Eddy Hirono – Page 13 – SailorFanTalk

[Post-Match Thoughts] Deserved Defeat and Is Jansen a Bad Ref? (LCS 1 Brunei DPMM 3)

2 Comments / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

Well, I could not be more wrong in my pre-match preview. The only thing I got right was that Hakeme Yazid is a superstar and we should be wary of him. However, I under-estimated the Bruneian outfit. Yes, there was a red card, and it is very tough playing with 10 men, but I felt that even in the period before Bailey Wright was sent off, DPMM were the slightly better team. It was a very eventful game, and unfortunately, it was just a game where I felt everything that could go wrong, went wrong for us. The crowd (myself included) was incensed by Jansen Foo, and so not only will this article talk about the players on both sides, but it will definitely also touch on Jansen’s performance. Tiredness + Sloppiness I am gonna sound like a broken recorder soon, but I feel that some rotation was badly needed. Our players have played many games without changes and I think it really showed – as simple passes went astray and the touches were not as assured as they usually were. We also did not press with the same ferocity that we did against the likes of Tanjong Pagar and Young Lions. All 3 goals could be said to have been sloppy, while the red card was a direct result of some wayward passing. It was something that sparked a bit of a debate in the SailorFanTalk Telegram chat, with some fans thinking that our depth options are not good enough, or that our players are professional athletes and should be able to handle a game every 3 to 4 days. In the end, we did a poll and the results were clear in that the majority felt the squad could have done with a bit of freshening up. Especially with Brunei DPMM having played just 3 days ago, I think a little bit of freshness may just have been enough to tip the scales more in our favour. As it was, tiredness did take its toll, and we lacked the sharpness necessary to break down DPMM. To make matters worse, Diego had to be subbed off in the second half, and Coach Ranko said it was because he was carrying a small injury and he wanted to rest him for the weekend’s match against Albirex. We hope he’ll be fine. For supporters who said that our depth options are not good enough, I think I would humbly disagree with them. Someone like Zulqarnaen Suzliman (Mamat) in particular would perhaps have been perfect for this game. Hafiz Nor’s tricky situation re: potentially picking up his 4th yellow card meant it was a perfect opportunity for him to get some minutes and inject some freshness into the backline. For 2 of the goals, I think we were undone by a lack of pace in the backline, and perhaps if Mamat had played, his energy and pace might have given us a better chance at defending those goals. Of course, it calls back to mind his monster defensive performance against Geylang Intl some months back, where we had this to say – Also, while chasing a game and with 10 men, would Haiqal Pashia and Rusyaidi Salime not have been good enough options to bring on? As it was, Mamat was given 10min of gametime, while Haiqal and Rusyaidi were not given any gametime. Once it is clear that the match was not gonna be won, it might have made sense to try and preserve some legs for the Albirex game. If there is such little trust in the bench options, and an unwillingness to use them in any capacity, I do worry. In the short term, I worry about our chances against Albirex this weekend, in the medium term I worry about our squad rotation taking into account the Spurs game (a separate article will be written about this), and in the longer term I worry about how our squad will cope with all the AFC Champions League games. Missed chances Sigh. Maxime’s missed penalty, the 1-2 in front of goal where Maxime squared to Diego and Diego’s shot was cleared off the line. That one conjured up images of our goal against Daegu. The score was still 1-0 then by the way, so had that gone in, it would have been 1-1 and Bailey might not have got sent off. Maxime and Diego have saved us plenty of times this season, so let’s not dwell on this – they are entitled to off-days. Shit happens. I wonder if this is the only game this season where we have scored but Maxime and Diego did not contribute to the goal tally (whether with a goal or an assist). DPMM were very, very, very good Sometimes when doing these post-match thoughts, I tend to fixate quite a bit on how badly the Sailors played, and what we could have done differently. This match is perhaps a little different because I thought that DPMM were excellent. Besides Hakeme in attack, I thought Farshad Noor (Afghan national team captain) was brilliant in midfield, winning 9 of 15 of his duels, and making 5 interceptions. His defensive work was really good, and he popped up everywhere to help put small fires out before they could do any damage. He could even count himself unlucky not to have scored, with a late effort that hit the bar. Elsewhere in the team, Helmi down the left was also a real menace all game, with his fresh legs allowing him to not only make offensive runs, but also help in DPMM’s defensive efforts. This is what rotation can do for you – Helmi only played one half in the previous game. Hakeme was a livewire all night and it was clear that he was instructed to try to beat the offside trap at every opportunity. He would linger in an offside position near our defensive line, and then make a sharp darting run back onside (either in

[Post-Match Thoughts] Deserved Defeat and Is Jansen a Bad Ref? (LCS 1 Brunei DPMM 3) Read More »

