The only thing better than a Double McSpicy is a Double McSpicy meal. Beating Albirex is a Double McSpicy. Beating Albirex when 2-0 down at halftime is a Double McSpicy meal, upsized, and also ticking the option on the machine to add one piece of McCrispy. Yes.
Apologies once again for the super late article – I am currently overseas and have been tiring myself out clocking on average more steps daily than I do in a few days back home. The mind has been very very willing to do this post-match thoughts article, and for obvious reasons. If you had read my preview, you would have known that the best I hoped for was a draw.
Post-match, my thoughts are much the same – Albirex are still a fantastic team and deserve all the plaudits they get. They are still the frontrunners for the title, both mathematically, and also on paper (yes, more thoughts on this later). However, this was still a momentous day for the Sailors – not just in the context of this season, but also what it means for the Sailors’ confidence moving forward.
These are just post-match thoughts, not a detailed analysis, so let me touch on some points that made me think.
Importance of this Win
First – let me deal with the easy point. There’s been people moaning and groaning about how Sailors players and fans have been celebrating this like they already won the title, people asking us to calm down, pipe down, take it easy, etc etc. I thought long and hard about how I should respond to all this (2 seconds), and I have this to say.
I couldn’t give less of a fish. And that fish is an ikan bilis.
Simply put, I think these complaints miss the point. First, I have not seen or heard about anyone celebrating like they won the title. Sure, the players and fans may have been happier at full-time than usual, but they just beat the reigning champions who have been sweeping aside all opposition (except Tampines) this season, so surely they should be granted some licence to celebrate. Now, add to that the fact that the Sailors have never beaten Albirex in the league in their short history, the fact that we were playing with none of our starting centre-backs, the fact that we came into this match in pretty patchy form, the fact, that had we lost this game, we are probably out of the title race, and of course, that we turned the match around from 2-0 down at the break in dramatic and deserved fashion, and I think it becomes completely understandable for the fans and players to be delighted at the achievement.
Second, who cares what other people think? Football is a game of emotions and I’d much rather have supporters celebrating wildly than the opposite.
Separately, if I were to make a bigger point about this as well, part of the reason for the wild celebrations may even be down to the gloomy climate surrounding local football. We’ve just come off a very difficult SEA Games football tournament, where from top to bottom, anyone involved in local football has been criticised. Confidence in Singapore football has not been lower in my lifetime. Maybe I am over-thinking this, but perhaps part of it has to do with the fact that we have so little faith in our own system now, and when coming up against this Albirex juggernaut, we see it as a huge thing to register any sort of victory over them – not least a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. And that brings me to my next point – the Japanese system.
Japanese System
I will just share some quick thoughts here because I just came back from watching Sagan Tosu vs Jubilo Iwata live in Tosu. It was a Cup fixture that pitted J1 Sagan Tosu v J2 Jubilo Iwata. Jubilo prevailed on the night with an impressive 2-0 away victory. I will write a longer post when I have the time about what I think we can learn from them in terms of fan experience, what I observed, and also perhaps share with readers what I think is impressive about what the Sailors are already doing that approaches good/best practices in the industry.
For now, my purpose for referring to this game is simply to illustrate the huge gulf between the Japanese system and the Singapore system. The gulf in quality is really very large. Watching these two teams play, what struck me most was the intense pace of the game throughout, and how the teams could press, and press, and press. Fitness was top-notch for sure. The passing and the touches of the players were also top-notch. You couldn’t tell sometimes which was the J2 team and which was the J1 team, and that’s a real credit to Jubilo – but also the wider system of footballing talent in Japan.
Pretty telling that Atsushi Kawata, who was Albirex Niigata (S) top-scorer in the S-League some years back and now plays for Sagan Tosu, was one of the worst players on the pitch. He was subbed off early, and frankly despite putting in a real shift in terms of hard effort – it looked like he was a lucky draw winner that won a chance to play on the same pitch as other professionals.
That’s the kinda gulf we’re talking about. And he’s already one of the rare ones who can make it back into the J-League. If we look at some star performers over the years, very few of them managed to carve out meaningful careers back in Japan. Kazuki Hashioka for example, the flying wingback who terrorised the league few years back – not even in a J3 team. He is playing for a regional side in Tokyo.
I digress – point is simply, it’s very hard to beat Albirex, and I hope the Sailors take a lot of confidence from this, knowing the monkey is finally off our backs. Albirex is still on paper, despite the vast riches of the Sailors, the tougher team to beat, simply because their team is Japanese, and the Japanese system is well-oiled.
Moments of Quality from our Players
Back to the game itself. We knew that if we were to get anything from this game, Maxime and Diego needed to be on song. Albirex tried to limit Maxime by focusing on him defensively, and I think on the whole it worked. He wasn’t as influential as he usually was, and while I don’t have the stats, I’d guess he got far fewer touches than usual. But Maxime is Maxime, and all he needs is a few touches. He ended the night with 2 assists, and while 1 owed to some pretty dodgy defending from Albirex, his floated cross to Abdul Rasaq was a thing of beauty.
