February 2025

[Preview] Lion City Sailors v BG Tampines Rovers (Time to Get That First Win)

There have been unforgettable nights for our Sailors this year. Some great unforgettable nights, some not so great yet still unforgettable nights. 4-0 v Muangthong, 5-2 v Port FC, 2-0 v Zhejiang FC, and of course, 7-1 against our old rivals, Albirex Niigata (S) – these matches belong to the former category. However, there are also nights we would want to forget, but we probably cannot. 2-3 to Persib Bandung after taking a commanding 2-0 lead, 2-4 to Zhejiang FC in freezing Hangzhou after taking a 2-0 lead, and of course a humiliating 0-5 loss to BG Tampines Rovers. Of all those results, the BG Tampines one irks me the most. Not only do we have the better players and more resources, the 5-0 loss was the result of players not doing the basics right, and everything that could go wrong for us went wrong. However, I have reason to believe that this won’t happen again tonight – let’s dive into the reasons why. Can’t Win When Basics Aren’t Done Right I am not gonna relive the whole game again. That’s torture. A 5-0 loss, and the poor way we played, conceding all manner of soft goals, will never not be torturous to talk about. So let’s just pick one issue and discuss how the team has changed since then. This is the lead-up to Boris’s first goal. Prior to this, both sides had been pretty even, and our centre-backs were dealing with the attacking threat of BG Tampines reasonably well. But when you play a high line, you absolutely have to put some pressure on the ball carrier. No one is applying any pressure, and there is no urgency at all. Irfan Najeeb literally had more than 5 seconds to look up, take a touch, and then play a simple pass behind the defence for Boris to go 1v1 with Zharfan. To make matters worse, our defensive line wasn’t in sync, as Lionel Tan did a Tristan Do, and did not keep the same defensive line with Bailey and Toni. After that, Zharfan spilled the ball for 2-0, Carmona let Glenn Kweh get past him too easily for 3-0 (and the centre-backs left Boris unmarked in the penalty area), we switched off somewhat on a freekick for 4-0, and then conceded a corner-kick goal for 5-0. (Oh shit I just relived it when I said I wouldn’t relive it.) Wholly preventable goals, and goals that would not have been conceded had we played with intensity and desire from the off – the same pace that we do against our continental opponents. We’ve seen how the team has grown since this 5-0 result, and how much more convincing we look when the team plays with intensity and discipline. This is a top-of-the-table clash so I don’t think our Sailors will be taking BG Tampines lightly at all. Not the Same Team Look at the lineup on that day of the 5-0, and think about who we are likely to see starting tonight. Completely different. Of that team, I’d expect maybe only 5 of them to start tonight. Bailey, Toni, Maxime, Shawal, and then one of Hariss or Lionel. It’s completely a different team, and also it was the first time that Coach Ranko played 5 at the back. Ignore the formation in the graphic above, the back 5 was Sergio, Toni, Bailey, Lionel and Hafiz. Since then, I think it’s fair to say that our left-back position has been improved with the signing of Diogo Costa, and as for right-back, Coach Ranko has landed on a solution where Hami Syahin plays there, but tucks into midfield when we have possession to give us more ball security. Song was also in poor form then, but has since really shown what he is really capable of, with pace and power in the middle of the pack proving to be difficult for opponents to handle. The familiarity with Coach Ranko’s tactics also grew as the season went along, so much so that when we named a B team to face BG Tampines in our last league game against them, we managed to scrape a 2-2 draw. Contrast in Form Last, but certainly not least, while our Sailors are firing on all cylinders, BG Tampines have been grinding out results without looking very convincing. This year, they’ve even managed to lose to Hougang United and draw with DPMM. Their last outing also saw them waste a host of chances to narrowly beat hapless DPMM with the help of an own goal. This is understandable, considering that they replaced their top-scorer and legendary striker Boris Kopitovic mid-season. As much as we like to make fun of him over here on SailorFanTalk, there’s no denying that the team have grown accustomed to having him lead their attack with his unique brand of aggression and hard work. A major reason for why BG Tampines works as well as they do is because of the familiarity the players have with each other. Boris was their striker for 5 years, and in that time, became their all-time top goalscorer. Even though the club replaced him with another hardworking striker who could get goals in the form of Itsuki Enomoto, it will still take some time for the partnerships on the field to form. In the meantime, we will have to capitalise. And we are well-placed to do so. Again I go back to how much the team has grown this season, and how accustomed we now are to the 5-at-the-back system. We’ve also seen how that system allows the likes of Diogo Costa and Akram Azman to really bomb down the wings and stretch play. I think BG Tampines will have a lot of thinking to do as to how to approach this game. They should be scared, looking at the kind of football we are capable of this year against teams like Muangthong, Buriram and Albirex. Then you add in the factor of how we rested half

[Preview] Lion City Sailors v BG Tampines Rovers (Time to Get That First Win) Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Balestier Exposed – Perfect Prep for Wednesday (Balestier Khalsa 1 Sailors 5)

