It’s not often you get thrashed 6-1 away from home, only to head into the second leg with a 3-goal advantage. That is the unexpected lifeline we have been given after the dramatic turn of events over the weekend. If you are somehow reading this but don’t know what happened, please read this Straits Times article. It’s why I was dropping hint after hint in the Post-Match Thoughts article last week because I had heard some rumours that the 3-0 walkover was gonna happen. In case you missed the hints –
There was the more blatant hint –
And then a much less blatant one –
And also the choice of picture with Valere Germain inexplicably doing some weird prophetic hand-signs –
Someone really needs to ask him what those hand signs were supposed to mean – his teammate was doing it too. Also, what kind of oddball does different signs for “3” on different hands? Usually people stick with one preference, and there are even suggestions that doing the “wrong” gesture can give away where you are from. If Inglourious Basterds is to be believed, that is – where a major plot point used the fact that an undercover agent posing as a German soldier gave himself away by using the wrong way to gesture for “3”.
But, enough of the jokes and idle talk – the unexpected lifeline is like the one on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It’s very helpful, but the odds are still stacked against you. Our Sailors still have to go out and put on a hell of a performance if we are to qualify for the semi-finals. Let’s dive right into the preview.
Sanfrecce Are Quality
I have already written about this in the last two articles, but let me reiterate this. I am a Sailors fan, but first and foremost, I am a football fan. Watching good teams play excites me. And it was truly impressive what Sanfrecce did to us in the first leg. Yes, some of the goals were perhaps avoidable, but there was also a sense that nearing the end of the game, Sanfrecce could have pushed on for more goals if they truly wanted.
Diogo Costa, who has been a shining light for us since he signed in January, looked distinctly ordinary, while Maxime Lestienne was rendered almost invisible. Shawal scored a wonderful goal, but was found wanting in terms of quality of touch and pass in other parts of the game. Bailey and Toni are usually so solid at the back, but looked a little overwhelmed at times as well. All this is not for the lack of trying. The effort was there, but Sanfrecce were just better.
And we shouldn’t be surprised. They were top-scorers of the J-League last year by some distance, and by finishing second, they qualified for the ACL Elite next season. They are not really an ACL2 team.
What I also like about them is that they are so confident in their quality that at today’s press conference, when Michael Skibbe was asked about the artificial pitch, he said it was a “nice” surface – a refreshing change from usual coaches who come here and pre-emptively complain about the surface and how their team will have to adapt to it, as if giving excuses for any potential bad result.
They will feel confident that having beaten us 6-1 last week, they can do something similar tonight. Their threats are across the team as well, and it’s not gonna be easy to focus on one or two of them to stop the threat. Just look at this –
Parking the Bus (Or Ship, or Whatever Vehicle of Choice)
In the pre-match press conference, a question was put to Coach Ranko – would he be looking to park the bus? This was his response.
Parking the bus is not as easy as it seems. It requires a well-drilled defence, and one that is used to being patient and absorbing pressure. It also requires a goalkeeper who takes good care of long shots and crosses. It also requires a few members of the team to be “bad guys” who will roll around, antagonise, waste time, and just look to frustrate. I don’t think we are equipped to do that. We have not shown ourselves to be capable of doing that. Think Persib at JBS, think Zhejiang away, think Muangthong away. When we collapse into our defensive shell, we get less and less confident with each phase of play, and we end up caving.
I think keeper-wise, Izwan will be the first to admit that he hasn’t been anywhere near his high standards set for himself. This ACL2 campaign we have let in 3 goals from long shots outside the box, and while we score many goals, there is a concerning number of goals that comes from areas where you would hope your keeper will come to claim the ball commandingly on the cross. Luckily, he sort of makes up for this with his excellent distribution, both with his hands and his feet, and his kicks have led to chances for our players before. In a game where we are likely to have to play on the counter, this may be crucial.
I think the fact that we are so dominant in our league also means that we don’t get the opportunity to train how to be the “bad guys” the way DPMM always does, or more recently, how Hougang shut us down. It’s not easy to suddenly play like an underdog and do the dark arts. In our current squad, the players I see as able to do this the best are Song Ui-Young and Lionel Tan. Song is suspended, while Lionel didn’t make the bench even against Hougang, so I suspect he is injured.