[Player Profile] Richairo Zivkovic – The Football Manager Wonderkid

1 Comment / Player Profiles / Eddy Hirono

When I first heard rumours that we had signed Bailey Wright, I went “wow” out loud, because you never really think that someone playing at Sunderland and who I had “managed” before in a computer game (Football Manager) would be coming to the sunny shores of Singapore to play for our Lion City Sailors. You’d think I’d be used to it by now considering we have picked up players of the calibre of Diego Lopes and Maxime Lestienne – but I still am not used to it. Now, when I then heard rumours that we had signed Richairo Zivkovic, I swear my heart may have skipped a beat. The Richairo Zivkovic? This is someone I used in Football Manager and who delivered me goals after goals, trophies after trophies. I promise I will start with the actual analysis soon, but for now please kindly allow me to relive my (slightly) younger days. Let’s take a trip down Football Manager 2015 Lane. This is Richairo when he was 17 at Ajax and tipped to be the next big thing. And this is Richairo after 9 years, as of 11 July 2023 in the game. You can see he pretty much becomes a superstar – and is at Manchester United. He also has 33 goals in 60 caps for the Netherlands national team. I think it’s safe to say that Football Manager got this one badly wrong. Pedigree Immediately, when there is a new foreign signing, the first thing we look out for is always which league he is signed from, and if he was a regular starter. In this aspect, it’s a tick, and a tick, for Richairo. In the Eredivisie, he played 32 out of 34 games, starting in 29 of those 32 games. The fact that we’re signing anyone from an Eredivisie team should already impress, but to get someone who is a regular starter? Even more insane. He only scored 5 goals in the regular season, which is not a great return for a forward by any means. But I’ll address this later. For now, let’s talk about the other clubs he’s turned out. He has played in the English Premier League with Sheffield United (handful of games), in the Belgian First Division for KV Oostende, in the Eerste Divisie (Dutch 2nd Division) with Jong Ajax (Ajax youth team), in the Chinese leagues (with Changchun Yatai), and had an injury-ridden spell with Red Star Belgrade in the Serbian Super League. In the Eredivisie, he has made more than 100 appearances with various clubs. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Richairo has sufficient pedigree to be a very good player in the SPL. Goalscoring Record Some people have pointed out that his goalscoring record is nothing that remarkable, and assists-wise, he has never had a season where he registered more than 3 assists. He has only hit double digits for goals thrice in his career. Once way back when he was the next big thing 10 years ago with Groningen, once with Jong Ajax in the 2nd division of Dutch football, and once with Changchun Yatai in the 2nd division of Chinese football. Two things to say about that. First, let’s be real. If we are getting someone who’s 26 years old and is a regular starter in the Eredivisie, if his goalscoring record was into double digits every season, he would not be playing in the Singapore Premier League. That has to be said. Second – we’ve seen example after example of players who have come here without remarkable goalscoring records in stronger leagues, but have become real goalscoring threats here due to the gulf in quality between the leagues. Let’s take for example, Ken Ilso, one of my favourites from our Home United days. Ken Ilso scored 2 goals in 27 Bundesliga appearances for Fortuna Dusseldorf. When he came to Singapore and played for Home United, he was often the classiest player on the pitch, and he would eventually rack up 36 goals and 12 assists in 54 appearances. For more recent examples, how about our beloved Maxime who is currently tearing it up? I take a look at his goalscoring stats prior to coming to the SPL, and compare it with AFTER he joined the SPL. I also did the same for a few other notable names, and you can then take a look and see for yourself how past goalscoring records in tougher leagues don’t really have any bearing on how the striker performs in the SPL. There’s all sorts of reasons for why these players’ stats improved dramatically and it may not just be the quality of the league (though I suspect it’s a huge part of it). In SPL teams, sometimes they are given a much more focal role, and that leads to a much higher goals per game ratio. Anyway whatever it is, let’s let Richairo do his thing, and then we will judge. Hopefully no 007 memes! As an aside, check out this goal he scored last month – (watch from 1:40 if the link doesn’t automatically bring you there) Attitude Some fans have questioned his attitude and perhaps believe that his career trajectory suggests that him failing to live up to his promise is because of his bad attitude. I think there is very little evidence in recent years of this – although he did have a few incidents while at Ajax as a youngster where he showed a bit too much fire on the pitch and also came late for training on multiple occasions. Hilariously enough, the latecoming incidents pissed off Frank de Boer so much that he punished Richairo by making him do parking attendant duties. But – we have all been young once. I believe that unless we see such bad attitude follow him into the Sailors set-up, we should be giving him the benefit of the doubt. It is a short-term deal (1 year contract), and I think at the age of 26, Richairo

[Player Profile] Richairo Zivkovic – The Football Manager Wonderkid Read More »