A comfortable win, with no injuries. During this hectic schedule, that’s all everyone at the club would have wished for. But we got one better than that – we got a match where our players could take it a little easier because of a man advantage. A 38th min red card to Fudhil I’yadh when our Sailors were already 2-0 up meant that we played more than half the game with a man advantage, further resting those legs we are gonna need on Wednesday, and in Hiroshima. Let’s dive right into some post-match thoughts, including my take on why the red card was a little harsh. Was It a Red Card? In my opinion, it’s debatable. I have marked in red the spot the ball first bounced, to show you how near Max was to getting to the pass. Considering that Max was already on the run, he would likely have got to the ball ahead of Fudhil, who started his run later. However, if you look at where the ball eventually landed as an indicator of the trajectory of the pass, it can also be said that Max would have got to a slightly wider position. I think the trouble with these decisions is we don’t get any insight as to why the referee has decided a certain way, and why the VAR has advised the referee to have a look at the monitor. I am quite comfortable with this decision had it gone either way. If the referee felt it was only worthy of a yellow card, and cited factors such as distance from goal and also, the eventual wider position that Maxime would have ended up in, I think I’d be OK with the decision – but I would also be OK if the referee felt it was worthy of a red card, citing the lack of a covering defender nearby, and also the fact that Maxime was likely to reach it ahead of Hafiz Ahmad, who was off his line, but not sufficiently off enough to get to the ball first. However, if enough people agree with that, then I’d make the case that this is a debatable decision, and the referee, who initially showed a yellow card to Fudhil, cannot be said to have made a clear and obvious error. Interestingly enough, this situation occurred to Sailors 2 years back against Albirex. It was from even further out, and the player said to have been denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity is legendary Japanese player Tadanari Lee, who by that point in his career was slower than a turtle. (Yes, I mean turtle, not tortoise because turtles are not supposed to be able to move on land, and that’s what I am comparing Tadanari Lee to). Am I bitter about the red card still? Yes. Similarly, in that game, I felt the red card was also a debatable decision, but having produced a yellow card, I wasn’t sure that it was a clear and obvious refereeing error not to give Anu a red card. You can read it again here – I really dive deep into IFAB’s guidance for Denial of Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity (DOGSO) situations. So, my conclusion is that the red card is OK to give, but having given a yellow first, I am not sure it crosses the threshold into clear and obvious error, and in that sense, it is harsh. I hope that Singaporean referees can have a show or tiktok or IG reel sometime, to talk about some refereeing points / guidelines when it comes to such situations? It may help to educate the public like me on how they reach certain decisions. In any case, it didn’t really affect the result I think, we were well on our way to victory anyway. We were 2-0 up and should have been 3-0 up right before, but Maxime refused to shoot on his right foot, having already scored one on that foot a few minutes earlier. Balestier managed to get away with that one, but barely 1 minute later, the red card incident happened. As stated, I think the only real effect on the game is that it made it much easier for us to conserve legs, as we controlled and saw out the rest of the game. Stoppage Time Speaking of “didn’t really affect the game” – I noted that the commentary talked about how it was surprising that only 2 min of stoppage time was indicated after the second half. It was also referenced in Raushan’s podcast (Sporting Minutes). Regular readers will remember that this is territory that we’ve covered. And guess what, it was the same referee! Click here to read. However, I think it was nowhere near as egregious this time. Against DPMM last season, they frequently dropped to the floor as they looked to see out the win. In my calculations in that article, I only counted stoppage time for injury stoppages, plus VAR checks. I did not count your “regular” stoppages like goal kicks, throw-ins, etc, where DPMM took their time too. Shockingly, the difference between what was indicated and what was given was a whopping 9 min. That’s 10% of your match. This time round, I did the same checks. 2 min of stoppage time was indicated, when the minimum should really have been 4 minutes, because of course there are your other “usual” stoppages as well. I must say I don’t quite get it. There was a long check for Kodai’s eventually disallowed goal. Surely the ref should be adding that time back on? This is even if I want to make excuses for the ref and say that since Lenny’s goal took a shorter time to check, maybe he chose not to add that time on. Added time serves the purpose of making our players more ready for games that last longer and are more intense. We don’t have to look so far back – Muangthong scored against us in the

[Post-Match Thoughts] Balestier Exposed – Perfect Prep for Wednesday (Balestier Khalsa 1 Sailors 5) Read More »

[Preview] Balestier Khalsa v Lion City Sailors (Beware of Complacency)

