Eddy Hirono – Page 11 – SailorFanTalk

[Preview] Sailors v Young Lions – No Pushovers

1 Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

As our Sailors get ready to take on the Young Lions, it’s a very different Young Lions from last season, but yet there will be a strange sense of familiarity. Nur Adam, Jonan, Danish Qayyum, and Khairin Nadim, were all just with LCS before their National Service obligations kicked in. Does this make the Young Lions game easier or harder for us? We’ll explore that in this article. On a random note, that’s Simba from The Lion King in the cover photo. If Young Lions is Simba, then who is Mufasa (the kind King who got killed), and who is Scar (the jealous brother of the King who got the King killed so that he could take his place)? Are we Scar? Is Mufasa Home United? Ooof that hits too close to home. Ok I digress. On to the preview. Same Same But Different The Young Lions are not the same proposition as they were last season. I could write long paragraphs about it, but these tweets from Deepanraj Ganesan sum it up very well. Not the same team as last season at all. They now have more familiar names than usual seasons, plus a smattering of quality from foreign lands. Take a look at last week’s lineup. Aside from goalkeeper Travis Ang and the foreigners, every single name in there is someone who has played SPL football before, or is familiar to us. Even on the bench, you see players like Khairin Nadim and Danish Qayyum, who have experience playing in this league before. It’s not gonna be the usual Young Lions experience, where there are newbies everywhere you look. There’s even 3 title-winners in there (Kaisei Ogawa, Jun Kobayashi, Kan Kobayashi). At this point I have to remind yall that even though there were newbies left right centre in the last 2 seasons we faced Young Lions, we drew with them TWICE. UGH. The experience of the boys playing, added to the foreigners will make them a much harder outfit to beat this time. They were unlucky to lose in their opener to DPMM. DPMM’s keeper Naumovski had a great game, and one save in particular from livewire Farhan Zulkifli was particularly impressive, given that the move had “Goal” written all over it. So if DPMM is touted by some as a dark horse for the title, and Young Lions almost held/beat them, then I don’t think we should be taking them lightly at all. The Boys from LCS Nur Adam is definitely no stranger to us. He has played 57 times for the Sailors in the past few years, and has always been a fan favourite, marauding up and down the left flank. His talents were on full display for the Young Lions last weekend, and he was involved in a fair few attacking moves. Further upfield, Jonan was used in a right-wing role. We only saw him come on for 2 cameos last season, but I remember being impressed by his confidence and directness, especially in the 3-0 victory over Balestier Khalsa. He lasted 1 half last week but some of his touches looked really good, so it would be nice to see him again. Danish Qayyum (1 min) and Khairin Nadim (0 min) have not seen much gametime at all for the senior Sailors, but these 4 should still know a thing or two about their opponents this weekend. Knowing them and stopping them is two different things though – and you would expect that in a game like this, the goalkeeper for Young Lions will be very important. Travis Ang was also a former Sailors academy player, and he will be disappointed with the concession of last week’s equaliser to DPMM. It was a tight angle for the forward, but he managed to squeeze a shot in at the near post, just beyond Travis’s dive. Not a howler – but he would have felt he could have done better. He doesn’t have much SPL experience, so I think the Sailors will want to put as much pressure on him as possible, from every conceivable situation. Crosses, setpieces, through balls in the space between the centre-back and the keeper – let’s try to maximise the chances of mistakes happening. Enomoto – The Spearhead I can’t say I know too much about Enomoto, but I like what I saw from him in pre-season. He can score, he has a bit of presence about him (186cm), and with him on the pitch, Young Lions do not look as toothless as they have done in recent years. In terms of CV, he has easily the most impressive one, given that he featured quite regularly in J3 football in Japan, and also featured in J2. His goalscoring record there wasn’t stellar though – only managing 9 goals in 78 appearances. What is remarkable about him is that he won many aerial duels when he featured in J3, featuring in the 91st percentile league-wide of aerial duels won despite not featuring as regularly as regular starters from other clubs. Given his aerial prowess, this should be a challenge that Bailey and Toni will be looking forward to! Conclusion I think our Sailors should have too much for the Young Lions, despite them strengthening very well. I think the Young Lions are not going to finish bottom this year, but I would still be very surprised if the Sailors firepower isn’t enough to overcome this challenge. Rui Pires looks to be back in training as well, I wonder if he will feature at some point. Our last 2 games have seen us barely break a sweat, and it looks like some connections are still in the process of being formed. Still, the Young Lions team look like they always have a mistake or two in them, and I think the Sailors attack has enough firepower to punish any errors. My predicted line-up – Zharfan Rohaizad Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Obren Kljajic Song, Hariss, Hami Maxime, Shawal, Bart COME

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[Preview] Hougang United v Sailors – Season Opener, Plenty of Unknowns

