[Tactical Analysis] – Sailors Slain (Albirex 4 Sailors 0)

The following tactical analysis is from Zach Wu, who’s not a Sailors fan, but we just thought it would be good for someone without rose-tinted glasses to analyse the tactics of our games. We hope to make this a regular column so that we can better appreciate what is going on in our games from a tactical perspective.

As the full moon rose above the Jurong East Stadium, the werewolves were out for blood. Unfortunately for the Sailors, it was their blood that was shed all over the pitch. Here is the post-mortem …

First Half

The Sailors fielded the expected 11 in the absence of Nur Adam due to injury.

Meanwhile for the Swans, Shodai Yokoyama dropped to the bench while Tadanari Lee made his first start of the season. It must be noted the strength of this year’s batch of Albirex players – Keito Hariya, a starter of last season’s title-winning side has played a total of 16 minutes thus far.

Controversial red card

Early on, the game was turned by a controversial VAR decision. Tadanari poked the ball past Anu, who cynically fouled him. While initially awarded a yellow card, it was overturned by VAR and Anu was given his marching orders.

In the heat of the moment, I did feel it was extremely harsh. However, upon further review I could see why the referee had chosen to do so. He felt that Tadanari was taken down unfairly by Anu and with the covering defenders far away while Tadanari was fully sprinting, it would have been a clear and obvious denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Harsh, but correct by the book. In fact, a similar incident had happened in the A league with Tomislav Mrčela, having pulled down his opponent at a similar position to Anu, with the covering defenders extremely wide and saw red for a similar cynical foul. https://twitter.com/aleaguemen/status/1634175780828909570?s=20

(Editor’s note: That decision in the A-League is slightly different because the red card was brandished immediately. In the Albirex-Sailors game, the yellow card is given, so it would need a “clear and obvious error” for the referee to change his decision. Zach has been warned that such future nonsense opinions shall not be published on sailorfantalk.com. First strike, Zach, two more and I’ll throw you down the ledge from Bishan Stadium).

Hami sacrificed

In the immediate aftermath of the red card, LCS went to a 4-4-1-0. Bill filled in at centreback, Hafiz Nor went to rightback while Tanaka dropped to left wing. Diego operated like a false 9, coming short and holding the ball for runners leaving LCS with no striker up top.

This did not last for long however with Hami taken off, Arshad Shamim playing at right back, Hafiz to the left wing, Diego at centre midfield and Tanaka alone upfront. This was more of a 4-4-0-1 as Tanaka got increasingly isolated upfront, up against 2 Albirex centrebacks.

I personally did not like the change in setup for a couple of reasons. Firstly, LCS were holding well in their temporary shape. Secondly, taking off Hami so early on (18 minutes in) was a mistake as he was a midfielder who had plenty of energy and would have the eye for a forward pass or a dribble when LCS would want to spring counter attacks. Also, while there are 5 substitutes allowed nowadays, they are only allowed on 3 occasions which meant a sub this early on took away one of the occasions that LCS could potentially need later.

Thirdly, throwing Arshad to right-back in one of the biggest and most high-pressure games was a poor decision as he is not naturally a fullback and given that Hafiz Nor spent most of last season already playing as a rightback, perhaps logically Hafiz should have stayed there. Arshad would subsequently concede the free kick (from a Rusyaidi Salime mistake) for Albirex’s third which was the final nail in the coffin.

Lastly, this change ran contrary to how LCS were trying to play. Even after the red card, they were still trying to play their way through Albirex by holding the ball; they were not going long and playing solely counter attacking football. Hence by leaving Tanaka upfront alone, he was extremely isolated and LCS rarely got the ball to him. Diego as a false 9 could have been far more effective, being one of the best dribblers in the league, he could definitely hold up the ball to combine with midfield runners and win cheap fouls. This was a mistake by Vidakovic in my opinion.

Lethargic off the ball (again!)

As I mentioned in the previous game, LCS’s luxury players were not doing their fair share off the ball. This is just before the second Albirex goal. Here, LCS’s press is beaten. Lestienne does not even bother to press or win the ball back, leaving Albirex with 2 free players down the line.

As Nicky Singh continues to run the ball down the line, the LCS players are out of position and dragged over. Even Hariss is ambling back and does not protect the space in front of the defense. This allows Nicky to cut infield and play a ball to the far side.

Shuto Komaki holds up the ball intelligently, sucking Chris van Huizen inside before releasing the ball into space for the overlapping fullback Ryo Takahashi who slams it into the back of the net for Allbirex’s second.

Just to recap, Lestienne does not track any Albirex player, Hariss does not cover the space in front of the defence while the far side winger Hafiz Nor is nowhere to be seen. This is all round lethargic and careless from the Sailors and a goal they should not have conceded even (especially!) when down to ten men. The lack of effort all round just 35 minutes into the game was abysmal. Surely, they should have run their butts off, keep it at 1-0, and get into half-time and hope the Coach can do something to get them back into the game.

Second Half

Limitations in their approach

Sailors did try to mix up their approach by going long and hitting diagonals to their wingers. However, this was hampered by poor kicking from Zharfan. His long kicks were often quite floaty and made it easy for Albirex players to read the flight of the ball. This made going long quite futile for LCS.

Set pieces

Two nil down, LCS had to take advantage of set pieces to make up the deficient. They had a few corners in the second half, but they failed to take advantage. Albirex were crowding the near post (red), making any near post deliveries almost impossible. A couple of near post deliveries were beaten out easily by Hassan or the near post players. Only when LCS started to adapt and swing the ball into the 6 yard box or far post did it bring more reward, with Shawal getting his head to this 72nd minute corner only for it to sail over.

Conclusion

While the red card was unfortunate, the Sailors did themselves no favours.  They were lethargic, sloppy and made mistakes the game that cost them the game. This game also showed the limitations of the current LCS squad. The Sailors have a long way to go to recapture the title.

The bigger concern would be Kodai Tanaka, having been ruled out of the season with an ACL injury. Abdul Rasaq is now the only senior striker left, though Shawal could possibly deputize in that role too.

Written by Zach Wu

Edited by Eddy Hirono

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