This is gonna be a short one. It’s back to league action for our Sailors, and obviously, we’re on a high after Thursday’s result. However, will the squad be able to come down from Cloud Nine and put in a performance good enough to consolidate our lead at the top of the table? Some short thoughts ahead. Complacency + Rotation? The buzzword is complacency – this was echoed in the official preview article on the Sailors website too. You know how people say “no offence” before they say something truly offensive to you? The need to say it means that it is probably true. Similarly, when the official website talks about complacency, it’s because everyone knows that if we play to our full potential, we should win, even if we put out a rotated side. The last time we faced Balestier Khalsa, we ground out a 3-1 win, despite resting several key players. Maxime and Lennart didn’t start, and the goals came from Rasaq, Chris van Huizen, and Carmona. The rotation was necessary because that game was sandwiched between huge continental clashes. We had just beaten Zhejiang 2-0, and were heading into a crucial game against Cong An Ha Noi in the Shopee Cup. It is a similar story this time, coming off the back of a morale-boosting victory in the ACL2, and there is a huge clash against BG Tampines waiting for us in mid-week. Coach Ranko is definitely gonna have to rotate to keep everyone fresh. In the Post-Match Thoughts article I wrote about how much effort must have been expended in the game against Muangthong. I am sure he would also want to ensure that the heavy hitters are fit and raring to go for the midweek game. The players coming in might probably feel that it’s hard to break into the starting lineup for the glamour ties in the ACL2, but there is no other way to impress Coach Ranko. A good performance may not mean that automatically you’re in the coach’s thoughts, but a bad performance will certainly mean the opposite. Let’s hope some of the fringe players step up. Balestier Not the Same Balestier Khalsa were stronger in the opening half of the season. Since then, they have lost Jordan Emaviwe, Tajeli Salamat, and crucially, Ismail Sassi. Ismail Sassi was their 2nd highest contributor when it came to goals and assists. With 13 goals and 3 assists, he was always a threat. You may also remember him scoring against us in our 4-2 victory early on in the season. He has been replaced, by Anton Fase, who already has 3 goals to his name in all competitions. He has looked lively but it really remains to be seen if he can replicate the threat that Ismail Sassi poses. Nevertheless, Balestier are still one of the highest-scoring sides in the league, and our defenders will need to be on top of their game to ensure we don’t leak too many goals. On the recruitment side, they’ve also brought in Cher Deng (I know nothing about him), Jared Gallagher, and Abdil Qaiyyim. The latter two will look to add some more defensive solidity to the team, but they will need time to figure out on-field chemistry and partnerships. Balestier’s Defensive Record Balestier’s defensive record should give our forwards a lot of encouragement. In the league, they have conceded 58 goals, which is the 3rd-worst, only behind Tanjong Pagar United, and Young Lions. In part, it’s due to the way they play out of the back, and commit men forward in search of goals. In part, it’s also due to individual errors at the back, and this season, Hafiz Ahmad has been particularly culpable in that regard. I think I can remember at least 5 occasions in recent matches where his decision-making has led to trouble for his team. We absolutely must exploit this. Balls into the box, shots from range, chips from the halfway line – the works. We should do everything to try to exploit this vulnerability at the back. Kodai Tanaka A man we fans love despite him not playing for us anymore. Kodai seemed to go through a barren spell at the back-end of 2024, but in the last 2 games, he has notched 4 goals – we will do well to make sure we nullify his threat. Conclusion It remains to be seen what kind of lineup Coach Ranko goes with, but I think regardless of lineup, we should enter the game as favourites. Psychologically, we also want to put BG Tampines under the biggest stress ahead of Wednesday’s clash against them, by making the gap as large as possible. You’ve seen how badly our Sailors can play if we’re not 100% focused on the task (Albirex earlier this season, and also the recent game against Kaya FC). If we focus, take our opponents seriously and play as we can, I am sure we will pick up the 3 points. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE. My predicted line-up Izwan Mahbud Akram Azman, Lionel Tan, Ali Alrina, Toni Datkovic, Sergio Carmona Song Ui-Young, Anumanthan Kumar Lennart Thy, Abdul Rasaq, Haiqal Pashia 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! Eddy’s prediction: Balestier 1 Sailors 4 Joseph’s prediction: Balestier 1 Sailors 5 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!

[Preview] Balestier Khalsa v Lion City Sailors (Beware of Complacency) Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Culmination (Sailors 4 Muangthong 0)

Where do you even begin? Do you talk about how the Sailors controlled the game from start to finish? Or how 4-0 is our biggest win in continental competition in our short history? Do you talk about how in a side littered with foreign stardust, Shawal claimed the Man of the Match award, and also the hearts of many? Or do you focus on the fans, and how loud and united they were? Well, we’re gonna talk about all the above, and also how Thursday night’s match was in many ways, a culmination of efforts on and off the pitch, by the club, and everyone associated with the club. Let’s dive right in. (I will refer a lot to incidents in the game. So if you wanna follow along, please use this link to the full match.) Lightning Start Last week, our Sailors took the lead after barely 18 seconds, as Izwan’s long ball wasn’t properly dealt with, and in the end Maxime Lestienne swung in a cross that Shawal poked into the goal ahead of the goalie. Well, this time around at Jalan Besar, it was yet another long ball. And if you think surely Muangthong surely learnt their lesson, they actually did! In the first leg, as the ball was worked back to Izwan from kick-off, no one bothered pressing him. But this time round, Melvyn Lorenzen is trying his best to get there. He first fights off Hami, then Hariss, and then Hariss again, trying to get into a position to pressure Izwan. Well, it didn’t work. Izwan’s pin-point long pass found Bailey (who goes up into attack direct from kick-off nowadays), who flicked it on for Maxime, who flicked it on for Shawal. Shawal made a blind-side run past Aly Cissokho, and the keeper brought him down. 14 seconds on the clock and we had the perfect chance to extend our aggregate lead to 2 goals. Max made sure we did. If you’re the type to come a little late for games thinking you won’t miss anything, think again! Come early so you can get through security, find your seat, buy a beer, and get settled in before our Sailors score. it’s clearly something they work on like a set-piece Defensive Discipline I am gonna sound like a broken record here, but I’ve always stressed that when our Sailors work hard, we tend to win games. Even though Shawal, Bart and Maxime will dominate the headlines, make no mistake about it, this was a victory achieved by the entire team. Each of the players was locked in defensively, and knew what they had to do to stifle Muangthong, who do have good attackers. In the first leg I spoke about Poramet and how he is such a bright talent – we didn’t see anything from him when he came on in the second half. Emil Roback, the former AC Milan player barely made an impression. Melvyn Lorenzen, who scored in the first leg and can list the Bundesliga and Eredivisie in his resume, was stifled in this game. This doesn’t happen by chance. It was a defensive masterclass that was 50% tactics, and 50% grit. You can set up in the best systems, and play the best players in the world, but unless you work hard, there will always be a way past you. And boy, did our Sailors work hard. I could pick out dozens of occasions where this happened, but let me try with this series of events. Hami Hustle Here is Hami, at 44:34, circled in red, trying to put the press on our opponents to force a quick turnover. Muangthong do well to pass it out of defence, and Hami gives chase. Bear in mind this is already close to the end of the first half, and he’s already been running around all evening. He then notices Lorenzen (on the ball) break free and run at the Sailors backline. He could look at the numbers, and trust Bailey and Hariss to deal with the situation. Rui is also in a good position to slot in in defence. Or he could do this. Hami (circled in red on the floor) tracks him all the way back and tackles him before he gets a chance to beat the defensive line. This effort by Hami not only wins the ball back with a great sliding challenge, it also allows the spine of our defence to stay in shape. Noone needs to shoot out of the defensive line to try and deal with the threat of Lorenzen. And he wasn’t the only one. Chris van Huizen tried to win the ball high up the field as well, but once he was bypassed, he sprinted back like a madman. Throughout the game, noone was spared from these defensive duties. Even Maxime, Bart and Shawal got back to tackle or put pressure on their opponents. Awareness of Duties + Defending from the Front Look at this picture. What jumps out at you? I’ve already drawn in red two things to look out for, but tell me what you see, and tell me why you think I’ve highlighted this moment. Ok – first. With a 2-goal lead on aggregate, there is no need to over-expose ourselves in defence. Look at that defensive line. Beautiful – 5 across the back, the spaces between each of them perfect as well. Second, I’ve circled Bailey Wright in red. You may be wondering what he’s doing there. And if he is there, who is in the middle of defence? Let’s take it back a few seconds. In the aftermath of the Hami tackle, Lorenzen loses the ball, but it squirts out to a Muangthong midfielder. Bailey gets a foot in and manages to disrupt his opponent, and Rui comes into help. Bailey’s pressure is to ensure that the opponent can’t turn and launch an attack. However, once they don’t win the ball in the first few seconds, Rui drops back into the

