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!
