January 15, 2025

Well, I am always glad to be proven wrong. The last time I predicted a 2-2 draw, we went and beat Port FC 5-2. Guess I should keep predicting 2-2 draws for our Sailors. Again, it was a performance where I felt our Sailors didn’t need to be at their very best, despite DPMM taking an early lead. I think DPMM will go from strength to strength once they get used to their new striker up front, but really some of their defending and keeping was terrible – as I said to some fans while we watched it on TV, some of the defending was more static than the broadcast. And the broadcast was truly shite. Weird angles, bad audio, static lines across the pitch, even the VAR replay for the penalty decision was affected by it. Brunei, please sort it out. Or if you don’t sort it out, please help make sure that it results in penalties not being given for Tampines and Geylang haha. Let’s dive right into the post-match thoughts! Brunei Usually Not an Easy Place to Go To DPMM are hard to beat at home – their real home, the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium, not JBS. Prior to Young Lions beating them last time out, they had played there 4 times without losing, thrice grinding out hard-earned draws, and once beating Tampines in a dramatic 3-2 victory. It’s fair to say that had their home stadium been more available to them, they might be slightly higher up the table. So it wasn’t really a surprise when DPMM took the lead through a good shot by Azwan Ali. I felt the defending and keeping could perhaps have been better, but these things happen. It’s how you respond to setbacks like that that determines if you can challenge for the title. I thought that without really needing to play that well, we managed to find a foothold in the game, and before long, Lennart and Shawal combined for a sublime goal. While the defending may be static, Lennart decided that in Maxime’s absence, he would do what Maxime does, and clipped an inviting ball over the defence for Shawal. Then comes the even more impressive part. We all know Shawal’s leap is ridiculous, but the pace and direction on the header to beat the keeper Naumovski (who’s no slouch)? Just brilliant. To think Shawal turns 34 this year! Lennart and Shawal would then combine again after DPMM made a mess of an Izwan goal kick, with Shawal returning the favour for Lennart to calmly sidefoot past the keeper. 2-1, and the win never really looked in doubt after that, even though they did equalise through the mercurial Oliveira. Further goals by Shawal and Lennart meant we took all 3 points home. While a lot of it was down to how poor DPMM were, we still needed to turn in a professional performance, and we did that. Now let’s talk about our goalscorers. Is Lennart Thy Really That Bad? I don’t think it’s unfair to say that some fans are still not convinced by Lennart Thy. 2 goals and 1 assist in an important game away from home should boost his confidence somewhat, especially as he has been left out of the starting lineup for games against Port FC and KL City FC. What do the goalscoring and assist stats tell us about what we should think about our new striker? You’ll hear people wax lyrical about Shingo Nakano, about Seia Kunori, but the stats show that Lennart Thy comfortably outperforms them. Sure, Lennart has better service, but he also has to share that service with other goal-hungry players, such as Maxime and Shawal. I don’t think stats are everything, but I think for a foreign player in his first year in this league, he’s doing alright. Perhaps the perception of him being a flop stems from his performances in continental competition, where he can do much better. Some people have also said that Shawal outperforms Lennart – but to me, that is a happy problem to have. I don’t think it’s an indicator of Lenny sucking – as much as it is Shawal being that damn good. With Rui Pires looking like he sustained a bad injury, there will be an additional foreign slot that opens up in the first team squad for the next few matches at least, and I think we’ll be seeing more of Lennart. Let’s hope he can keep up this rate of production. Conclusion A short one, considering I need to write another article later to preview the Albirex game. I think it’s a good thing that there’s not too many talking points from our game against DPMM. We wish Rui Pires the best in recovery – hope it isn’t a long injury. There were rumours of Anu being loaned out to another SPL club this transfer window but I guess it’s good we didn’t do it. We’re competing on four fronts, and if we’re hit by an injury or two, suddenly fatigue will pile up and then we’ll be in a shitty situation. Unless maybe we have some incomings? Rumours are that Akram Azman has been signed, and that, added to the news that Mamat is on his way back, strengthens our hand further. On to Friday and hopefully another win to keep the run going. Bring on Albirex! But till then, top of the table with two games in hand, just like the cover picture suggests. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! Written by Eddy Hirono If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!