[Post-Match Thoughts] Culmination (Sailors 4 Muangthong 0) Read More »

[Preview] Lion City Sailors v Muangthong United (Time to Finish the Job)

Football is a funny thing. Just a week ago, I was bullish – insisting that bringing home a 1-goal lead was an advantage and that we should forget that the advantage was once 3 goals. However, as the match approaches, there is a sense of nerves creeping in. And I’m just a fan! I wonder how the players must feel. I don’t know what it is – maybe it’s cos our Sailors have shown before this ACL2 campaign that they like to do things the hard way, or maybe it’s cos I’m an Arsenal and Singapore fan, so there’s this inbuilt pessimism. Whatever it is, let’s dive right into the preview. Song’s Suspension We kick it off with the bad stuff. You already know that Song will be suspended for this game, because of the controversial red card received in Bangkok. Well, if we make it through tonight, he will be suspended for both legs of the game against Sanfrecce Hiroshima as well. We will miss his fighting spirit, and also his goals. We joke and call him AFC Cup Song because he seems to reserve his best performances for continental games, but that joke is borne out of reality. Song in AFC competitions is really different gravy. He has 5 goals and 1 assist in ACL2 this season, while in the league, he has 5 goals. Considering the number of games played in each competition, and the superior quality we face in ACL2, that form doesn’t make sense. But we’ll miss his continental form. Song’s absence will always be felt. In our maiden ACL campaign, it was his goals that lit up our group stage campaign. He got us the all-important opening goal in the historic 3-0 win over Daegu FC, and he gave us hope of qualifying for the next stage as well when he scored from range against Daegu again in our final group game. (sidetrack here, but one of my favourite post-match reactions filmed was in Buriram when Song scored against Daegu in the 3-0 win. Check it out here.) And then this season, when we most needed Song to show up, he showed up in both games against Port FC, notably getting a hat-trick at Jalan Besar Stadium in our 5-2 victory. When the chips were down at 2-2, and we were staring at elimination having given up a 2-goal lead again, it was him who popped up with a stupendous scissor kick to put us ahead. We won’t have him tonight, so we’ll be looking to his teammates to supply the attacking threat, and the combative spirit in midfield. Early Goals 1, 1, 11, 14, 17, 23. Not TOTO numbers, but just an example of how early our goals have come in this ACL2 campaign. A feature of our games so far has been how early we score, and how we always score first. Or score TWO first. In 7 games thus far, we have led 2-0 in 6 of the games . The other game? We conceded first to Persib to draw 1-1 away from home. Given our 1-goal advantage, should we go out again and try to get an early goal? It’s hard to say. You can make the case for either an offensive or defensive approach. Offensive – Opponents take time to get used to the Jalan Besar turf. The bounce is weird, the surface is hard, and it has an effect on opponents’ minds. Just look at how much moaning and groaning our opponents always engage in when they have to play at Jalan Besar, be it against us, or the Singapore national team. Muangthong may have trained on astroturf all week in the lead-up to this game, but that also shows how much this pitch is playing on their minds. So why not attack early, get an early goal, and really make them feel like they have a mountain to climb, staring at a 2-goal deficit? Defensive – This one doesn’t need much explaining. We have a 1-goal advantage, if we sit deep and frustrate our opponents, they need a goal and they’ll commit men forward more and more. We can then exploit the gaps with our superior attackers. Lestienne and Shawal in particular will absolutely love the space being afforded to them on the counter-attack. Of course, either approach has its pros and cons. I fancy us to go on the offensive actually. While we were down to 10 men last week, we were under the cosh a lot. Aside from the 2 goals they scored, there were a few other near-misses that I would have expected us to defend better. Our defensive record in the ACL2 isn’t stellar as well. That being the case, why not play like we always do, and try to get a goal to dampen the mood of our opponents? Gino Lettieri is A Fool, but he is Fooling Noone Gino Lettieri – is he senile, stupid, bitter, or all of the above? In case you missed it, he told the press ahead of tonight’s game that he was “angry” that the Sailors looked to “stay down on every contact”, and that they should play “honest”. Before I start with the analysis on this stupid statement, let’s reproduce it in full so you can savour the stupidity of it. (and before you proceed, I get a little angry and bitter in this section so if you don’t like vulgarities, scroll away) Like a goldfish taking a lift, this statement is stupid on so many levels. Of course, maybe I am the stupid and bitter one, for falling into this trap. He might just have said all this to try to rile our boys up, distract them from the gameplan, or tempt them to go harder in challenges so he can profit from another controversial red card. Or maybe he was dropped on his head as a baby and didn’t receive any love from his parents, leading him to grow up to be