[Preview] Sailors v DPMM – Golden Opportunity to Go Top

1 Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

In case you are wondering why nuggets is the picture accompanying this article, it’s because it’s past midnight, I am hungry, and after I typed “golden” in the title, I thought of nuggets. We head into this game with the unexpected bonus of knowing that Albirex dropped points and so our destiny is fully in our hands. Of course when I say that, I mean we must win all our remaining 7 games – no easy task. But it’s better than having to win all remaining 7 games, AND hope that Albirex somehow drop points in another game. Fans of the SPL will know that the club that made Albirex drop points, are our opponents tonight. We must escape a similar fate. With that as our goal, let’s go through some thoughts I have pre-game. DPMM played the game like a cup final I watched the DPMM-Albirex game on TV, and I think it is a real credit to the league that even though DPMM don’t really have anything to play for, they played like their lives depended on the result of the match. They chased down every ball, and really made it a very physical battle. And they did it in a disciplined way too, only committing 9 fouls, as compared to Albirex’s 15. Of their 3 yellow cards, only 1 was for a foul to stop a counter-attack. The other 2 were awarded for time-wasting when DPMM tried to cling on to their hard-earned point. I say DPMM don’t have anything to play for, not just because of their league position. Unlike other teams where the local players are playing for contracts, the majority of the DPMM squad don’t have many other Bruneians who can step in and fight for their starting spot, due to their domestic league back home not being a competitive or even a fully professional one. On top of that, I am told quite reliably there is very little incentive for them to try and win a contract in an overseas team, because some of these players actually wear two hats. They are footballers, but they are also sort of on the books of the Bruneian public service. So when they retire, they will be given jobs as policemen, or civil servants. This job security is hard to leave, and it is a reason why you see very few Bruneian footballers seek greener pastures elsewhere. You’d think a player like Hakeme Yazid would have no lack of offers from overseas teams in the region, but perhaps this is one of the reasons why we are unlikely to see him leave the country. But yeah I digress – they really played like this was a cup final, and in the end it did us a huge favour. Squad Rotation? We come into this game with one more day of rest as compared to DPMM – and the fact that they ran themselves ragged against Albirex may benefit us. I predicted that against Young Lions, we would rotate a little, but Coach Ranko went with an unchanged lineup. I might be wrong again, but I would be very surprised if we do not rotate this time. Including the Albirex game this Sunday, we will have played 3 games in 9 days, and given we have one of the deepest squads in the league, I will expect some changes. Hafiz Nor The first change I think will be Hafiz Nor. I fully expect Zulqarnaen Suzliman to come in for him, and it is not just because we might want to preserve his legs for the Albirex game. Hafiz Nor is already on three yellow cards, and can ill afford to pick up another one vs DPMM. If you look at our build-up play when we have the ball, Hafiz Nor seems the most natural fit for the right-sided position because he holds the width excellently, and has been trusted so far by Coach Ranko. The above graphic is taken from Zach’s excellent tactical analysis of Coach Ranko’s preferred formation, and so far Hafiz Nor has been trusted on the right. However, I think there is no reason why Zulqarnaen Suzliman cannot do an excellent job there too. His engine allows him to get up and down the right side, and in fact, perhaps a surprising statistic is that Mamat has 1 more assist than Hafiz Nor. Hafiz Nor has no assists this season, although he does have 2 goals. When we last faced Albirex, Hafiz Nor also had a better game than Mamat, so I think we can expect Mamat to start tonight, to ensure that Hafiz Nor is available for the Albirex game. Bailey Wright Singapore football’s worst-kept secret was finally revealed over the weekend. Bailey Wright is a Sailor. It is a very exciting signing given that he has come directly from one of the most competitive leagues in Europe – the EFL Championship. He has also gained a reputation over the years as a hard-nosed defender who is a gentleman off it. It is absolutely amazing to see all the tributes pouring in for him from Sunderland and Socceroo fans. When Kim Shin-Wook signed for us, it was a huge signing, no doubt, but the online comments were a lot more divided. For more on Bailey Wright, please read this excellent article by the club. Back to the game – I think we will want Bailey Wright to start in the game against Albirex, and therefore I think we will need to play him against DPMM first. I think it would be foolhardy to throw a new signing into the defence immediately, even if Bailey has already been in Singapore for some time, and attended our last 2 games. From highlights it looks like Bailey is a no-nonsense defender who likes to dive into tackles and emerge with the ball. Games sometimes turn on moments, and I can already imagine some of his full-blooded tackles bringing life to the crowd, helping to keep

[Preview] Sailors v DPMM – Golden Opportunity to Go Top Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Maxime and Shawal Masterclass (Young Lions 0 LCS 4)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

I am writing this after watching Albirex drop points to DPMM Brunei, but I will try to ignore that in giving my post-match thoughts for our 4-0 victory over Young Lions. At half-time the score was 0-0, and we suffered a major scare when Zharfan Rohaizad had to pull off an outstanding double save from first Harhys Stewart, and then Syahadat Masnawi, to prevent us going in 1-0 down at the break. Considering that Albirex took barely a few minutes to open up Young Lions in the previous games, there were more than a few nerves at half-time. Our Sailors had to improve in the second half, and they did. In the end, it was very, very comfortable – let’s take a look at the stats. Our dominance was never in doubt in the 2nd half. But what caused the deadlock at half-time? Here are some thoughts about the game. The C-word Prior to the game, we said in our preview that all the stats pointed to a comfortable Sailors victory, and the only thing that could potentially stumble us was complacency. So it was pretty interesting that when we spoke to Nur Adam post-game, he mentioned that perhaps the Sailors were a bit complacent in the first half, and took the Young Lions a bit lightly. We seemed to struggle to break Young Lions down, and when we did, we did not take our chances. Adam Swandi’s diving header went just wide, and he then saw his half-volley smack off the post as well, so we did come really close. Problem was, we also looked vulnerable on the counter and we perhaps lacked the control of the game that we had come to expect after two very successful outings against Hougang and Tanjong Pagar with the new formation. But was it due to complacency? It’s of course impossible to tell if the players subconsciously took Young Lions a little easy, or if they were trying to save some energy in the tank, knowing that just a few days later, they would be playing DPMM Brunei. However, one thing that surprised me when the starting lineup was announced was that there was zero rotation – an unchanged team from our big win against Tanjong Pagar. I thought Coach Ranko may have been tempted to switch things up given that we were facing the basement-dwellers, but perhaps his reason for not doing that was precisely so as not to send the message to his players that Young Lions are an “easy” team to beat. In any case, the best lessons to learn are the ones where you didn’t have to pay a price for, and Zharfan’s double-save ensured that we went in at the break goalless, rather than 1 goal down. It was a warning that did not draw any blood, and one that allowed the coaching staff to make some changes at half-time to give us more of an attacking threat. This was also referenced by captain Hariss in his post-match chat with us. Nur Adam’s Increasing Attacking Threat In a first half where we struggled to create as many chances as we usually do, Nur Adam was quite conservative in his play, as he did not look to overlap as much. In this new system, he is part of a back 3 sometimes in build-up, so more of the risk-taking will be taken by Hafiz Nor on the opposite flank. However, in the second half, he was often seen further forward, and it was this that led to our first goal, as he ran deep into enemy territory (see red arrow) to support Adam Swandi. He took the ball in his stride, and his cutback created chaos as first Shawal put it on target, and then the deflection fell kindly for Maxime to coolly side-foot into the back of the net. This was a run that was not made as often in the first half, so credit both to Nur Adam, but also Coach Ranko for making this tactical change. Although he did not pick up an assist in this game, this chance he created eventually led to the opening of the floodgates. This, coupled with the fact that he has 2 assists from his previous 2 games, means that we are finally seeing Nur Adam play into some real form, and what a crucial time for him to be doing it. In our post-match chat with him, he mentioned that he would like to get a goal soon, but also joked that Maxime always tells him to stay back and let him attack alone. Which brings us to the next point… Magnificent Maxime How many superlatives can you throw at this beautiful Belgian man? It is utterly insane the numbers he’s putting up. He’s the Nikola Jokic of the Singapore Premier League. You stop him from scoring, he’s gonna get an assist. You stop him from passing, he’s gonna get a goal. What can you do as a defender? Last night was his first hattrick for the Sailors – a stat that made me stop and think in disbelief. It just seems so crazy that he hasn’t scored a hattrick yet because we have seen him score goal after goal. The reason for that is he tends to score in twos rather than threes. The club also announced that with his hattrick, he is now the all-time top-scoring Sailor. Just amazing. But it’s not just goals is it? Why I called him the Nikola Jokic of our league is because he isn’t afraid to share the ball as well. How often do you see this in any league? He is on course to reach more than 20 goals and 20 assists in the same season – a very difficult achievement. The club also put out some other stats – Maxime’s 18-goal haul is his best-ever goal tally in a season, beating his previous record of 17 goals with Club Brugge in the 2012/2013 season. Friday’s three-goal haul