So I trust Ranko when he says he won’t park the bus. There will be some plan to hit Sanfrecce on the counter-attack, if only to pin 2 or 3 of their defenders back. If we allow all 10 outfielders to attack with wild abandon, we will definitely be conceding more than 3 goals.
Mentality
We have some hugely experienced players in our squad. Bailey’s been to a World Cup, Hariss has won almost everything there is to win for a Singaporean footballer (including the AFC Cup with JDT), Bart, Maxime and Lennart have played in the Eredivisie before, and our local boys are no spring chickens either.
But from a mental perspective, this will be a slightly unique experience I am sure. They go into a second leg 3-0 up, but they will know that it is a technical lead, not one they have earnt on merit. In fact, on merit, they will know that they got smashed 6-1 just a week ago.
Then you look at the mental state of the opposing camp. 2 days after they win 6-1 convincingly, they would have received the news that someone complained about them fielding Valere Germain at 4-1 up, and they will feel that AFC have “cheated” them of a win. The attitude of their coach Michael Skibbe in today’s press conference was also quite telling. He was spiky or prickly to say the least, when asked whether the players are extra motivated because of the circumstances surrounding the punishment meted by AFC. It is clear that their camp is angry, and they will be looking to take it out on our Sailors tonight, and secure passage to the semis.
Is the dressing room gonna get the mentality right? How do they even approach this game mentally? No one will have any experience of dealing with this. The closest will be Hariss Harun, who once benefited from AFC punishing JDT’s opponents. It allowed JDT automatic passage to the final, where he won as captain of JDT. He has of course said in an interview that it’s different, because the Kuwaiti clubs then were booted out of the competition, meaning that even though they lost the first leg, they didn’t even have to play a second leg.
I think we should use that as motivation. The fact that we have to play Sanfrecce in a 2nd leg, gives us the chance to “earn” our progress. Should we put in a good performance and win or draw the game, I think we can say that we did well, and deserve to progress (with the aid of the AFC decision of course).
The 12th Man
Finally, the fans. We have a big part to play in this match.
Jalan Besar is a small stadium, but one where the fans are super close to the pitch.
I asked Hariss at the press conference earlier – “How can the fans help, what do you need us to do to lift the team in any way we can?”
His answer was immediate – “more of the same”. He then elaborated that the incredible support they have received, especially in the ACL2 campaign has really pushed the players and he hopes there will be a repeat.
It’s interesting to note that this season in ACL2, we have played at JBS four times, and only lost once, the late late heartbreak against Persib.
Our ACL2 nights have always felt a bit special. Remember the rollercoaster of emotions against Port FC where we took a quick 2-0 lead, and then briefly gave it away, only for Song to hit back with a world-class scissor-kick goal? That night felt special, but I think we can do even better.
Let’s create an atmosphere that Sailors fans have never seen before, and make tonight a really special night.
Conclusion
We are huge underdogs, and the 3-0 lead obviously is welcome. However, I think there will be twists and turns tonight, much like the rest of our ACL2 campaign has been so far.
I’d like to end by saying that I am already incredibly proud of the team, and I hope that my fellow Sailors fans and Singaporeans are too. Yes, we got whacked 6-1 by Sanfrecce, but they are a good team, and you have to progress in the competition to play such good teams. In the long run, playing such good teams is the only way that Singapore football can progress.
Are we at a stage where we are good enough to qualify for the ACL2 final on our own merit? Probably not, but there will be no better chance than tonight, with the 3-0 lead.
I hope that if there are some ups and downs in the game, such as if we go behind by 4 goals, the crowd stays loud and proud, and we continue cheering till the final whistle. Let’s not hear any negativity from the stands. The team has given us plenty of joy this ACL2 campaign, let’s try to be there for them if times get rough.
Together, we can make history.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Izwan Mahbud
Hami Syahin, Ali Alrina, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Diogo Costa
Hariss Harun, Rui Pires
Maxime Lestienne, Shawal Anuar, Bart Ramselaar
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 1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3
Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3
Written by Eddy Hirono
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