[Preview] Lion City Sailors v Muangthong United (Time to Finish the Job) Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Another Fuss-Free Win (Sailors 4 Tanjong Pagar 1)

Different week, same result. I wrote a post-match thoughts piece a week ago talking about how we achieved a fuss-free win and would start looking ahead to the next match against Muangthong. I must say it’s very tempting to just copy and paste the whole article here again. There were similarities – the result was never in doubt once we scored first, we missed a truckload of chances, Tanjong Pagar put up a combative performance, Raihan was his tigerish self in midfield, and Tanjong Pagar scored from a dead-ball situation. Super tempted to just end the article here, (and in fact I just straight up re-used the cover photo from last week’s article cos it’s the exact same scoreline and nature of victory) … but let’s dive right into some post-match thoughts. Foregone Conclusion Given TPU’s Absentees Once I saw that Salif Cisse was out once again, and to top it off, Zenivio Mota was also injured, I knew we would win handily. My 2-1 prediction counted on both of them being available, and us having to deal with the threat they pose – but seeing a TPU lineup without them is like seeing a declawed cat trying to hurt you. They probably caaaaan? But it’s very very very difficult – like trying to kill someone with a spoon (the cutlery not the action). Also, this 2nd-string line-up is probably capable of finishing mid-table in the SPL, especially if you add Bart Ramselaar and Bailey Wright to the mix, as Coach Ranko opted to do. Song would have started regardless because he is suspended for Thursday’s game, but I was genuinely surprised to see Bart and Bailey start. Bart did eventually come off in the 65th min despite being on a hat-trick. Sometimes players don’t like that because they want a chance to complete their hat-trick but I don’t think Bart will care. He will probably want to be as fresh as possible for Thursday’s game. I mean, that’s just a sick lineup considering we made 8 changes. Our depth is insane, and that is why again, I feel there is no excuse for us not to win the league. Akram Azman On an evening where everything was in cruise control, and no one really busted a gut to do anything, I felt Akram Azman stuck out. His endeavour down the wing meant that he was often in attacking positions, helping to stretch play and being an all-round menace. Though of course, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t come back and defend. In fact, it was him doing the defensive work that led to Tanjong Pagar’s penalty. An awkward bounce off his leg / turf meant the ball bounced up onto his hand. He won’t want to see that again. But, he atoned for it. He laid on chances for his teammates – one in particular saw him cross the ball for Lennart, but Lennart couldn’t head it in. He also managed to get into goalscoring positions – the first one saw him blaze over the bar on his left foot when it was easier to score, but second time was the charm for him, as he latched onto a long pass by Anu and bundled the ball home. (What a pass by Anu by the way.) Coach Ranko was pleased with his game and said so in the post-match interview. It was especially impressive from a mentality point of view considering he had just given up a pen and allowed Tanjong Pagar a way back into the game. He was totally unfazed by it. When we spoke with Akram post-game, he was modest and said he could still improve and he would like to build on his performance. From our POV? To do what he did on his first start was pretty impressive. Another interesting thing was this – with Lionel on the pitch, Akram was responsible for taking the long throw that led to Bart’s 2nd goal. This opens up possibilities for future games where if we’re really chasing a goal, even Lionel can be inside the penalty area with Akram chucking it in. So, an encouraging full debut for Akram, but I do wonder where this leaves Mamat, even If we assume that Hafiz Nor leaves at the end of the season. Perhaps something worth thinking about in another article. Rasaq and Nathan Not much to really analyse here – it was just a very good through pass for Nathan that Rasaq could just run onto and finish without breaking his stride. It is nice to see these 2 players get more minutes, and the hope is that our cup run will afford them more chances to shine. Conclusion Maxime Lestienne and Shawal Anuar were on the bench but were not required to come on, given how comfortable we were. We got three points and built up a healthy goal difference. We cruised and no key players got injured. Ali was bleeding from a bad clash and we hope he’s fine, but he wasn’t likely to start on Thursday anyway. All attention now turns to Thursday’s massive clash. Our rotation means we enter the game on level footing (physically) with Muangthong United, given that they had the weekend off due to the Thai FA postponing their game. I can’t wait. 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!

[Post-Match Thoughts] Another Fuss-Free Win (Sailors 4 Tanjong Pagar 1) Read More »

[Preview] Lion City Sailors v Tanjong Pagar United (Right Time for a Gamble)

