Besar Stadium. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, what are you waiting for? It promises to be a real cracker.
And I end off with a huge shoutout to our fans. Some may say that they only go on the away trips because the club pays for it. I am here to say that is unfair criticism because –
- Some of the fans pay their own there
- It’s not just about the money – unless you love the club, there’s no way you would do it. It involves taking leave from work, going there just one night before, and leaving the very next day after the game. There is hardly any time to go do your own thing – it’s not a holiday.
- It’s a lot of work – not just the two hours of jumping and chanting and drumming. Away fans have to reach hours in advance, we have to set up the area as well.
- There are legit security concerns – For the Persib game for example, we had to have armed escorts to ensure the safety of our fans. Joseph and I also had long conversations to talk about how we would react if our fans were provoked in any way. (We were provoked btw, but the Crew leaders in Bandung kept their heads)
And so I am immensely proud that this group went to Bangkok not once, but twice! The weather didn’t cooperate the first time round, yet they were out there in the rain, continuing to chant in defiance, even as the skies poured down on them. This time round, the Sun shined on them, and they roared the team on to get a crucial three points.
On to Persib next week!
Written by Eddy Hirono
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