[Post-Match Thoughts] Maxime and Shawal Masterclass (Young Lions 0 LCS 4) Read More »

[Preview] Young Lions v Sailors – Sailors Must Navigate the Complacen-sea

1 Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

Complacency is the buzzword for this article, and for our match against Young Lions tomorrow. It’s featured in the title of our preview here, and also features heavily in the official Sailors preview (the word “complacency” is used thrice in its various forms). Sailors are Overwhelming Favourites There is good reason for the choice of the word “complacency” – Young Lions should not have any chance of winning this game. Coming into this game, here are some relevant stats : On top of the above, they have also lost key players such as Jordan Emaviwe, and Jacob Mahler, who have gone to Balestier Khalsa and Madura United respectively. Jared Gallagher may be back in contention to start the game as his training stint with Sligo Rovers should have ended on 3 July. His addition will be a welcome one to Young Lions as his defensive abilities should help in the middle of the park as they will undoubtedly try to sit in a deep block to frustrate the Sailors. There should thus be no excuse for our Sailors, provided we are not complacent, but let’s take a look at some factors to think about ahead of tomorrow’s game. Farhan Zulkifli Local fans have seen the fleet-footed left winger / wing-back for years now, and been entertained by his enterprising runs down the left flank, so much so that it is kinda surprising for me to learn that he is only 21 years old. It seems like he has been around forever. He made his debut 4 years ago, and has since gone on to be called up for national team squads and even made his debut last year. He made his debut for the Young Lions against Albirex a few days ago, and he was electric. In the half hour that he was subbed on, he never stopped running and gave Albirex a really tough time. He completed all 4 dribbles that he attempted, he won a penalty, and with better finishing, might even have got a goal for himself. He has pace to burn so Sailors fans can expect that between Syahadat Masnawi (another willing runner) and himself, they will be the ones running after long balls and clearances from their defenders to try to catch us on the counter-attack. One for the defence to worry about! Rotation This is a tricky question – should the Sailors try to rotate the squad a little? There are pros and cons to this approach. Given that Young Lions are the worst team in the league, the argument can be made that if not now, then when? We play Albirex on 16 July in a match that will definitely have a huge impact on the title race. In the month of July, we have three games before 16 July. In that same period, Albirex only have 2 games. Even then, Albirex saw fit to rotate against Young Lions. Seia Kunori (their top scorer) and Tadanari Lee did not start, while Kaisei Ogawa only played 45 minutes. The changes to the squad perhaps affected their performance on the day. While they still emerged as comfortable winners, I think many expected a more dominant performance, and perhaps a bigger scoreline. As it was, Young Lions managed to score 2 goals, and even contrived to miss a penalty kick. If we rotate, are we confident of still getting a good performance? If we have a bit of a disjointed performance, can we still come out of the game with 3 points? These are questions that Coach Ranko has to grapple with. My opinion is that we definitely have to rotate. Even if we do not leave out our established starters from the outset, I think we have to be more daring when it comes to mid-game substitutions. If we are 2 goals up at half-time for example, dare we leave out Maxime Lestienne for the second half? I think we should. Let’s see our fringe players get some free time. We’re entering the final straight of the league campaign, and if there are any injuries, we will want our fringe players to at least have some match practice under their belt so that we can rely on them. It would of course, be easier to rotate if our foreign signings are eligible to play – but for whatever reason, they have not been announced yet. Perhaps some work permit issues? Some other administrative issues that we are not privy to? It’s really hard to say. Whatever it is, it is clear that Super and Bernie seem to have been deregistered from our SPL squad, as they were both not in the matchday squad against Tanjong Pagar United. I hope that the new foreign signings get to play soon, and if we’re lucky, maybe they’ll make it off the bench for a cameo? Conclusion Just win. Some supporters have talked about using this game to pad the goal difference stats. While I can see their point – I think it is still a little disrespectful to the Young Lions. These are still professional footballers, who put in a very decent shift against reigning champions Albirex. What I want to see is a continuation of our dominance against Tanjong Pagar and Hougang – the scoreline will naturallly follow. As long as we are not complacent. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! 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: YL 0 LCS 6 Joseph’s prediction: YL 2 LCS 5 And here’s the leaderboard – Written by Eddy Hirono If you don’t want to miss any articles, be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram chat! If you’d like to support the work we do

[Preview] Young Lions v Sailors – Sailors Must Navigate the Complacen-sea Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Suspensions, Seven, Superb (Tanjong Pagar 1 LCS 7)