If we play our full-strength team, we are huge favourites to win ths game. However, I think we should definitely not start our heavy-hitters here in the game later – let’s rest them all for the 2nd leg clash against Muangthong. Here’s some very very short pre-match thoughts. Muangthong Resting This Weekend As stated in the official club preview article earlier this week, Muangthong have the benefit of resting this weekend. The Thai FA postponed their league fixture so that they could turn up for the continental fixture in their best condition. We’d be foolish not to rotate given such circumstances. We know that Thai teams tend to play at a higher pace and intensity, so we’ll need our fresh legs to be able to compete. They are likely to pile on the pressure early, given their need for a goal to level the tie. Let’s give ourselves the best chance of matching them for intensity. We Can Afford to Lose One Cup Game Our best chance of advancing in the ACL2 is if we devote all our attention to the Muangthong game. However, in the Cup it’s a different story. Tanjong Pagar may well beat us if Salif Cisse returns and if we rotate too much. Rotation not only takes away individual quality from the pitch, it also disrupts the rhythm and momentum the team has built up. However, the group stage is 4 games long, and losing 1 game doesn’t kill us. Losing 1 game in ACL2 likely does. While I think that the players coming in on rotation should still back themselves to be able to get a result against Tanjong Pagar, it is not fatal if we get a bad result. We absolutely should gamble, just as how we did when we rested half the team against BG Tampines and still managed to escape with a 2-2 draw. And the league is way more important than the cup! Ali Alrina If there’s rotation, we might see Ali Alrina start. He made his debut against Muangthong and while we still conceded a late goal, I particularly enjoyed one clearance he made where he enthusiastically chest-bumped his defensive colleagues after getting rid of the ball. I love defenders who love to defend. There have been some questions about his signing, so let me try my best to answer them. The most common question asked has been – who is deregistered to allow him to play in the SPL or Singapore Cup? The answer is “no one”. Some fans will have noticed that his jersey number is 68. In the SPL rules, that means he has been registered in the U21 squad. This means that he does not replace any of our 9 foreigners in the first-team squad. SPL teams are allowed to field a maximum of 5 players from the U21 squad in an SPL or Singapore Cup game. However, this does not mean that since we can field 6 (4+1+1) foreigners in a matchday squad, we can field an additional 5 foreign players from the U21 squad. The U21 foreigner will still be subject to the limit of 6 foreigners in the matchday squad. Crucially, Ali Alrina, being both a U21 player and a player of AFC nationality, means he will be able to provide central defensive cover even for Bailey Wright, who qualifies for the AFC spot because he is Australian. Ali Alrina comes with quite a good CV, having experience in the AFC Cup, and also being a Syrian international. If you’re wondering why he would come play in the SPL and be registered as a U21 player, the reason is likely because the Syrian league has been suspended. Conclusion There really isn’t much else to say that hasn’t already been covered in the preview last week. Tanjong Pagar are only gonna get better with more training sessions under Noh Alam Shah, and the possible return of Salif Cisse. We are definitely gonna rotate – it’s just how much. Song and Zharfan are probably the only people almost confirmed to play – Song because he is suspended for the Muangthong game, and Zharfan because Izwan looked to have suffered a concussion in midweek. Whatever team is put out, let’s hope the players find it within themselves to fight hard and try to muscle their way into future first team lineups. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! My predicted line-up Zharfan Rohaizad Chris van Huizen, Lionel Tan, Ali Alrina, Bill Mamadou, Sergio Carmona Song Ui-Young, Anumanthan Kumar Abdul Rasaq, Lennart Thy, Obren Kljajic 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! Eddy’s prediction: Sailors 2 Tanjong Pagar 1 Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 5 Tanjong Pagar 1 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!

[Preview] Lion City Sailors v Tanjong Pagar United (Right Time for a Gamble) Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] A Vital Away Win (Muangthong Utd 2 Sailors 3)

What a result. Away against an in-form Thai league team in 3rd position in the table, and we walk out of Thunderdome Stadium with not just a draw, but a win. I know a lot of the focus will rightly be on the red card and the late goal, but it really really shouldn’t. Let’s dive right into some talking points for this game. An Unlikely Away Win Time to throw out a footballing cliché. If you’d offered me a draw before the game, I’d have bitten your hand off. Now time for a new take on that old cliché. If you’d offered me a win before the game, I’d have bitten way more than just your hand off, I would have bitten all of you. I wouldn’t care how the win comes about – it can be a lucky win with our goal coming off a deflected shot that goes in off a defender’s bum. A win is a win. So it’s a bit surprising to see some negativity even after achieving more than what we came for – an away win. It feels a bit like a lottery winner winning a million bucks and then feeling sad that he is burgled 1 hour later and loses a hundred thousand bucks. You’re still up – and crucially, with money you never had. I think some of us got so excited by our first-half performance that we felt like our Sailors were the favourites. Far from it – our Sailors were always the slight underdogs, simply by dint of being in an inferior league. Of course, I understand some of the negativity and I’ll write about the Song red card soon, that came at a time when we were 3 goals up. However, let’s remember that we are bringing back a 1-goal lead to Jalan Besar Stadium, and our regional rivals absolutely hate that pitch. Now, let’s talk about that red card. Song’s Red Card – Soft? I think it’s a soft red card because 1) it’s not an elbow, and 2) Song doesn’t make a fist and harden his forearm before making contact. Try it yourself. Make a fist, and touch your forearm with your other hand – see how hard it feels. Now open up your palm, and touch your forearm with your other hand – see how hard it feels. Alot of difference, eh? It probably didn’t hurt much at all, and it was more of arms flinging around than a malicious attempt to injure an opponent. However, even with that said, I’m gonna be honest here. I can see why the red card was given. It’s soft, but it’s not a horrible decision. Just a harsh one. I hope I am making myself clear here. Had it been the other way around, I would be happy of course that we benefited from a red card to our opponents, but I wouldn’t say it’s an unjustified red card. Song does have a little look to see where his opponent is, and he took the risk by putting his arm higher than it needed to be. It’s not as if our opponent lowered his head and Song caught him there. It was a high arm – he gave the referee a decision to make, and the ref made the harshest one possible. It happens. Should we go all in and blame Song though? I don’t think so. I wrote this about Song when he was a crucial part of our 3-1 away victory against Port FC. Oops. This is Song’s game though. And just like Wayne Rooney, or Patrick Vieira, or Luis Suarez, the red cards they receive are not a bug, it’s a feature of the player. Take away that ferocious competitive spirit and you get a player who contributes so much less to the team. You may have them available for a few more games here and there because they don’t get suspended as much, but you don’t get 100% of the player in the matches they do play. It’s also slightly sad that it is Song’s desire which even puts him in that position. At 3-0 up and as part of a midfield duo, he could have been forgiven for holding his position in the centre of the park and not make that many attacking runs. However, he makes that run all the way down the right channel to give his team an option to play out, and they find him. That’s when the unfortunate incident happened, after Muangthong did well to shepherd him away from the box. If only he had less desire to help his team out of a tight spot, he might not have landed them in a tight spot – the irony. Also I remember in one of SailorFanTalk’s very first episodes, when we spoke with former players Abdil Qaiyyim and Aqhari Abdullah, they said that even in training, Song is always competitive, always running around, always getting his arms and elbows in the way. His fierce, combative nature is what makes him such a pest on the field. (Wow that picture really takes me back.) In the cold light of day, I would ask Song – was it really necessary to be so physical when we are already 3-0 up? I suspect it’s not an easy question to answer. Football isn’t an exact science where you can turn off features of your game and not wonder if the cumulative effect of players across the pitch all choosing to give a little less will end up in a goal being conceded. We move on. Dazzling Attacking Trio At times, the attacking trio of Shawal, Maxime and Bart looked like our very own Singaporean version of the Messi-Suarez-Neymar connection that won so many games for FC Barcelona and delighted the world. They each had a goal, and in the first half, it really looked like they would add to their tally. We already noticed that against Tanjong Pagar, there was a