1 Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

So after the excitement of lifting the Community Shield, we finally have the real season opener, a match with proper consequences, the first chance to get 3 points on the board. What can we expect from a heavily-revamped Hougang United? Let’s dive right into it. Still no Kiki Krajcek As has been mentioned on this site many times before, Krajcek is the heartbeat of this Hougang team. No Krajcek, no party. The only time they managed to even escape defeat against us without Krajcek was last season in the Singapore Cup when we had all but qualified from the group stage and we fielded an almost-entirely-local starting XI. Well Krajcek is still out, and is not expected to make his return for a couple of months still. He has been out and about doing community work for the team, but we understand from the Hougang fans that he will not be playing this week. His absence is perhaps going to be less fatal this time as compared to last season, because Shahdan has been getting some minutes in pre-season, and also because of a signing that has largely been slept on – Shodai Yokoyama. For me, Shodai Yokoyama was one of the standouts in last year’s Albirex team. A left-footed Steven Gerrard. Capable of scoring off late runs into the box, or with belters from range. Last year, he scored a total of 7 goals (if you count the Community Shield), and got 8 assists. That’s a very healthy goal contribution rate. They don’t have Zulfahmi Arifin anymore and so will miss his left foot, but in my opinion, Shodai is more than an adequate replacement. Some of his goals for you to check out. Here, here, and here. The Unknown Strikers I know jackshit about Hougang’s new strikers, Petar Banovic and Stjepan Plazonja. Let’s first check out what our friends from hougangunitedfans.com have to say about them. As part of my due diligence, I didn’t take what the Hougang fans said as gospel. I also did a real deep dive. No actually I didn’t. I pulled up a Youtube video set to shitty techno music. Of course, such compilation videos you have to take with a huge pinch of salt. What I’d add to their summaries, is that Stjepan Plazonja really really reminds me of Lukas Podolski. Booming left foot? Check. One-dimensional running without any tricks up his sleeve? Check. One-footedness which means no shots on the right foot, ever? Check. But let’s really not allow him to use his left foot in the box, lads. It is very lethal. He’s also really quite fast. He likes to push and run a lot, so we’re gonna have to be wary of that. It’s quite a sight, really, seeing someone so tall sprint so much! Petar Banovic – has a decent goalscoring record in the Prva Liga FBIH. But it’s hard to know how that translates to SPL prowess. Probably not as hard as trying to pronounce “Prva Liga FBIH” without sounding like you are replicating a fart in amateurish fashion – but still hard. We’ve spoken before about how Sime Zuzul had a shit record before coming to Singapore shores and tearing it up. Đorđe Maksimović as well, who has of course, left Hougang, did really well last season but thankfully is no longer around. So goalscoring records in other leagues don’t really tell the full story. For context, in case you are an expert in obscure European leagues, Prva Liga FBIH is the first division of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both of them are really tall too, by the way. One is 1.88m, while the other is 1.92m. It’s good that Lionel is playing rightback, because I think they are going to rely on the long diagonal into the air for their twin towers to attack. If Hafiz Nor is played there, then we’re really left to making sure we get to the second balls from the knockdowns. And I am sure Datkovic will share some banter with this duo as well. Let’s hope it gets spicy! The Unknown Centreback (no plural this time) There is no plural this time because one of the centrebacks is Ensar Bruncevic (usually referred to as Bruno in his time at Balestier Khalsa). He did not really impress last time out, and was almost always referred to as one of the worst foreigners in the league. Has he improved? Well I don’t know because I don’t watch the Serbian Super League. And even if I did, I don’t think I’d be able to glean much, seeing as he only made a handful of appearances. But it’s not likely to matter much – because it’s not like Hougang’s Japanese pair at the back were super impressive. So if he does an average job, then there won’t be much of a difference to last season. Unless of course, his partner, Faris Hasic, is really solid. He’s a 20 year old centreback, hailing once again from the Prva Liga FBIH. Unlike Ensar, he actually started a whole bunch of games. And just like Plazonja above, I did the dirty work, I sat through a video set to some shitty music. Let me clarify that statement. Faded by Alan Walker is not a shitty song. But stupid remixes of the song? Yes, shitty. Football compilation videos love to use the song “Faded“, which is ironic. “Faded” shouldn’t be used on a promising young centreback. It should be used on people like Pogba, or Casemiro, or Varane, or Maguire, or Erik Ten Hag. Ok you get the point, I don’t really like Manchester United. Faded can also be used on our 2022 title challenge after we sacked Kim Do Hoon. Ooof. #toosoon I digress. Back to the point – Faded by Alan Walker is an OK song, but football compilation videos tend to use shitty remixes of it in their video. This offending video even manages to use TWO different stupid shitty remixes of

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Routine Win But Both Sides Will Improve (Sailors 2 Albirex 0)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