1 Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

1-7 on 1 July. Can’t make this up. We mentioned in the preview that Tanjong Pagar United (TPU) would be there for the taking because of Shakir’s suspension, and how important he was both to TPU’s attack and defence. What came as a bit of a surprise was that Blake Ricciuto was also suspended – which is strange cos the SPL website listed him as only having accumulated 3 yellow cards. For those not super clear about the rules, you need to accumulate 4 yellow cards before being suspended for a game – this is why Shakir was suspended. I guess the SPL website made an error. If anyone knows any other reason why Blake was suspended, drop us a DM! An Intense Start – Pressing TPU High Had I known that Blake was also suspended for this game, I would have been even more bullish in my appraisal of the Sailors’ chances of getting a handsome victory. TPU without Blake and without Shakir – that’s basically half their attacking threat gone. The Sailors definitely smelled blood, and in the first few minutes alone, the pressing was relentless in TPU’s defensive third, which led to chances for us. As early as 9 seconds in, Hami wins the ball here after a soft pass is played into midfield. From here, Maxime is presented with a great chance he should have scored from – we would have been ahead in 14 seconds. At the 1min 31 second mark, look at how intent on pressing TPU we are here, and how high we are. This was a pattern that continued, and ultimately resulted in Anu doing superbly well on the 9min mark to intercept a slow pass and his touch broke for Lestienne to slam home right-footed. It was a superb reward for an absolutely dominant first 10min of the game where we smelled blood, and kept going for it. Anu was very impressive all game, and his intensity was matched by his teammates. The rest of the game was much the same – as we looked to keep up the intensity and press TPU high. Instead of breaking down every single goal, I will try to summarise some of my thoughts. Local Boys Stepping Up Back in the preview to the Albirex game, I wrote about how the team was a little too reliant on Diego Lopes and Maxime Lestienne. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote – In the last 2 games, you have seen how Adam Swandi’s advanced position has allowed us to reap dividends. 2 goals, 1 assist against Hougang, and now 2 assists against Tanjong Pagar. 5 goal contributions in 2 games is not to be sniffed at. Perhaps another stat that has gone unnoticed is that of the 10 goals scored in the last 2 games, 7 were scored by our local boys. Of the 9 assists recorded (winning a penalty doesn’t count as an assist), 7 were from our local boys. No prizes for guessing who supplied the remaining 2 assists. This is vital for our play to progress, and for us to become harder to neutralise. The Sailors are not a two-man team, and there is no excuse for us to be reliant on the magic of two players to bail us out. Lionel Tan and Hami Syahin also got their first goals of the season. Much, much needed. It is funny because we interviewed Lionel last week after the Hougang game and jokingly talked about his goalscoring threat – he said he hoped to contribute his first goal for the team soon. Bang, right on cue, 7 days later, he delivered. We spoke to Hami after the game too and he shared with us about how he was so scared that his one and only goal was going to be chalked off by the VAR. It was funny but ultimately he got the goal. More to come from the both of them, hopefully! Oh, and shout-out to Nur Adam Abdullah for handling his defensive duties well and still being able to get 2 assists in 2 games! Diego Lopes – The Secondary Assister If you look purely at goals and assists, Diego’s influence this season has not been as obvious as Maxime Lestienne’s. Of course, it looks like I am being incredibly harsh here considering that Maxime is top of both goals and assists in the charts. Diego isn’t far behind when it comes to assists, but in terms of goalscoring threat, there is no doubt that Maxime is the man who you usually count on to deliver. But this ignores something else that Diego is very good at. Much like Ozil and Hleb (yes, my Arsenal upbringing is really coming through here), Diego is the king of the “pass-before-the-assist“. As seen above in a chart ranking players on the “secondary assist” (an ice hockey concept crediting the player who made a pass for the assister to pass to the goalscorer), he has done it 7 times this season. The last memorable one was his outside-of-the-boot flick to set Maxime free down the left wing to cross for Abdul Rasaq in the 3-2 victory over Albirex – it was truly sumptuous. His through pass on Saturday night to allow the Maxime-Rasaq combination to happen again was no less delicious, and it was played with such precision that it allowed Maxime to cross the ball without breaking stride, and of course, Abdul Rasaq was there to finish. The secondary assist is sometimes harder to accomplish than the actual assist itself. Especially against packed defences, sometimes unlocking the defence by putting a player in behind the back four/five is more difficult because it requires precision and bravery to make the pass between covering defenders. If you look at the situation below, it is not immediately apparent what Diego should do, but he has the presence of mind to spot Maxime’s run and weight the pass perfectly (too much power and it allows the keeper

[Post-Match Thoughts] Suspensions, Seven, Superb (Tanjong Pagar 1 LCS 7) Read More »