Maxime Lestienne
Hassan Sunny was the goalkeeper of course, and he would have dealt with many such crosses from Maxime before in training – so it was crucial that Maxime kept the ball away from Hassan. The weight on the cross would be important too – if it was too heavy, Abdul Rasaq might not be able to score from it or reach it in time. Maxime got everything right – the trajectory, the weight on it, the timing of it. Everything was just brilliant. Even the fact that for both assists, he took it first-time which I believe really makes it harder for the defence because they can’t truly set themselves. GET THE MAN A NEW CONTRACT RIGHT NOW, CHAIRMAN FORREST PLEASE. Run, Forrest, run and get him a new contract.
When we spoke to Rasaq after the game, he mentioned that when he was running into the box, he knew the delivery would arrive. It must be such a joy to play alongside someone like Maxime, who is not just willing, but able to put in such fine deliveries. 11 assists this season for him, and almost all of them impeccably placed and requiring just tap-ins. But this was not just a tap-in, which brings us nicely to …
Abdul Rasaq
What a finish to win it. When the ball was floated over, I had a feeling Rasaq would score. Barring one disastrous miss v Young Lions, his finishing this season has been really good. But to take it first-time and place it so calmly as opposed to lashing at the ball? That really impressed me. Circumstances are everything as well – the game was tied 2-2, the Sailors had done well to put themselves back into contention after a bad first half, and he had just come off a damaging SEA Games campaign. This was his chance, and he took it with aplomb. Kudos, young man!
(as an aside – check out Shasi Kumar’s commentary on the winning goal, and take a look at what it did to him. Not only did he describe the goal as a Goal of the Season contender, he also said “first-time” four times when analysing the goal on replay. He sounded genuinely amazed, and who can blame him! We love it!)
Hafiz Nor
This moment will live long in the memory. We’ve known all along that Hafiz Nor is quick as lightning. What we don’t see week in week out, and I hope we don’t get to see it week in week out – is his sepak takraw skillz. That shit was worth the entrance fee alone! I got a season pass so I don’t actually pay an entrance fee but you get my drift.
If you missed it, check out our Reel that we put up on the night of the win – showing Hafiz Nor first sprinting to take up a position covering the area behind Zharfan, and then reacting quickly to somersault into the air and sorta half-bicycle it away from the line to safety. Just … amazing. So good that Westlife even wrote a song about it. Here it is –
Having been brought up on a staple of English Premier League football, we’ve always heard managers talk about how to win a game, you need to be good in both boxes, This was an exceptional moment of defensive quality, and we have Hafiz Nor to thank for not allowing the score to become 3-2 in Albirex’s favour instead.
Aqhari and Abdil Qaiyyim (we love you guys!) had their say as usual, but rest assured no matter how normal Aqhari says it is for Hafiz Nor, please Hafiz don’t try it with a backflip – we want you safe and sound and playing games!
The Rest
The rest of the team absolutely deserves a shout-out as well. Adam Swandi’s last-ditch tackle, Hariss Harun’s decisive tackle in midfield that led to a turnover in possesion from which we scored, Anu’s long ball knocked down by Rasaq, from which we scored, Shawal Anuar’s sliding finish that rocketed past Hassan Sunny, Diego’s calm left-footed finish, Hami Syahin keeping things ticking in the middle – I could go on and on. It was simply an outstanding performance, and so it had to be. Against a team like Albirex, you need everyone to perform, and that happened.
Coach Risto
I questioned Coach Risto a little in our Post-Match Thoughts after the DPMM game, so I guess when he does well, flowers are due. Whatever he did at half-time, it worked. Maybe the hairdryer treatment? Maybe some tactical tweaks? I could leave that for Zach to comment I guess. I thought his substitutions made a difference, and I even liked the late introduction of Lionel Tan to form a solid backline for the last part of the game. NO MORE SILLY EQUALISERS!!! It seems like perhaps we have finally learnt from those two painful lessons (Young Lions, DPMM).
We asked Rasaq what happened at half-time, and he told us that Coach Risto reminded them of the need to press together when facing such a good opponent, and also to stay calm and not rush the final ball. Somehow, I think Rasaq isn’t telling us everything – and that’s OK! I think whatever happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room, but whatever it was, it worked, so cheers Coach!
Conclusion
Please do yourself a favour and just go watch the highlights repeatedly. That’s what I did, and it leaves me with a huge smile on my face all the time. I look like an idiot – or more of an idiot than I usually do.
I hope the Sailors now realise that the team is capable of some great things. I liked that 2 of the 3 goalscorers were our local players. We need to involve them more, get them scoring more. I always felt that Faris and Gabriel Quak were not being utilised well enough to really make them shine, and so far this season, perhaps the same can be said of the other attackers with the exception of Rasaq. Moving forward, if we are to have any chance of winning the title, we will need Coach Risto to integrate our local players more into the attack as well. They are some of the highest-profile local players, and surely they can be relied upon to help take some heat off Diego and Maxime.
After the disappointment of the DPMM game, and missing the Blackpink concert only to witness it, I think this can be described as the perfect remedy for it. Just what the doctor ordered – and I hope the doctor prescribes a long unbeaten run from here on out. Though the doctor also says no more Double McSpicys, which is what I featured in our last article. Oh well whatever, COME ON YOU SAILORS!
On an unrelated note, some of you have been asking about the Crew shirts that we have been wearing for our games in the Fan Club 5s tournament. We have been wearing the blue one, but will probably wear the black one soon too. We will release some pictures here once we have them, and we will start taking orders then! Keep your eyes peeled.
Written by Eddy Hirono
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