This may seem harsh, but at no point in the game did I feel the Sailors were not gonna win. It was a really routine victory and 2-0 could and should have been way more. Barring a moment in the second half where Zharfan will feel he should have done better, Albirex had nothing on us. I believe the freekick chance they had was their only shot on target. It was such a foreign experience for me, considering that we are so used to sitting back and weathering all the pressure that Albirex would put on our defence. In particular, the first half felt really really comfortable. And this is why. 0 shots in the first half. That’s not at all what we are used to. But I like it. Let’s keep it this way. Period of Adaptation Jokes aside, while I do hope that this match is fully representative of what’s to come, we have to remind ourselves that Albirex are traditionally slow starters, but yet after the mid-point of the season, they usually really turn it on and then they just start this unstoppable charge towards the title. Much like how Manchester City does it, except without the (alleged) financial doping. There is a good reason for this of course – there is usually a huge squad renewal process for Albirex, and their players will also need time to get used to the hot and humid playing conditions in Singapore. Something I observed when watching the game was that it was not easy to tell the Singapore players from the Japanese players. You know how on TV, your non-football-watching friends sometimes marvel at the fact that you can name the players just by looking at their head and body shape from far away? Well, given that Albirex is a brand new team essentially, it will take me a while before I get to know them just by the way they look and the way they carry the ball. I don’t know whether it’s more of a compliment to Albirex’s local boys, or something negative to be said about their Japanese imports, but there did not seem to be a gulf in quality as there usually is. The foreign players are supposed to be noticeably better than the local players, and that was simply not the case. They looked really, really ordinary. One of the moments in the game that really stuck out to me was when Albirex got a freekick in their own half, and usually they’d look to keep the ball moving, pass it quickly on the floor to someone, and then start their passing triangles. But no, not this time. The ball was launched towards the Sailors box, with noone even near the vicinity. It was an aimless long ball presumably looking for Shuhei to try to cushion it down for his teammates. That is not the Albirex way. But maybe they just need some time. As a Sailors fan, let’s hope they never get back their mojo haha. Obren Continues to Impress In the preview article, I didn’t mention that Obren was an option to start at leftback. Which was pretty forgetful of me, considering that in the post-JDT article, Ernest and I waxed lyrical about him when he came on to play left wing-back. Again, he put in a good shift on Saturday, and his direct opponent, Daniel Goh, got very little out of him. Albirex’s tactic was to try to look for Daniel Goh alot in the first half, so it was important that Obren was alert and ready to deal with him. On attack, he was powerful and direct. Nothing too fancy, just a couple of drives down the left flank, before cutting back for a teammate in the penalty area. One of these runs led to a cutback that Song almost converted from. More of this from Obren please! He reminds me a little of Sead Kolasinac and how he would bomb up and down the left flank for Arsenal and Schalke 04. On a separate slightly-related note, I wonder if the Sailors are gonna get more goals from setpieces this year, considering that our backline is physically very imposing. We have our two hulking centrebacks of course, but we also have Lionel Tan playing rightback, and Obren at leftback. Tall! Maxime is a Machine By all accounts, I don’t think it can be said Maxime had a good game. It seemed like he was snatching at his chances a lot, putting shots way over the bar, and some of his passes went astray too. But – he ended up with a goal and an assist. And he was responsible for winning the penalty too! If you’re still wondering whether it was a harsh penalty, watch this. In the stadium, I thought it was a harsh call, as it didn’t look like much contact, but this angle shows that the refereeing team did brilliant. We are harsh on the refs when they get shit wrong, let’s give them their flowers when they get difficult decisions right. Anyway back to the point, Maxime has picked up where he left off last season, and he can only get better! Datkovic’s Range of Passing On more than a couple of occasions, the ball was played to Datkovic, and with little pressure on him, he managed to come up with raking long passes out to Maxime Lestienne on the right wing. Big booming balls from left to right, and very very accurate. With Albirex looking to keep the middle compact, as many teams are likely to do this season against us, we had to sometimes mix it up and add a bit of variety to our passing. From a passing perspective, I guess it’s really good that we now have a left-footed centreback playing on the left side of central defence, because it opens up different passing angles. Let’s pray for his health and hope that he gets to play a lot more than

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[Preview] Sailors v Albirex – Not a Trophy, But a Chance to Lay Down a Marker

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

You know what people always say – the Community Shield is not a trophy if another club wins it, but if your team wins it, then yes, yes it’s absolutely a trophy. Well, not for me. I am quite clear in my opinion that it’s not really a trophy. Just 1 game to win it, it doesn’t feel hard-earned, y’know? If some people can dismiss Greece’s run to Euro 2004 victory as a fluke, even though they had to play a total of 6 games, then surely just winning 1 game can be a fluke as well, and it just doesn’t seem to count. (But of course, I am of the opinion that Greece’s win was no fluke – for those much younger please enjoy this video which shows their amazing run. They faced France, Czech Republic and Portugal in the knockout rounds, and won 1-0 on each occasion. NO GOALS CONCEDED IN THE KNOCKOUT STAGES. Oh, and Portugal were playing this tournament at home, yet were beaten twice by Greece, once in the group stage and once when it mattered most in the final.) But I digress. As so often happens on this site. Sorry. This year I will try to keep the articles shorter and more to the point. Maybe. Don’t bet on it. But anyway, don’t take it from me, take it from legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who said that he “never included extras like the Charity Shield and the European Super Cup because they are won with a single victory“. If it’s good enough for one of the most decorated managers of all times, it’s good enough for me. The Community Shield doesn’t count as a trophy. But Is It Still Important? Yes – it’s very important to win the game. I may sound like I am contradicting myself now, but hear me out. The Community Shield isn’t important because it’s a trophy. It’s important because of who we are playing. It is our old foes, Albirex Niigata (S). This year, they are more (S) than ever, because they are finally playing with the same rules as everyone else. Finally, they no longer get to fill their team with Japanese imports from a superior grassroots system, and then have people bleating on and on about how they are winning the title with kids. Yes, they are kids, but they are kids from a far superior system! The fact is that when our national team do their training camps in Japan, they sometimes play university opposition – this should show the gulf between the two nations when it comes to footballing standards. This year, we don’t have that reason / excuse anymore. They have the same number of Singaporeans as we do – we get to sign the foreigners we want, they get to sign the foreigners they want. If anything, they are a bit restricted in that they can only really sign Japanese players because that is more on-brand, while we get our pick from the whole world, essentially. As for the local players, they have signed good players in the likes of Ho Wai Loon, Daniel Goh, Arshad Shamim, etc, but it would be a stretch to suggest that these players are better than the locals in the Sailors ranks. And so this is why the match takes on such importance – if we lose, you can expect the knives to come out already. People will use the result of a glorified friendly to say that King Kazu is indeed the king, being able to lead a reset team to victory over the Sailors, who have much more in terms of resources, and also a settled core of the team. And they’d be quite right to say so – provided of course he can keep it up over the course of the long season. So yes, this match is still important, and unlike a traditional preview where we try and predict what the key battles are going to be, given that Albirex is pretty much an unknown quantity, let’s explore what we can look forward to tomorrow. How Will Bart Fit In? So far, Bart has looked good in pre-season. Or at least, what we got to see in the two friendlies against JDT. He was tidy with his passing, and brave with his running. He would frequently collect the ball in our half, turn, retain the ball, and then drive forwards looking to link up with his teammates. As he settles more and more into the team, these combinations are gonna pay off in a big way, but for now, I think we are all keenly anticipating his impact on the team. We wrote a little article about him, and focused on how interestingly for someone playing in midfield, he scores more than he creates. Maxime and him thus sound like a match made in Heaven, because Maxime loves providing an assist. Jokes aside, will Bart line up in the middle next to Maxime on the right, so that the two of them can do their own little 1-2s all the way into the box, the way Diego and Maxime used to? Or will Bart play where he lined up against JDT, nominally on the left, drifting in to create havoc? There are pros and cons of each approach of course, and I guess it comes down to whether Coach Ranko wants to concentrate the threat in one area, or spread it out, given that Bart seems just as capable of creating magic without Maxime next to him. Whether Song plays is also something that may affect this. Like Bart, Song is a midfielder who gets more goals than assists. If Song plays, Bart may take up a slightly more withdrawn position so he can feed Song and Shawal ahead of him. Shawal to Start? Where is Richairo? So yes, I mentioned Shawal to start in attack. Rasaq is on the mend after a long injury, and may not be seen as

