After the high drama of our last game against Port FC, the next game was always gonna pale in comparison. Paling in comparison is one thing, but as I wrote in the preview, getting a win was still essential. Not only for our slim survival hopes in the Shopee Cup, but also because we are right back in league action in the blink of an eye, and we need to get into the habit of winning games.
What happened on Thursday night though, didn’t just pale in comparison to the high drama of the Port game, it was SUPER routine.
Now don’t get me wrong, routine doesn’t necessarily mean easy. It’s just … routine. Just like getting up to brush your teeth when your annoying alarm clock goes off despite it raining outside perfectly for you to continue sleeping – that’s not easy, but it’s routine. This was the most routine of routine wins. We didn’t have to do anything special – in fact, KL City FC didn’t even have a shot on target.
There was a point in the second half where sitting 2-0 up, we were so comfortable, that the fans started to find ways to entertain themselves. Near me, a few fans started using the clappers to play their own little game, seeing who could land more hits on each other. Yes, it was that comfortable.
Let’s dive right into some of the talking points for this game.
No Lennart Thy
It was interesting to see that Lennart Thy wasn’t in the squad at all. It probably wasn’t an injury thing, considering he just played in the friendly against Kitchee.
In the Shopee Cup, we are allowed to field 6 foreigners, and on the night, they were – Toni, Bart, Sergio, Maxime, Rui, Bailey. Most people would probably think that Sergio Carmona being the youngster, he would perhaps be given less priority in an important cup tie.
It is also perhaps more surprising because in the league, the foreign strikers are almost never rotated out of the side, such is other teams’ reliance on their No. 9s. But if you ask me, I think this is a good sign. It shows that there is healthy competition for places in the team, and that we have the depth to shuffle the pack around to cater for different fixtures, and also for dips in form.
In this case, Shawal is in sparkling form and has been on fire this season. In 17 league games, he has 11 goals and 10 assists. In 6 games of ACL2 action, he has 4 goals and 1 assist, showing he can do it not only domestically, but against tougher opponents too. When he’s in such hot form, it is no wonder that Ranko has been using Shawal more and more in the starting 11 rather than off the bench. It is perhaps this form that has led Ranko to decide that Shawal is more than capable of leading the line, and he’d thus rather use the foreigner slot on Sergio over Chris at left-back.
This decision may also have Monday’s game against DPMM in mind. In what is likely to be a difficult away game against a newly-strengthened DPMM side, Ranko will probably rely on Lennart Thy to press from the front. Monday’s lineup will be very telling. If Lennart misses out again, chances are he is either injured, or really out of favour.
I think what Coach Ranko is doing is absolutely correct. Play the players who are in form, make use of that squad depth. We are in a privileged position where we have 8 foreigners that we can count on to step into the first team. The 6 who started the game against KL City, plus Lennart Thy, and Obren Kljajic. That’s some incredible depth. Might there be one more foreigner coming in this transfer window? Might there?
Coach Ranko will have his hands full trying to consider all the options he has, but what I like is that he hasn’t let any big-name reputation or connections get to him. During his time at Sparta Rotterdam, Lennart Thy worked with Coach Ranko, who was Assistant Manager. It would be very easy for Coach Ranko to continue to play Lennart game after game, but in the last 2 games, he has opted for Shawal.
I think this gives encouragement to the rest of the squad – if you play well, you will start. Noone (perhaps except Maxime) is undroppable.
Attacking Intent
In the preview article, I mentioned that both teams would perhaps try to sit tight and attack on the counter, but that being at home, we needed to come out with a bit more intensity, if not attacking intent.
And although both sides lined up with three centrebacks at the back, there was no doubt that our Sailors were a bit more serious about trying to score the goals we needed to keep our slim hopes alive. From the kick-off, Bailey Wright was pushed right up into attack to attack a long ball from midfield. That was a sign of things to come. Within a couple of minutes we almost scored, when Shawal was left unmarked and his cutback almost forced an own goal.
Stats don’t always tell the full story, but sometimes you can’t argue with stats like zero shots on target. KL City FC said they had a gameplan, but whatever it is that they were trying to do, it didn’t work at all. Our Sailors hardly broke a sweat, and I think it was always a matter of “when”, not “if” we were gonna score.
You know how the title of the article is “Routine”? Have you ever seen a more routine corner kick goal than the one scored by Bailey Wright? In this age where there is so much emphasis on Arsenal’s setpiece routines, on how there are blockers, there are people trying to stop the keeper from getting out to the ball, etc etc etc, this was as standard as it gets. A good ball swung in to the backpost, Lionel and Bailey each trying to shake off their markers, and then boom, a fairly routine header into the far post that the keeper might feel he could have done better with.
After that, the game was played on cruise control. It’s as if our players were trying to save some energy for the DPMM game.
And then, the second goal came in the middle of the second half. Maxime had all the time in the world to look around and play a pass to Bart, who in turn found Maxime again for a lovely clipped finish. A good goal, but the nature of the 1-2 looked so nonchalant.
One thing that does worry me though – Maxime immediately clutched the small of his back, and started wincing. He continued to play on after that till the 83rd minute, but I wonder if he’s carrying a small injury, and if he will be ok for DPMM.
Looking Ahead
After this much-needed win, we have shot up the table, from 6th to 5th. Well, not quite a shot, as much as a little squirt. A trickle. The kind of movement at the end of a pee when you’re about to leave the urinal.
But it’s an important trickle. We have 2 games left, and our only chance of progress is if we win both games. At home against Buriram, and away against Kaya FC-Iloilo. It will not be easy at all, but we’ve earned a chance to fight on. Tiebreaks in this competition are settled by head-to-head record, and not goal difference, which is lucky cos our goal difference is shite.
Another glimmer of hope for us comes from the rules of this tournament, which limits teams to 6 foreigners in the matchday squad. It means that Buriram cannot field their all-star foreigner lineup, as seen on ACLE matchdays from them.
Conclusion
A routine win to kick off the year, let’s hope this gives us the momentum we need to fight on all four fronts.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
Written by Eddy Hirono
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