Why is the Bandung drink more expensive when our opponents sell it?
Because they charge per-sip.
Ok now that we got that horrible joke out of the way, let’s talk about some serious stuff. If we win against Persib tonight, and Port notch a win away from home in Zhejiang, we are through. That’s how crazy it is. Lose the game, and if Zhejiang get a point or a win, and the group is blown wide open. Such are the margins and possibilities in this group. Let’s take a look, and then dive right into the preview.
Manage Expectations and Get Behind the Team
After giving it the good ol’ buildup, that must be a very downer title to read. Potong steam, as we say.
Expectations are high because we’ve beaten Zhejiang at home, and then got 2 very creditable away results. People will also remember that last year, we put in a performance for the ages, defeating Korean giants Jeonbuk on home soil.
(Sidenote – can you say home soil, considering artificial turf has no soil? Something to think about)
However, our Sailors also lost at home to Bangkok United, and more surprisingly, Kitchee FC last year.
Also, let’s not forget that Persib is a team that is still unbeaten domestically (5 wins and 5 draws), and is only 1 point off the top of the table. Their star striker David Da Silva is also back from injury. and his record last season was stellar. 30 matches, 26 goals, 8 assists in the league – surely someone to fear. I can’t say I’ve seen much of him but I get a little scared reading the record.
We don’t really know what we can expect from Persib considering that when we played them, they played almost half the game with 10 men. The fact that we couldn’t break them down after gives me a bit of cause for worry as well. Oh, and of course, it was the night where Bart Ramselaar got sent off, and is thus unavailable for us again tonight.
Thus, cautious optimism is what I preach, and more importantly, get behind the team. If we concede an early goal, or two, just keep going. As fans, we can be a part of this very special night. Every footballer I speak with tells me that they get a little extra boost when they can feel the crowd behind them. They go into tackles more confident, there’s a swagger when they go on a dribble, there’s that extra bit of oomph when they head a ball away.
Coach Ranko in his press conference today has called for a full stadium to roar the boys on, and I hope we will see that. Persib fans will definitely bring the noise, so let’s be on our best form too in the stands.
Bart’s Suspension – Lack of Creativity?
I am a little worried about our creativity against Persib. Reason? I suspect they will sit back and try to hit us on the counter with their pacy players. The second-half performance in the first game will give them all the confidence that they can hold us at bay. Aside from the header they conceded from a very good Maxime cross, I cannot really remember when we really threatened their goal. And that was with 10 men.
Even though Bart has only 5 assists in all competitions, without the threat through the middle of midfield that Bart sometimes provides, and the shooting ability which may help to open up space for his fellow midfielders, I fear that Persib will double-team Maxime and realise that nullifying him means taking away a large part of the Sailors threat.
From the right of midfield, the threat is clear, Maxime Lestienne – 19 assists in the league after 17 games played. Surprisingly, of the 6 goals we’ve scored in the ACL2, only 2 saw a direct involvement from Maxime – 1 goal and 1 assist. I think you’ll agree with me here when I say that it’s a matter of time before we see a greater contribution from our brilliant Belgian.
Where else do we turn for creativity? Shawal has 10 assists in the league, Lennart Thy has 3. Song Ui Young? Zero assists.
But it’s to the latter 2 where I feel the “creativity” can come. Just like in the game against Port, I have a feeling that hard work is what will reap rewards for us. What we may lack in craft, we can certainly make up for it in graft. Graft, by the way is one of the English language’s shitty words. Graft could mean hard work, but could also mean shady, corrupt practices. So while I could be saying that we can create our own chances through sheer hard work and grit, it may be misinterpreted by some to mean we can go right ahead and bribe the referee. For the avoidance of doubt, that is not what I mean. We’re gonna press them from the front, and force them into mistakes. Lennart Thy and Song will play a big part in that. Speaking of Song …
Song Has a Point to Prove
There was an interesting moment in the pre-match press conference held yesterday when a reporter asked Coach Ranko is Song Ui Young was injured. The reason for asking? The NT call-ups have been announced, and one notable exclusion is Song Ui-Young. This has caught some by surprise because he finally looks to be playing himself into some kind of form. He’s scored in his last game in the league, as well as the ACL2. Both goals highlight his ability to sniff out a chance, and make a late run to escape the attention of defenders.
Of course, he has done this for years, but recently he just lost his way a little. What is surprising is that when he finallly plays himself back into some form, and seems to be one of the few NT players able to get on the scoresheet, he is dropped from the national team – one shorn of Ikhsan and Ilhan Fandi already. Where is the goal threat gonna come from besides Shawal? It doesn’t make sense to me.
I am sure it doesn’t make sense to Song as well, and he will be itching to put things right. This round of call-ups is just for the two friendly games against Myanmar and Chinese Taipei, but I am sure he will want to put on a show to convince Coach Ogura he should be playing in the AFF Cup.
A goal or two tonight would be nice!
Conclusion
It’s a huge game and there is always something special about nights at Jalan Besar. The crowd is right next to the pitch, the players can hear everything that is being shouted down from the stands, and it is a venue that has seen our Singapore teams create history, over and over again. Will tomorrow night see our Sailors take a huge step towards qualifying for the next stage? Let’s hope so.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Izwan Mahbud
Hami Syahin, Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Chris van Huizen
Song Ui-Young, Rui Pires
Maxime Lestienne, Lennart Thy, Shawal Anuar
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!
3 points for exact scoreline predicted correctly, 2 points for predicting the winner and margin of victory correctly (but not the exact scoreline), and 1 point for predicting the outcome correctly (win, lose or draw).
Eddy’s prediction: Sailors 2 Persib 1
Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 3 Persib 0
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!