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[Specials] The Deck – A Bold Initiative Aimed at Drawing New Fans

Leave a Comment / Specials / Eddy Hirono

I know, I know. You are a little angry about the underwhelming kit launch, especially for the white kit. First thing I’ll say is there will be a video and article dealing with that in due course, but not yet, I need to talk about membership first because the club hasn’t announced full details yet, and I am hoping somehow that this article will give them some food for thought. Also – don’t buy the shirts yet, if you were planning to. Let’s wait and see if membership brings with it any other discounts. If you wanna buy a shirt and you can’t wait, may I suggest you just buy last season’s kit instead. It’s so similar – and it is a whole S$15 cheaper. Do the smart thing haha. The Deck Some weeks back, the club announced that they are doing away with season passes, and instead would be launching a whole new membership program. Four main features of the new membership program are that 1) it’s free to join, 2) the first match ticket for a home game is free, 3) tickets thereafter are permanently 50% off, and 4) you scale up the membership tiers as you attend more and more home games – in the process “unlocking a treasure trove of rewards“. There has been no release of details on what these rewards may be, or what other stuff this membership program entails. The club has said that come May, they will be revealing more details. Crucially, and back on the topic of jerseys – the kit launch has happened but we still do not know if there will be discounts on the shirts. Hopefully this is addressed quickly, but my advice is don’t buy first, adopt a wait-and-see approach. The Benefits of this Radical New Approach When I first heard of this new approach, I thought it was certainly a bold one. It does a few things – Allow me to elaborate. More People in the Stadium Last season, games cost S$16 including the Sistic charge for non-members, and S$13 for members. Assuming ticket prices do not go above S$22 (it is rumoured to be S$20), then we are looking at a saving for all members. Given that membership is free, it would be somewhat odd that you wouldn’t sign up for membership, so I think we can assume there will be a lot of “members” who are actually neutral, or even support other clubs. (Kinda like the time I signed up to be a Spurs member just so I could watch the Champions League game between FC Barcelona and Spurs, and witness first-hand Messi destroying the team I hate so much. All while sat in their stands pretending to be their fan. Oh, memories.) But therein lies a chance to convert these people. Assuming that the away fans are gonna prefer to sit on the away end, what we might end up having is neutrals curious to watch a game, especially with the first ticket being absolutely free. What is key now is thus the matchday experience for these fans. Is the club confident that these fans will like what they see? Not just on the pitch but off it as well? I hope the Crew can do its part to create an atmosphere that everyone can be proud of. If you are reading this and you’d like to be part of the Crew, roaring on our boys week in week out, do drop me a DM on Instagram or Twitter, and we’d love to have you on board! More Targetted Benefits and Perks Fans have said that they feel the Sailors can do more for their fans. If you haven’t read it yet, please read Chin Heng’s wishlist for this season, and he perfectly encapsulates the thoughts of some fans – basically better fan engagement, and more peripheral activities for fans. However, for this to happen, I agree with the way the club has done it – it needs an accurate way to identify who are the hardcore fans. It is easy to point to people like myself and Joseph as “hardcore fans”, because we are loud, we set up a fan media channel, and we are always front and centre – interviewing players, interviewing fans, shouting our lungs out week in week out. But that’s not all the hardcore fans. Some fans prefer to support the club in a more understated way. Currently, it is harder to identify people like that, because they might come every week, but they might be tucked away in the corners of the ground, sitting near the back. Unless they come forward and make friends with the Crew, or with club staff, they might feel a bit neglected when it comes to club-organised events. So with the new structure, there will be objective proof of how “hardcore” you are. If the club wants to organise an intimate BBQ party featuring some players and some fans, but they only have 50 slots, the club will then have a list on their hands, and sort out who may be most “deserving” of a slot in the party. This is not foolproof by the way. If it comes down to a drummer for the Crew who has attended 15 games that season, and drummed non-stop for 90min on each occasion, but missed some games due to work, and someone who quietly sits in a corner with his family but has attended 16 games that season, who is more deserving of a slot at the BBQ party? There is no correct answer here I guess. Other Cons of this New Approach As for the cons – I immediately thought of one when I first assessed this new initiative. I can be quite busy at work sometimes, and the last thing I want to worry about is whether or not I am assured a seat at the game. Last season, having a season pass meant that I never needed to worry about

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Early Observations (Sailors 1 JDT 2)

