[Post-Match Thoughts] Not Our Best But Some Positives

I usually try to wait for Instat to come out with some stats about the game before giving you my thoughts, but those jokers are taking their own sweet time, so here goes.

In the preview article, I spoke about the need to capitalise on Tampines slipping up against Balestier Khalsa. We did just that, getting the crucial three points. However, I think the performance left much to be desired. We were ultimately bailed out by two free-kicks from Maxime Lestienne (who else) and a great defensive display by Zulqarnaen Suzliman. Here’s a few post-match thoughts. Maybe I’ll start with the positives and then slowly work towards the negatives.

Maxime Lestienne

The dude’s a machine. What else can I say? 8 goals and 8 assists in 9 games is pretty mental. That’s 1.78 goal contributions per game. Imagine lining up against a player knowing that statistically, he is gonna score/assist about 2 goals – that must be kinda demoralising. But it’s what we’ve come to expect from our brilliant Belgian. If Forrest is reading this, please sign him up. Renew his contract for x number of years, where x is 55 or 78 or something. We want him here forever. Not only is he a real asset to the team, he is also someone that excites us fans. Speaking of someone who excites fans …

Nathan Mao

There has been much buzz online about whether Nathan’s 5 minutes cameo against Tampines Rovers was a publicity stunt, and whether he deserved those 5 minutes. I mean for me, I didn’t think it was that deep, really. The game was lost, and there was no harm giving a few minutes to a prodigy from the academy, just to allow him to experience an SPL game. If I were to be cynical, maybe it was to distract the supporters, give them something else to get excited about on a day when we played at a level so far below Tampines Rovers. If you wanna relive the match and how it played out, be my guest, check out our depressing post-match thoughts where we spoke about Nathan as well.

So, Nathan not only played against Geylamg. he started. In so doing, he became the youngest-ever player to start a SPL game at 15 years and 42 days old. Previously, the record holder was Raoul Suhaimi for Young Lions (15 years and 239 days old).

Not only did Nathan start, he played an hour. Of course, this is in part due to the U23 rule where a U23 player must be played, and most of them are at the SEA Games. We referenced this in our preview article as well. However, it must be said that the U23 player can be removed at half-time, and we have seen clubs in the league do that, LCS included last season. It is to Nathan’s credit that he stayed on past half-time.

In the first half, Nathan looked brave with the ball and in a half that was crying out for some attacking verve and impetus, something for the supporters to get excited about, Nathan was arguably the only one to provide it. Trying my best to analyse his performance without the “oh-he’s-15-years-old” lens, I genuinely feel like he did very well. There were some moments where he brought the fans off their seats – for example, 3:25 onwards in this brilliantly-shot video. Throughout the time he was on the pitch, he never looked out of place, and that’s the greatest compliment I can pay him given he is at such an early point in his nascent football career. It would be easy for someone making his first professional start at that age to just take the safe option all the time, but he mixed it up, sometimes opting for the easy pass, but sometimes also running with the ball and beating his man, getting fouls. Very encouraging to watch, and he was given a warm reception from the fans when he was subbed off. Even our former CEO had nice things to say about him in the post-match interview. Keep it up, Nathan!

Zulqarnaen Suzliman (Mamat)

A monster game from a full-back who we expected huge things from ever since he came back from Young Lions last year. His performances for the national team and in the league actually got me quite excited when he came back, but unfortunately due to injury, I think it took a long while before we saw the true Mamat.

This was a monster performance and a vital one, because in defence, it looked like we were so vulnerable to the counter-attack but Mamat was able to bail us out on three occasions. First, he blocked a shot on goal off the line, and he then denied Yushi Yamaya on two separate occasions with determined last-ditch tackles. Don’t take my word for it – the club has put together a nice little compilation of those moments. Check it out here and decide for yourself –

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We spoke to Mamat after the game, and he showed humility and said he’s happy he saved the team from conceding three goals, and that it was just his defensive instincts kicking in. Aside from contributing in defence, he also went up the other end and got fouled for the crucial freekick that Maxime scored to equalise. It came as a result of the team collectively picking up the pace in the second half, and Mamat tried to run beyond the defence to get onto a clipped pass over the top. This led to the defender fouling him to impede his progress. In a match where Geylang were content to shuffle from side to side in a deep defensive block and attack on the counter, it was vital that our wide players (including the fullbacks) tried to get behind the defence and outnumber the Geylang defenders.

Thank you Mamat for your contribution this game!