[Post-Match Thoughts] A Vital Away Win (Muangthong Utd 2 Sailors 3) Read More »

[Preview] Muangthong United v Lion City Sailors (Clash of the Form Sides)

It’s the big one. Our Sailors have started 2025 in decent form, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that fans and players have all been looking out for this game. It’s the big one – one that will show how far we have come as a team. Advancing out of a tough group stage was definitely an achievement, and now is the time to build on that if possible. Perhaps not the best time to face Muangthong United, who are in decent form as well – but hey, to be the best, you gotta beat the best. Let’s dive right into the preview, starting with Joseph Chin’s lowdown on our opponents. The Lowdown on Muangthong United, by Joseph Chin Brief History Founded as a school team in 1989, Muangthong United experienced most of their success in the 2010s, and even though they have faded a little after 2018, they remain a regular fixture in the league. Their first foray into continental football ended with Singapore’s SAFFC sending them out on penalties after a 0-0 draw at Jalan Besar in Round 2 of the Qualifiers for the ACL. They next faced Singapore opposition in the 2011 AFC Cup, drawing 1-1 at Jalan Besar, before winning 4-0 at home. Club Legends Robbie Fowler – Came to Muangthong near the end of his career as a player-coach. Viewed as a watershed moment for the Thai League at that time. Teerasil Dangda – Legendary Thai striker, nemesis to Singapore sides over the years. Would later go on to play for Almeria, the first Southeast Asian and Thai player to play in La Liga. Also had spells in the J-League and Swiss Super League. Xisco Munoz – Formerly of Deportivo and Newcastle. Was part of a trio of stars, along with Chanathip Songkrasin and Theerathon Bunmathan (the crotch-grabber) that led Muangthong to their most successful years in the 2010s. Stadium Thunderdome Stadium is one of the first club-owned stadiums built from scratch without the running track (seen in other Thai stadiums such as Thamassat and Rajamangala), a trendsetter for later stadiums like the BG Pathum Stadium and Buriram’s Thunder Castle, that promises a more tight, intimate and intimidating atmosphere. The Manager Swiss-born Italian manager Gino Lettieri is rather unknown compared to previous illustrious names in charge, such as Slavisa Jokanovic, Winfried Schafer, and Tawan Sripan. Had a mediocre playing career but rose from obscurity after winning the Lithuanian league with FK Panevezys. Currently getting the job done evidently, as seen by their position in the league table, just behind Bangkok United and Buriram. Players to Look Out For Jacob Mahler – Unfortunately we don’t get to see our Singaporean son, given his season-ending ACL injury. We wish him a speedy recovery, Aly Cissokho – Liverpool fans will know this name. He might be at the tail-end of his career, much like Robbie Fowler during his time here, but his top-flight experience (Liverpool, Lyon, Aston Villa, Valencia) will come in handy for Muangthong at the back. Got the stoppage time winner in a dramatic win over Chiangrai United just 5 days ago. Hong Jeong-un – Former Daegu FC centre-back who played against Sailors twice in 2022. Song Ui-young ghosting past him unmarked to score a header that started our famous 3-0 win was the iconic moment of our campaign. Tristan Do – The French-Thai rightback is a familiar name in the region, having been a stalwart of the Thai national team and also Muangthong United (with a spell for Bangkok Utd too) for the past decade. Emil Roback – Once the subject of a transfer worth about 1.5 million pounds to AC Milan, it is somewhat surprising to see him at Muangthong United so early in his career. However, he has impressed in Thailand, in the first senior stint of his career so far. Abbos Otakhonov – Has 2 caps for Uzbekistan. Even though these caps come from 2018, he has been a dependable presence at the back for Muangthong United in his first foray overseas having played for Uzbek clubs all his life. Willian Popp – Prolific scorer for Muangthong over 2 stints in his career, despite playing predominantly on the wing. Melvyn Lorenzen – Like some of our foreign stars, has experience playing in the Eredivisie. Never a prolific scorer, until he reached Thai League 2 football with Nakhon Ratchasima. Picha Autra – Club captain who brings much-needed experience. One of the few Thai players that gets caps in the Muangthong team. Both Teams in Good Form Thanks Joseph for the excellent lowdown on tonight’s opponents. I take over now. Both teams come into this in good form. Our Sailors have only lost once in 2025, a dead rubber game to Kaya FC. This form is mirrored by our opponents, who have only lost once, a 1-0 defeat to Ratchaburi FC. So not much to separate the teams in terms of the form book then. Their form has also seen them leapfrog Port FC and BG Pathum into 3rd place, a considerable feat given that both Port and BG Pathum have better players on paper. They are certainly a force to be reckoned with. I suspect how this will affect things tonight is that both teams will show a lot of respect to each other, but Muangthong will probably go for it a bit more, given that they have home advantage in their favourite Thunderdome Stadium, and they will not want to have to grab a win at Jalan Besar Stadium, a stadium where the conditions make it hard for any away team. Our Sailors Approach Having seen Chiangrai and Ratchaburi trouble Muangthong in recent weeks, the common factor is that both teams stayed quite compact and forced Muangthong to commit more men forward to try to break them down. However, both teams didn’t really have attacking outlets that they could utilise, so they couldn’t take advantage of the space left behind by Muangthong. In the end, Chiangrai conceded two