2 Comments / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

It’s a pre-season friendly, and you can’t really read too much into these games, but the quality of the opponent I think should fill us with some optimism. It was a very good performance, especially for this stage of pre-season, and taking into account that we played Malaysia’s No. 1 side with 10 men for a third of the game, thanks to (imo) some over-zealous refereeing. I think it also goes without saying that Maxime is a real gem, and we love him very much. There was no doubt when the ball left his boot that he was gonna score. We’ve really been pampered by his quality in the last couple of years. But what about other observations? I sat down with Crew member Ernest to talk about the game, and these are some of our thoughts! Overall Thoughts Ernest – We can compete, even if JDT were missing some key players. Yes, we know several key players were not in the squad but many of our own were playing together for the first time too. We cannot read too much into the what if’s, only the performance and scoreline. It was a respectable one, Sailors had less possession of the ball but always looked dangerous on the break. Eddy – For a team that played a third of the game with a man down, I cannot remember Zharfan having to make too many saves. There was one good one in the first half, but other than that, the team did very well to limit JDT to half-chances. Considering JDT was more advanced in their pre-season than we were, I think it was a very positive outing. Toni Datkovic said in his interview with us that the players only got together to train for the first time a few days ago, so I am taking the positives! Speaking of Toni Datkovic… Toni Datković – Combative Croat Ernest – Very, very solid. Left-footed option, can be a Pedro Henrique replacement. I can see why his nickname El Sicario stuck. Strong in the tackle and in the air, unfortunate for the goals conceded. Eddy – I thought the defensive unit including Toni did well to limit JDT to so few chances, and Toni was part of that performance. I am sure they will look at the two goals conceded and feel that they should have done way better on the goals considering one goal originated from a hopeful cross, while the other was an uncontested header. With greater chemistry, we should see an improvement on this front. A promising first look at our big Croatian defender. Return of Song Ernest – Suitable for midfield. Solid 60min outing. Song’s return to LCS is a cause of excitement among many fans. He was a staple of good Home United and LCS squads, and every time he touched the ball you could feel the crowd willing him on. Popped up everywhere, could have had a goal but blazed it over the bar. For someone coming back from injury it was a good shift. He also took time to chat with fans after the match too – always a class act. Could he be the best signing of the window? Time will tell. Eddy – It’s always nice to see Singapore’s favourite Korean-Singaporean back in town. He was his usual irrepressible self, snapping into challenges, putting himself about. However, you get the feeling that he’s still shaking off some rust, and regaining his fitness. This is far from the Song we know. His misses in front of goal were also uncharacteristic – on his day he is an ice-cold finisher and would have finished with 2 goals. He’ll be back on form I’m sure. First Look at Bart Ernest – Good player in half-spaces on the turn – and boy did he turn a lot! Many of our midfielders/forwards received the ball with their back facing the goal, but they either laid it off to another teammate on the wings or took minimal touches on the turn to advance up the field. It was a tactic that worked in phases of the game, the quick tempo in the middle third. Bart seems to be well-suited to this, beating his man regularly through combining with others or taking it on himself. He will take time to adjust to his teammates but the early signs are promising. Eddy – I thought Bart had an amazing first game for us. He was brave in possession and was constantly driving at the defence. We’ve seen from his Eredivisie days that he has a good shot on him, but what we saw against JDT was that he’s great at picking up possession and then immediately turning defence into offence with a good pass or a driving run. Hard to dispossess even when pressed hard or double-teamed. He reminds me of Santi Cazorla, and that’s high praise! Zharfan with the Cruyff Turn Ernest – There was one save in the first half where the whole crowd went “OOH”. He sprung instinctively to palm the ball out for a corner when it looked destined for the goal. Generally commanding of his area, and showed his usual good distribution. But we all know everyone is talking about the Cruyff turn in the dying seconds. The audacity. Picture-book moment. Eddy – I thought he was really solid. Held on to a few fizzing low crosses played into the danger area, and did what he needed to do without fuss. Then of course, there was that big save in the first half after the ball had come off Lionel’s shoulder and dropped to one of the JDT strikers. For most goalkeepers, that would be the highlight of the game – but not Zharfan. Late in the game, in a bid to get a late equalizer, Zharfan was given the green light by Coach Rankovic to go into the opposing penalty box for a corner kick. It was half-cleared, and the ball dropped to Zharfan, who

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[Player Profile] Bart-er Trade – Will Bart Fill the Diego-Shaped Hole in our Team?