[Preview] Tanjong Pagar v Sailors – Must Win Toothless Jaguars

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

The last time we faced Tanjong Pagar, we were a little lucky that Sugic missed a penalty when the score was 1-0 to us. That was in the 67th minute and came as a result of a sloppy 15, 20 minutes of play in the second half. We managed to win the game 3-1 in the end, with a late Kodai brace (sigh), but it certainly wasn’t as comfortable as it should have been. Tomorrow’s game should be much easier, and is a must-win for us. I know I say that a lot, but I expect a lot from our Sailors, and also it is a good time to play Tanjong Pagar – let me explain why. Shakir Hamzah’s Suspension Old Home Utd boy Shakir Hamzah is one of my favourite players. Play him at LB, CB, and he always does the job. He also has a penchant for scoring memorable goals, so that probably contributes to why he is such a popular player. Tanjong Pagar will miss him because he is the most commanding presence in their backline. Faizal Roslan, Shahrin Saberin and Raihan are no slouches of course, and Shakir’s suspension will see Raihan slot in at the back, but this absence should weaken their defence on paper at least. The impact of his absence goes beyond that – Shakir is also joint top-scorer for Tanjong Pagar, with 4 goals. The other player on 4 goals is Marin Mudrazija – more on him later. If you dig into the stats a bit more, and try to ascertain if his 4 goals are just a result of his wonderstrikes from range, or whether he is actually one of the players charged with attacking responsibility, you will see this. It is no surprise really that he is one of the players on TPU’s roster who has had the most shots (17). He is a good striker of the ball, and also has decent ability in the air. In case you are still not convinced of his importance to TPU’s attack – here’s a list of their top-assist makers. He has 2 assists, and Blake is their top assist-maker with 3 assists. If you think these are very low numbers, you’re right – which brings me to my next point. Toothless Jaguars Even with Shakir Hamzah in the team, TPU is a toothless team. They are 2nd-bottom when it comes to number of shots on target, beaten only by Young Lions. They also have the 3rd-worst defence – only Young Lions and Balestier Khalsa have conceded more goals. Interestingly enough, some may point out that the last time Shakir Hamzah was missing from the team, Tanjong Pagar actually won the game, a 3-2 victory against Geylang International. However, one big difference that day was that they had Khairul Amri, who picked up a goal and an assist. While there is no official news about whether Khairul Amri will be playing in this game, his Instagram posts and stories suggest that he is in Zambia. This diminishes their already-small goal threat. Marin Mudrazija, their foreign striker, has been disappointing to say the least, with 4 goals this season. Even TPU fans have started calling him Mudrazihaha – which is perhaps a little cruel, but understandable. His performances in front of goal have been far from convincing, and with 4 goals, he has not been troubling the goalscoring charts. He did top the charts in soomething else, though! Enough said. Impact of the New Coach It will be Coach Rankovic’s first game in charge officially, and I think we as fans can be excited about what is to come. Our tactical approach against Hougang was not something we’d seen before this season, and it really seemed to work for us as we dominated the game from start to finish. Control was something we’ve lacked all season, even in our victories, and if rumours are true that Coach Rankovic did have some input into our tactical set-up for the Hougang game, then I guess we will see more of the same toomorrow, and that is a good thing. He has said in his interview that he describes his philosophy as “very attacking”, and says that he likes his team to “dominate” and create a lot of chances. He has said all the right things, but I guess the proof is in the pudding, and we will see come the end of the next 10 matches if the pudding is a nice mango pudding topped with sweet mango flesh and some lemon drizzle, or a black pudding (sorry Brit readers). New Players? Another thing for us fans to consider is this – are there gonna be any new signings lining up for us tomorrow? I highly doubt it considering it’s Friday afternoon, and we have not heard any announcement from the club as to who is joining us. For those out of the loop, you may be wondering – wait, what signings? Please read this article from the Straits Times, where not 1, not 2, but 3 new signings were teased. How that is gonna work for our foreign player quota, I have no idea. Are some of the signings going to be kept just for our upcoming AFC Champions League campaign (where more foreign players can be registered)? The Straits Times article suggests that Super and Bernie may be deregistered. Which is kinda harsh on Super, but Bailey Wright’s experience I guess wins out. Super came in as Risto’s lieutenant and I did fear for his place when Risto left – but I think he has earned his place on merit, so I am a little sad. As for speculation as to who these players mentioned in the article may be, the Internet has done its homework, and while the identity of the Portuguese central midfielder remains a bit of a mystery, the other two players seem to be Richairo Zivkovic and Bailey Wright. Bailey Wright, in particular was spotted at Our Tampines

[Preview] Tanjong Pagar v Sailors – Must Win Toothless Jaguars Read More »

[Post-Match Thoughts] Cruise Control (LCS 3 Hougang 0)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