Substitutions of Hafiz Nor and Shawal Anuar

I mentioned above that collectively the pace of the game was raised by the Sailors in the 2nd half. This was important, and I think the introduction of Hafiz Nor and Shawal Anuar helped us with that. Shawal Anuar in particular, won us the freekick that eventually led to Maxime curling in the winner. Geylang did excellent to limit the Sailors and crowd the spaces to prevent us from passing through them. As such goal-scoring opportunities were only likely to be created if our players dribbled past their markers, or if we forced set pieces. In the end, it was a combination of both that led to the winner. Shawal looked to beat Sakuma and was clearly fouled. Maxime delivered the ultimate punishment.

The two free-kicks were scored by Maxime, but we must give credit to Coach Risto for his changes, and also to the substitutes for being so impactful. Now, on to the negatives.

Not Our Best At All

I must say that despite the three points, Sailors fans (myself included) left the stadium feeling a little worried. The first half was so poor, and our team looked terribly short of ideas. It looked to be another frustrating night for Bernie, who had very little impact on the game. He doesn’t really aid in build-up play, and he is seldom on the end of chances as well – which suggests that he is still building up chemistry with the rest of the players. Look at the positions that Abdul Rasaq gets himself into in our games, and then look at the positions that Bernie gets himself into. I know it’s early days – but from a foreign import, we need to be looking at a much higher level of contribution. Diego has 2 goals, 6 assists, Maxime has 8 goals, 8 assists. No pressure, Bernie!

It was also not a great day for Chris van Huizen, who in his defence, came up against a pair of tricky left-footed wingers in Iqbal and Yushi. There was a moment where he was beaten in his left-back position, and he just couldn’t recover in time to even put pressure on Yushi who had left him for dead. Luckily for us, when the ball broke to a Geylang player in the box, Mamat was there to block the shot with Zharfan stranded, having had to shuffle across goal from the cutback. In the lead-up to the Geylang goal as well, Chris didn’t seem to register that Iqbal had made a superb run off the ball and Yushi was always gonna find him. I think given that Chris actually had a headstart (pitch position wise) on Iqbal, he would have felt that he could have done better in recovering defensively on that phase of play (see below).

Anu as well, will probably look at that phase of play and wonder if he could have done more after giving up the ball in the Geylang half. Hariss will also be disappointed that his tackle on Iqbal wasn’t strong enough and Iqbal managed to somehow regain the ball after Hariss had got his boot on it. Overall, just poor from the team on that goal.

Instat is taking their own sweet time with releasing stats on this game, so unfortunately I am unable to provide you with any of the advanced stats that might help us understand the game better. However, I am willing to bet that in terms of xG, we will have been outperformed by Geylang, who counter-attacked really well and created some really good chances.

Bonus – just a discussion about the refereeing

It wasn’t appalling or anything, but it wasn’t a good game for Jansen as well. The red card shown to Rusyaidi seemed really harsh, even if he did raise his hands to Huzaifah. Jansen and the VAR team seem to have commpletely missed the fact that Huzaifah initiated the contact, and was perhaps lucky himself not to see red for a very unwarranated aggressive off-the-ball challenge on Rusyaidi. Even if it didn’t cross the threshold required for Jansen to produce a red, surely it was at least a yellow card for Huzaifah trying to stop Rusyaidi from getting involved in the counter-attack.

In the first half, Geylang took the lead and then looked completely uninterested in taking any set pieces quickly. This is of course, their right. They always approach Sailors games trying to see out the clock, and Sunday was no different. It is however, on the referees, to ensure that such time-wasting results in time added on. At the end of the first half, 2 min of added-on time was indicated. What a joke. Even if we count genuine stoppages – such as the Geylang goalie needing some treatment, that happened twice and yet 2 min was all that was added on. It added to a sense of frustration for Sailors fans as this season has seen us hard done by by refereeing decisions. I don’t think there is a great conspiracy or anything to favour our opponents, it’s just pure bad luck. Geylang fans will also say that Lionel Tan fouled Bezecourt in the box. In fact, Bezecourt himself said in his IG Stories that he believed it was a penalty. Having seen the incident, I think it’s one of those that could be given and could also not be given.

Let me reiterate, I don’t think the refereeing was a disaster, but I just hope that officials can be more consistent.

Conclusion

I’ve gone on long enough now. I can understand why Sailors fans are feeling worried – if we are struggling against the likes of Young Lions and Geylang, what hope do we have against Albirex and Tampines? I say, I am just as worried as all of you. There are some encouraging signs, but at the same time, some glaring problems seem to not have been fixed. We’d better improve fast, and hopefully we can turn in a convincing performance and win DPMM Brunei this weekend.

COME ON YOU SAILORS!

Written by Eddy Hirono

Cover picture taken from lioncitysailorsfc.sg/majestic-matchwinner-maxime/

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