1 Comment / Player Profiles, Transfers / Eddy Hirono

If you haven’t read our piece on Diego yet, and seen how highly we regard him, do yourself a favour, click here and read it please. Bart Ramselaar comes with a similar price tag to Diego, but with arguably the bigger reputation. He will be expected to deliver right from the get-go as it very much feels like one-in, one-out. In this article, we will take a look at how his journey through football has led us here, and also what kind of player we can expect when we finally get to see him in action. Excellent Social Media Buzz Prior to the signing of Toni Datković, our beloved Sailors had been pretty quiet on the social media front, with limited content due to the fact that players were still on their holidays. We had some content when Hariss Harun and Lionel Tan went down to do giveaways of merch to fans, and also when the club opened its doors to some ardent fans who won a matchball in some other giveaways. But none of that really compared to the buzz when the club announced its new signings. The signings alone would probably have generated buzz, but the masterful way in which the club did it really set the pulses racing. Serious posts were mixed in together with the informal posts. You had your formal interviews with the pair of new signings where they outlined their ambitions for the club in the season ahead, but you also had Toni trying to figure out Singlish phrases, while I probably watched the amazing Bart Simpson v Bart Ramselaar video a few too many times. Those with fantastic eyesight would also have caught that in a teaser video hinting at a signing announcement in the afternoon, Bart Ramselaar’s face actually appeared for a split second. Go see it for yourself here and see if you can pause it right at the moment where you can see Bart’s face there, hiding in plain sight. And if all that content on Instagram was not enough, you get long-form content on Youtube where you can really hear at length from our signings. And if you’re more of a reading guy, the excellent articles on the official site give more depth to the person behind the footballer. Overall, just outstanding effort from the Sailors, and this is the excellence that we fans have come to expect from the club on all fronts. First Dutch International to Play in Singapore If I am wrong, someone please correct me, but I think Bart may be the first full Dutch international to play in our domestic league. Richairo Zivkovic has registered multiple appearances for the Dutch international youth teams, just as Bart does, but Bart has gone one step further and made 3 appearances for the senior national team. He has played with the likes of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Virgil van Dijk. He has trained under the likes of Mark van Bommel, Philip Cocu, and Erik Ten Hag. He was well-loved at FC Utrecht, and had won the Eredivisie with PSV. I’ll address the big question everyone has – so why is he here? Why is Bart Here? Bart’s answer when asked in various interviews was that he had spent 10 years in the Eredivisie and it was time for an adventure to explore a different league. I am sure that this is part of the truth – but I would hazard a guess that he would have been able to seek adventures in other leagues of far greater quality. This is all speculation from this point on – but I think his big injury suffered in April 2022 had a huge part to play in how he ended up here. He was having a stellar season in 2021/2022, scoring 9 goals in 26 games and earning rave reviews for his performances. He was flying, starting every game and was an integral part of the team. However, he then suffered a knee injury which kept him out for 10 months, and when he came back in the 2022/2023 season, he was no longer a first-team regular. The situation continued into the 2023/2024 season, where he probably did not get as much game-time as he wanted. It is pretty heartening that he did start 4 games spanning December 2023 and January 2024, which suggests that he is fit and ready to contribute to the Sailors this season. In an interview with former Dutch international Andy van der Meyde, he revealed that one of the toughest times of his career was when found himself on the bench at PSV, so it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that perhaps his lack of game-time also contributed to his decision to come to the Sailors. Nothing wrong with that – we should acknowledge our status also as a team participating in a league that is nowhere near as glamorous as the top European or even Asian leagues. Top players who come here from Europe are usually unhappy in some way with their situation. In this case, the fact that Rankovic has previously worked with him before in FC Utrecht probably didn’t hurt! Let’s just sit back and enjoy the talents of someone like Bart, whatever the circumstances may be that led him here! What Kind of Player is Bart? It is interesting that for someone who operates in midfield, Bart has more goals than assists in his career. 37 goals and 21 assists in 212 league and cup games in the Netherlands. In fact, in his stellar 2021/2022 season where he performed outstandingly well and was being talked about as potentially being able to make a big move at the end of the season, he registered 9 goals and 0 assists in the league. When you watch his highlights on Youtube, you begin to see why. He clearly has a knack for arriving late in the box to finish off team moves, and is a very sharp finisher. The

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[Player Profile] Now Dat’s What I Call A Signing

1 Comment / Player Profiles, Transfers / Eddy Hirono

Long before curated playlists on Spotify were a thing – I grew up in the 90s listening to compilation albums which packed 20 of the greatest songs of the year into one jam-packed CD full of hits. These were lifesavers because I had no money to buy individual albums. These compilation albums were called the “Now: That’s What I Call Music” albums. Ok thanks for indulging this old man in my random rambles – this was just me trying to explain one of the reasons why of all the music-related punny headlines I could’ve gone for, I went for “Now Dat’s What I Call a Signing“. I did also contemplate “I Want It Dat Way“, “Dat Thing You Do“, and the more current “How You Like Dat“, which was a reader’s suggestion. The other more important reason for why this headline is relevant is because of the profile of the player, and his big league experience. Let’s start right there and then discuss what we know about our new man, Toni Datković. 100 appearances in La Liga 2 Toni has made a century of appearances in La Liga 2, a league that is just one rung below La Liga, Spain’s top division. Although I found footage and detailed video analysis of Toni hard to come by, I think we can safely assume that someone who made 100 appearances in La Liga 2 will be expected to be heads and shoulders above the competition he will face in the SPL. This is a league where the strikers are of the calibre of Martin Braithwaite, Borja Baston, Balde Keita, Javi Puado, etc. The signing also brings to mind last year’s signing of Bailey Wright, another player who had come from the 2nd-tier league of a top footballing nation. However, just based on pure stats alone, I might argue that this signing looks to be even more impressive. When Bailey came to us, he had many appearances in the Championship, but they were mostly from a few years ago. His more recent experience right before coming to us consisted of 2 seasons where he was a regular for Sunderland in League 1, but then he was in and out for them once they got promoted. He was then loaned out to Rotheram, where he was also in and out of the team. Toni comes to us off the back of a 2022/2023 season where he featured 39 times for FC Cartagena, a mid-table team in La Liga 2, which suggests that’s where his level is currently at. Of course his most recent half-season spell was at Albacete, which came about after he left Cartagena in a pretty messy way. Toni’s side of the story is that he was forced out by the club because of their financial situation, while the Cartagena president’s version of the story was that Toni had interest from a Saudi club and the uncertainty brought about by the Saudi league’s transfer window closing later than the Spanish league’s meant that they had to let him go so that they had certainty over whether to replace him or not. I trust Toni because he is our guy now (not biased at all lol), and also because the Cartagena fans seem to love the guy. Another notable mention in his CV is the one time he got called up for the Croatia senior team, even if it was for a B team somewhat in a friendly played in China. The more illustrious names that played on the pitch with him that day include Borna Barisic (Glasgow Rangers), Luka Ivanusec (Feyenoord), and Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin). On paper, this signing is precisely the profile of player we need if we are to wrest the title back and aim for a deep run in ACL2. Tons of experience in a much stronger league than ours, still the right age (30), and making regular appearances. Earlier this year, there were very strong rumours that the Sailors were in for Ryoya Taniguchi – but it always felt a little off to me. Players like Diego Lopes and Pedro Henrique being allowed to depart, to be replaced by players of the quality of Ryoya? It just seemed unlikely. And that’s not a knock on Ryoya, who is a decent player – it is more of a testament to the scouting and financial ability of the Sailors. Given what we’re capable of, it would have been a downer if we signed someone from within our shores to bolster our defence. El Sicario – The Hitman With a nickname like that, we’re expecting Toni to play like Nemanja Vidic or Sergio Ramos. A take-no-prisoners approach to defending, destroying strikers who get near his goal. So it was pretty funny when he revealed in an interview the origins of his nickname – “When people first hear the term ‘Sicario’, they often think I’m a dangerous guy,” Toni elaborated “But after getting to know me, everybody says I should have nothing to do with the nickname. … He explained: “When you arrive in Spain and you say that you come from Croatia, everyone’s first thought is that of war. And when I take my clothes off, I have a few scars on my body, so I look a bit like someone who’s always fighting. That’s why my teammates started calling me ‘Sicario’. – Toni Datković in an interview with the club It is an excellent interview that delves into Toni’s life, family, and motivations, not just his career, and I’d strongly suggest taking some time out of your day to read it. So yeah, glad that that’s debunked then, he isn’t a terror on the pitch, it’s just a silly nickname given to him by his teammates, yes? 14 cards in 39 league games. While this does not seem to be characteristic of him if you take his whole career into account, if you keep really quiet, you can already hear Jansen Foo shaking his head, reaching into his