[Preview] Muangthong United v Lion City Sailors (Clash of the Form Sides) Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Fuss-Free Win (Sailors 4 Tanjong Pagar 1)

After the listless display in midweek, it was important for our Sailors to bounce back with a win in the domestic league. That, we did, and with minimal fuss. 4-1 was the scoreline, but it really should have been 6 or 7. And it wasn’t even like Tanjong Pagar were poor. I think they did pretty well, all circumstances considered, but the gulf in class was just huge, and it showed on the pitch. With the packed schedule ahead, three points and no injuries was the order of the day, and in that sense, Sunday was perfect for us. Let’s dive into some post-match thoughts. Thy Ceremony It’s been coming for some time, but Lennart Thy finally has his first hat-trick in Sailors colours. I think the fuss-free nature of the Sailors win was mirrored by Thy’s hat-trick. None of the three goals was particularly difficult. The first was by far the hardest, where Lennart had to be sharp to turn on the spot and finish with his left foot. The other two goals were basically tap-ins, but you do need to be in those spaces to score those goals. (Remember Dirk Kuyt’s hat-trick of goals against Manchester United in the 2010/2011 season where he basically scored 3 tap-ins from a combined total of 5 yards?) He’s had his critics, but I felt he led the line well last night, and he’s now top-scorer for LCS in the league this season, with 18 goals, 3 more than Shawal Anuar. That’s also his 7th Man-of-the-Match award this season from just 21 games. He’s finding his feet at the right time, and here’s hoping he brings along this form to the ACL2 as well, where we’ll really need to be clinical with our chances. Physicality – Up for the Fight Unlike on Thursday night, I felt our Sailors were really up for the fight, literally. Tanjong Pagar are a long way from their thuggish ways just a few seasons back, but I felt they were aggressive all night (not in a bad way). When you’re up against a side that is alot better in terms of quality, you have to fight, you have to make it uncomfortable for your opponents. I felt TPU did that, and generally didn’t cross the line. Hariss, Bailey, Song, and Maxime may disagree, as they were subject to some tough challenges, but I felt that these challenges were merely normal hard fouls. As the top team in the land, you’re gonna receive such fouls, it’s par for the course. So it was heartening to see that we gave as good as we got. Bailey was elbowed by Rezza Rezky when they challenged for a header, but he himself dished out some punishment to Syahadat in the 81st minute, bodying him off the ball with a tough challenge. Hariss as well, pushed by Matt Silva needlessly, dealt out his punishment to a couple of TPU players as well. Raihan was busy all night, tackling and fouling away, but we were able to look after ourselves, and more. And then we come to the Bart incident. I think Bart escapes a yellow card there. In my opinion, I think the ref giving a yellow card each would be a fair and expected outcome. Some TPU fans have expressed their opinion that Bart is holding back Faizal, and Faizal is just trying to escape Bart’s clutches. I think that’s true to a certain extent only. In my opinion, Faizal flings his arms back in an attempt to get free, yes, but I think he’s absolutely looking to also assert himself in that challenge. There is no excuse for your arms flailing around like that – it’s not a natural movement. Those who’ve played football before, we know, if we want to shield the ball, we will put our arm out straight, but it’s a stationary arm that acts as a barrier, it’s not an arm that’s constantly swinging looking to catch someone. Of course, Faizal does that because Bart is annoyingly grabbing on to him to prevent him from advancing, But that is no excuse for retaliation. Bart deserves a yellow, and Faizal does too – because his arms flailing around do not constitute a red card offence. It’s very common for refs to go “ah there’s a scuffle here, let me book both parties”. In fact, Sailors were on the end of that two games ago, when Diogo Costa puts in a nothing challenge on Naqiuddin Eunos, and Naqi aggressively shoves Diogo. It should be a yellow for Naqi and nothing for Diogo, cos it was just a normal foul, but the ref gives it to both, and not much is said about that. It’s only called into question now because it was a second yellow, and because Bart wasn’t booked. So anyway, TL;DR – Bart should have seen yellow too, ref could have been a bit more lenient considering that this was to be a second yellow, but by the letter of the law, the referee could do what he did. I just sympathise with TPU because it is abit harsh on them. Perhaps the ref was refereeing them based on how they had been tackling all night – which yes, is harsh on them cos each incident should be judged on its own merits. But this wasn’t a crazily bad decision – just harsh. A crazily bad decision is when Timur Talipov pulled off a basketball dribble in last week’s game and both the referee and the VAR cleared it. Anyway, back to the game, the red card came when we were 4-0 up so it didn’t really affect the result, if not there might be even more controversy. Hafiz Nor – A Hat-Trick of Misses Well, I wouldn’t have thought this would happen prior to the game. No exaggeration to say that on any other day, Hafiz Nor gets at least 1 goal from this trio of chances. Maxime Lestienne (more on him later), absolutely

[Post-Match Thoughts] Fuss-Free Win (Sailors 4 Tanjong Pagar 1) Read More »