All season long, we’ve been asking for a solid defensive performance, and more control in our games, and that is exactly what we got on Sunday night. It was a long day for some of us in the Crew because we had to get up bright and early at 7am to go down to Mattar Road for the Tasek Sailors charity event. We will be writing a fuller article on that sometime soon to talk abit more about the day and of course, the wonderful initiative that is the Tasek Sailors. In any case, we played in the corporate tournament and managed to advance to the Quarter-Finals, but were then knocked out by a solitary goal. Congrats to Deloitte for winning the tournament! So after a full day of baking in the sun, we made the trip down to Bishan Stadium, a little tired and hoping the team would give us all a lift with their performance. They did that, and in very handsome fashion – just look at this. Hougang only managed 1 shot all game, and when you look at the shots chart, it further highlights our dominance. Nazrul Nazari’s shot (in red) from far out was their only attempt all night, and it was comfortable for Zharfan. There was another near-miss when old boy Gabriel Quak did excellently to beat Nur Adam on the right flank and put in a decent cross, which was eventually deflected onto the post by Super, but other than that, Hougang hardly troubled us at all. Adam Swandi’s advanced position Unlike in many games this season where Adam Swandi was played at the base of midfield alongside Hami Syahin, this game saw Adam operate much further forward, in line with Maxime and Diego. There was very fluid interchanging of positions between the three of them, and Hougang struggled to cope. When we spoke to Lionel Tan after the game, he also had very nice things to say about Adam Swandi playing higher up the field. Of course, the results don’t lie. Adam had two goals, and an assist, and if not for the crossbar, would have had a hattrick. Adam doesn’t get many goals – even when he was an integral part of Albirex’s title-winning squad in 2018 (he clinched Young Player of the Year as they went unbeaten all season), he only scored 4 goals in all competitions. In some of our earlier posts, we had also addressed the squad being a little reliant on Maxime and Diego. It is thus heartening to see different players step up. In this game, we scored 3 goals, and only one had involvement from Maxime / Diego, with Maxime picking up the assist for the 3rd goal. I will leave the detailed tactical analysis to Zach – hopefully he can explain in a little more detail why it worked so well. I can see why Adam Swandi was deployed deep, because his confidence on the ball could help us to get out of tight areas and hold the ball and make us a bit more press-resistant, but it was definitely refreshing and nice to see him trying more stuff on the ball as a direct consequence of him being in an advanced position. Long may this continue. Clean Sheet + Magnificent Anu It was just our 4th clean sheet of the season, after 15 games played. It was a well-deserved one, and I think a lot of credit goes not just to the back 4, but also to Anu, who once again had a great match in the middle of the park. He continued his good form from the games he played for the national team during the international break, and was constantly snapping into challenges, and always in the right place to break up any attack from Hougang. Hougang’s talisman Kiki Krajcek had a very rare off-day, and alot of credit for that has to go to Anu. On top of doing his defensive duties, he used the ball well. In particular, there was a moment in the first half where he played such a good dink into the box for Diego to create a chance for Maxime, which Maxime uncharacteristically wasted. If you look at Anu on the ball here, there really isn’t much on for him, and I thought he may have gone for the slightly easier ball over to the right hand side of the pitch where Hafiz Nor was in space – but he proved me wrong and played it over the top for Diego. In a match where our opponents were content to sit back – it was important for Anu to be a little more ambitious. No Coach Risto I did say in the preview that I was a little apprehensive. I think sacking a coach mid-season will do that for your nerves. However, I think this was the perfect performance to help ease some of those nerves. I hope the players and fans are not getting carried away – after all last season’s first game after Coach Kim left saw us beat Young Lions 10-1 in a record-breaking victory. Also, Hougang were really there for the taking, and for large periods of the game, it felt like a training exercise of attack v defence. The fact that Hougang missed both Shahdan and Zulfahmi in midfield probably contributed to that. However, taking away all of Hougang’s flaws on the day, I think there was a lot more structure and intention in the way we built from the back – something that I hope once again that Zach will help to explain in further detail. To my relatively untrained eye (compared to Zach), it looked like the centrebacks were pushed a bit wider in the build-up, the full-backs held the width in attack almost like wingers, while Lestienne, Diego, and Adam Swandi were allowed a nice little platform in the middle of the pitch to combine with each other to devastating effect. It was a very controlled

[Post-Match Thoughts] Cruise Control (LCS 3 Hougang 0) Read More »

[Preview] Sailors v Hougang – Not the Same Hougang

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

The last time we faced Hougang United, it was a predictable walk in the park. It was Kristian Krajcek’s first game back after an injury lay-off and he looked very rusty, Shahdan Sulaiman was injured, Brian Ferreira was playing, Irwan Shah was not playing in midfield, and the coach was Firdaus Kassim, who was enduring a torrid time. Prior to that game, they had lost 5 of their last 6 games, and the Sailors were flying high and looking good. Since Kraljevic took over at the helm, Hougang have played 6 games, and won 4 of them. They also scored 3 goals in each of those wins. Their only losses came not unexpectedly, to Albirex and Tampines. To say that there has been a marked improvement would be an understatement. Part of the revival can of course be credited to Krajcek’s sustained run in the team after his injury lay-off, but tactically, Kraljevic also did made a change by deploying Irwan Shah in midfield, which has led to Hougang looking a little more solid. Finally dropping Brian Ferreira has also proven to be beneficial to the team, as he was a clear passenger in most games that he played, allowing opponents to easily overrun the midfield, something that we pointed out in our preview before the last game. Ahead of the game tomorrow, here are some of our thoughts on what might be key to the outcome. The return of Shahdan Sulaiman Shahdan was always a popular figure to us fans, both for his exploits as a Sailor, and also as a national team player. His control of the ball in midfield and his technical quality was always a treat for the eyes, and when we found out that the Sailors were not renewing his contract, most of us felt sad and also wondered how we would maintain a dominance in midfield this season. Shahdan has passed his Beep test after a long injury lay-off, and is now fit for selection. If he is up to speed and is selected, then he should add even more control in the middle of the park for Hougang. There is of course also his quality from set pieces. Imagine a freekick outside the box, and on the ball are Zulfahmi Arifin and Shahdan Sulaiman. How would the keeper even position the wall, and which side would he “show” to the taker, considering that both of them hit a sweet dead ball? I shudder at the thought of such a situation even arising. Of course, Shahdan’s return to the team remains a theoretical possibility only, considering he may not be match-fit to start the game, and even if he does start, I would hope our midfield is able to take advantage of his lack of fitness and rust to reduce his impact on the game. The unknown quantity that is Djordje Maksimovic Hailing from the Serbian Superliga, he seemed to be used mostly as a substitute, starting 8 games over 2 seasons, scoring 2 goals and assisting none. Of course, there can be no meaningful comparison given that we are no experts on how the quality in the Serbian league compares with our SPL. We also have not watched him play yet so there is an element of unpredictability of what he can or cannot do. I spoke to a friend who told me that goalscoring is a skill that people either have or don’t have – and if you can’t score at least a few goals, chances are that even if the league is lousier, you still won’t be able to score. We then decided to dig up Sime Zuzul’s goal record before joining the SPL, and we chuckled. We’ll leave you to look at it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Risto’s sacking Will Risto’s sacking have any impact on the team? The last time we sacked a coach, it didn’t go too well, as we surrendered a lead at the top of the table and started conceding all manner of calamitous goals. The team was in OK form when Risto was sacked, and given that a new coach has not been announced yet, I don’t think there will be drastic changes to how we line up against Hougang. It would not make sense for a new philosophy to be taught to the team, and then a new coach comes in, and then seeks to impose his own philosophy on the team. I guess the only change is that hopefully Diego Lopes comes back into the team. The SPL website says he is back from injury, and the official club training highlights also shows Diego back in training. Interestingly, Izwan is also back in training, but I cannot imagine him slotting right back in after so long out with injury. Will Super’s gametime be affected? I think it was pretty well-known that Super was “Coach Risto’s man”, someone he coached and really trusted at both Real Betis B, and later, Ceres Negros in the Philippines. I think he has earnt his gametime on merit, but it will be interesting to see if the current staff in the club concur with my opinion on his ability. Other than the above, I think our team pretty much will remain the same, with the focus very much on Diego, Maxime, and Shawal. The trio of them have been in great form and on paper, Hougang should be more worried about our attack, than we will be about theirs. But I am a bit of a pessimist sometimes (Arsenal fan upbringing), so there is just this nagging feeling that all the unpredictability and unknown factors will play a part in the Sailors dropping points. I reiterate that I have no real basis for predicting that our beloved Sailors won’t win – but it’s just a weird nagging feeling. Let’s hope I am wrong – COME ON YOU SAILORS! [UPDATE]: After I published this, I saw this post which kinda makes it clear that Zulfahmi