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Diego Lopes – Legend

1 Comment / Player Profiles, Specials / Eddy Hirono

In a week where Diego Lopes is rumoured to be joining a Chinese Super League team, we thought it’d be a nice time to pay tribute to him. Diego arrived on our shoes in January 2021, 3 years ago. In that time, he won every Singaporean trophy available, and was a fan favourite because of what he did on and off the pitch. When he came, Forrest said that having a top-quality player like Diego will not only give us a boost, but also hopefully give Singapore football a lift. One thing he did not say was that Diego was gonna win our hearts. And as we read on, we’re gonna find out that he really, really did. Strap in, buckle up, and let’s take a drive down memory lane as we discuss Diego’s short but eventful time with us. The Recap Arriving with a hefty price tag of S$2.89 million, Diego’s performances were always going to be intensely scrutinized. In the romantic after-glow that often accompanies the departure of fan favourites, supporters sometimes forget the tougher times – it was not always smooth-sailing for the brilliant Brazilian. In his first season (2021), despite the title win, Diego found himself starting just 10 of the 21 games in the league, coming on after half-time in 9 games. Whether this was down to fitness, tactical or other issues, your guess is as good as mine. I remember thinking at the time that his omissions from the starting line-up were very glaring – you do not pay that much for a foreign player just to sit him on the bench half the time. 2021 was also the only year that he did not make it to the SPL Team of the Year. Things got significantly better in 2022. He started 22 times in the league, only missing some games due to injury. It was also Diego’s first experience of the AFC Champions League – and the stand-out of course was the historic 3-0 win over Daegu FC, a game in which he scored a goal. He was sorely missed in some games nearing the end of the season due to injury. That, coupled with Pedro Henrique’s injury at the same time, probably put paid to our title chances. Then the final year came. Once again, he started almost every game in the league, but was conspicuously absent in half of our AFC Champions League games. Considering he was available for all our games in the Singapore Cup run which took place around the same time, his absence was tactical, and not injury-related. That was perhaps the biggest clue about what the club thought of Diego, and whether he was going to be retained. Our historic 2-0 win over Jeonbuk was achieved without Diego, and it seems a pity that he was not part of the momentous occasion. Daegu was a huge win, but the only Sailors fan up there watching it live in Buriram was me. The day we beat Jeonbuk saw a packed Jalan Besar Stadium with the Crew out in full force. It felt weird not to have one of our most important players of the past few years in the team. But, there was no lack of important memories in our club’s history with Diego. I mean, he did rack up 34 goals and 31 assists in his 85 appearances for the club. Let’s talk through some of them. THAT Goal Against Hougang Take your mind back to April 2021. We were second in the table, at the halfway mark of the season. We faced a tricky trip to Hougang Stadium – tricky not just because of the pitch condition but also because they had already defeated us 3-1 earlier in the year. It was the first game in a while that the SPL allowed supporters to attend without producing an official ART or PCR test result. There was also an increase in the number of allowed supporters – 250. It led to one of the better atmospheres in the Covid era before kick-off, and the tension was palpable. In a game of few chances, Hougang had a few half-chances in the first half and at half-time, I remember feeling it was gonna be one of those days where Hougang would grab a result against us. And then, the magic moment arrived. In the 69th minute of the game, there seemed to be very little on when Faris took a routine throw-in from the left side of the pitch. It reached Diego Lopes just inside the box, and with a little swivel, he let the ball drop across him and hit a magnificent half-volley towards goal. It rocketed away from his foot, but then swerved and dipped just under the bar and into the far corner. The Hougang goalkeeper could only watch on helplessly. A magnificent strike by the mercurial Brazilian player, and what a crucial goal it was too. We eventually won the title by 2 points, so yes, if the math is mathing, maybe not an exaggeration to say this was a goal that won us the title? That Moment That Clinched the Championship The final match-day of the 2021 SPL season was a tense one. Both Albirex and the Sailors started the day on equal points. On paper, it seemed simple – beat Balestier Khalsa and hope Albirex would not rack up the goals to make up the goal difference against Tanjong Pagar. It was very tense during the second half because we were only 2-1 up against Balestier, and reports of goal after goal filtered through from Jurong East Stadium – could Albirex make up the goal difference and leapfrog us in the table? Or worse, would Balestier grab an equalizer? Nerves were eased when in the 78th minute. Faris Ramli swung in a pin-point low cross and no prizes for guessing who was at the far post. Diego Lopes stooped low to head it in, to really start the celebrations in the stands.

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[Specials] Goal of the Season 2023 – Which is Your Pick?

Leave a Comment / Specials / Eddy Hirono

Happy New Year, wherever you are reading this from. It’s been another enjoyable year of watching our beloved Sailors play, even if perhaps we would have wanted to do better in the league. Still, plenty of memorable action, and in the coming days and weeks, we will spend a bit of time recapping some of our highlights of the season. We start with the most important thing in the game of football – goals. Our Sailors scored 79 in the Singapore Premier League, 21 in the Singapore Cup, and 5 in the AFC Champions League. That’s 105 goals in 36 games, almost 3 goals per game. You can imagine how hard my task was! I set out trying to limit myself to 5 goals, but ended up nominating 7 goals. It could and really should have been 10 or more, such was the quality of the goals on offer, but without further ado, here’s my pick of the top 7 goals this season. Let me know what yours are by commenting here, or over on TikTok or Instagram. Goal 1: Maxime Lestienne v Tampines Rovers (5-2 win, 4 Aug 2023) Maxime scored a hat-trick in this game to lead us to an important victory, and the quality of these goals were top-notch. Let’s start with the first goal he scored. There didn’t look to be too much danger when he received the ball on the right edge of the penalty area, but in the blink of an eye, he stepped inside, and without having to beat his defender, he unleashed a wicked curling shot with his left foot, which nestled into the bottom corner of the net. An amazing goal and a crucial one to give us the lead against bitter rivals in their homeground. Goal 2: Shawal Anuar v Balestier Khalsa (5-4 win, 1 Jun 2023) When I saw this one go in, I immediately thought “Goal of the Season”. I mean, it’s a weak-foot shot from Shawal Anuar from about 45 yards, taken first-time, rising high into the night sky, and arcing perfectly downwards just in time to drop below the crossbar, past the despairing dive of Balestier keeper Hairul Syirhan. The technique required to do that is insane. But to add to that, the move starts with a fantastic last-ditch tackle from Nur Adam to stop Ryoya Taniguchi from scoring. Hafiz Nor picks up the ball, dribbles it out of danger, and plays a long ball for Abdul Rasaq. Even though it is slightly beyond him, his commitment to chasing it down leads to a rushed clearance from the Balestier keeper. There is a team element to this goal and the fact that it was almost a goal for Balestier and then turned in the blink of an eye to a goal for us, makes it so satisfying. Goal 3: Abdul Rasaq v Albirex Niigata (S) (3-2 win, 21 May 2023) A very important goal. The circumstances surrounding the goal perhaps make this the most important goal of the lot. 2-0 down at half-time against our bitter title rivals, and staring down the barrel of defeat, the team came out re-invigorated, and with an important addition – Abdul Rasaq came on for the ineffective Bernie-Ibini Isei. Before he grabbed the winning goal, he had already played a big part in holding the ball up for the 2-1 goal that gave us hope. For the goal, it was amazing – a clearance-cum-pass from defence was cushioned by Maxime Lestienne first-time for Diego Lopes. Diego knocked it into a corridor of space – first-time as well. Lestienne raced into the space, and with a few quick looks into the box, spots Rasaq making a great run. He plays a first-time cross that curls nicely away from Hassan Sunny, and drops at the boot of Abdul Rasaq. He too, takes it first-time, slamming it into the back of the net on the volley. Goal 4: Lionel Tan v Balestier Khalsa (5-2 win, 31 July 2023) I remember when Lionel shaped to shoot, I was mouthing “DON’T SHOOT!” in the stands. I had never seen Lionel shoot on target from that range, and usually, centre-backs don’t take shots from that range. But I am glad that he proved me wrong. What a goal. The power, the swerve, the accuracy, the nerve to hit it from that range as Balestier sat back to try to keep us away from goal. For me what takes away from the goal is that Hairul Syirhan is already on the side of the goal that Lionel’s shot ends up, and I felt he could have done a lot better on that. Goal 5: Maxime Lestienne v Geylang International (2-1 win, 7 May 2023) The second of 2 free-kick goals that eventually won the game for our Sailors on a day when we were far from our sparkling best. Geylang always plays out of their skin when they face us, and this game was no exception. We needed a mammoth defensive shift from Mamat to prevent Geylang from scoring on a few other occasions, but we managed to hang in there at 1-0 down for the longest time before Maxime stepped in with 2 freekick goals. The first one was impressive, but the second one was even more so. It was right in the top corner, going in via the crossbar. The fact that it was so late in the game and virtually gave us an undeserved victory made this goal all the more important. On a day when the team was below par, the contributions of Mamat in defence and Maxime from set-piece opportunities made all the difference. Goal 6: Richairo Zivkovic v Jeonbuk (2-0 win, 8 Nov 2023) Jeonbuk is easily the hardest opponent that we played all year, which automaticallly gives this goal a bit of an edge when it comes to picking Goal of the Season. Aesthetically while it may not be the most pleasing one of the 7 goals, the goal

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Author name: Eddy Hirono