[Preview] Sailors v Hougang – Not the Same Hougang Read More »

[Thoughts] Goodbye Risto – A Look at His Tenure and Possible Replacements

Leave a Comment / News Reactions / Eddy Hirono

The first thing I’ll say is that this was a bolt from the blue. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! I apologise, that was a reflex, an involuntary reaction once I heard “blue”. That chant came from nowhere – and that’s exactly how all the fans felt yesterday I suppose. We were just minding our own business, hard at work, when suddenly, our Telegram and Whatsapp chats started going off around 5:30pm. The news came out of nowhere, and noone saw it coming. “Lion City Sailors have reached a mutual agreement with Risto Vidaković to go our separate ways”. We all know what that means, it means Risto was sacked. First reaction was one of sadness for sure. It’s never nice seeing anybody go out of a job, particularly when Risto has been so nice and humble whenever we spoke to him post-game. Never one for many words of course, but when he did speak, he showed appreciation for us as fans. On a human level, it stings I guess, seeing someone put out of a job. That’s now two head coaches gone, both in mid-season. Just 6 months ago, regular readers will know that I released a piece about how affected I was that the club seemed to be letting so many people go. After feeling the sadness on a very human level for Risto, I decided to take a look at his tenure, and so these are some of my thoughts. Weak Defence I’ve said this again and again in my matchday previews, post-match thoughts articles, etc. Our defending this season is weak. We have conceded 23 goals this year. Albirex has conceded 8, while Tampines have conceded 10. We are conceding at a rate of 1.64 goals allowed per game. That’s cause for concern. Let me bang the “How is Zharfan making so many saves” drum again. Look, I am happy whenever any of our Sailors tops a chart, be it in goals, assists, chances created, etc, but this is a list where topping it is a double-edged sword. Or shall I say a triple-pronged sword, where one blade is pointing away, but two blades are pointing at you. It’s definitely more bad than good to be top of this list. Good on Zharfan to be making those saves, but no title contender should be conceding so many shots, and so many goals. Is that all down to the coach though? I don’t think so. I think it’s unfair to blame it all on the coach. We’ve had to deal with Pedro Henrique’s absence, and I don’t think we’ve really had a settled back four all season. The quality of our depth, however, should mean that we deal with it a bit better than we have, but it is what it is. Comparisons It’s never so straightforward, just to compare last season to the seasons that came before this, but let’s see if we can glean anything from here as to why Risto may have been sacked. Interestingly, despite only having been here half a year, he has managed to guide us to roughly the same number of points per game achieved last season. Although 2.79 goals per game was a stat picked out by the club in their farewell post, it is actually our lowest in 3 seasons, and it comes along with a worrying 1.64 goals conceded per game. For me, there’s nothing in the stats that’s truly conclusive, and I think it’s also unfair to judge a coach just based on 14 games. Especially when his star striker was injured almost immediately after he took over, and he also does not have his first-choice central defender available. The Timing of the Sacking On this site, I have often bemoaned a lack of control in games. See for example, my post-match thoughts after we beat Balestier Khalsa 5-4, or my post-match thoughts after the 3-3 draw with DPMM. In fact, on one occasion, I think I directly mentioned Risto. When Coach Risto first joined, he also spoke about wanting to play with a focus on “offensive football”. Has he delivered that? I think what really gets me is not just the fact that he has been sacked, but how early the sacking comes. 14 games into a season, is it fair for a coach to be judged just 6 mths and 14 games into his tenure? I felt he also showed signs of being able to adapt – and it was very impressive how we limited Tampines even before the sending-off, to nothing but a hopeful strike from range. They created nothing that game – and this was a direct response to the utter chaos that descended on Bishan Stadium when we beat Balestier Khalsa in that 5-4 game. So there were signs that this was a coach who may not have gotten everything right from the get-go, but was able to adapt, and maybe overcome if given a chance. Then there’s also the fear that the timing of the sacking calls to mind last year’s disaster as well, where the team was in disarray and looked directionless after the mid-season sacking of Coach Kim Do Hoon. When the new coach comes in, will he be able to implement any new philosophies? Will there be a bedding-in period? Is he someone already familiar with the players such that he doesn’t need to trial and error while our season is very much in progress? Conclusion and Possible Replacements I think given how early it is in Risto’s stint, it is definitely a risk getting rid of him. We have no insider information, but my pure speculation is that there was either some internal strife between him and his players, or him and the board, which made his position untenable. I do not think results and performances alone warranted such an early sacking. The other possibility of course, is that the board is so confident that his replacement will be better, and thus it’s worth it

[Thoughts] Goodbye Risto – A Look at His Tenure and Possible Replacements Read More »

Author name: Eddy Hirono