Eddy Hirono – Page 7 – SailorFanTalk

[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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[Post-Match Thoughts] The Season is Over (Sailors 0 Kitchee 2)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

As I took the Grab to the stadium for this game (didn’t drive because I knew there would definitely be drinks after), I have to be honest – my thoughts weren’t about how exciting this Champions League game was. It wasn’t about how our Sailors could potentially win and achieve a 9-point finish which would have seen them go down in history as the best Singaporean team. The dominant thought in my head was simply – “Finally, the season is ending”. And I suspect that might have been the feeling for some of our players and staff as well. I don’t mean that in a harsh way by the way – it’s just human nature I guess. Let’s dive right into some of my post-match thoughts. Nothing to Fight For You’ve seen it before in the English Premier League and any other league involving relegation. For one whole year, there are teams that fly high in the league, playing swashbuckling attacking football and taking on all comers. At the end of the season though – they’ve sewn up 2nd spot or 3rd spot or 4th spot or whatever they needed to sew up, and suddenly they come up against teams fighting against relegation. And they look like a completely different team. That’s what our Sailors looked like on Wednesday. In our Champions League campaign, we’ve seen us being defensively quite solid in our 5-at-the-back formation. It probably came at the expense of some attacking creativity up front, but I would never say we looked ragged at the back. We looked very ragged at the back in this game though. I don’t quite know what it was, but I felt the whole game we looked lethargic and in attack, just couldn’t find that little bit extra to break down our opponents. In defence, I think we were not helped by Anu not being on the pitch, as we failed to close down our opponents as quickly as I think we should have. In the first 10 minutes Kitchee already had 3 shots on target. Zharfan did well to keep the score at 0-0, and we really should have heeded our warnings, but unfortunately, in the 11th minute, Chris van Huizen scored the best header he will ever score. The Crucial First Goal At the wrong end. All I can say is “shit happens” for Chris’s contribution to this calamitous own goal. However, the goal isn’t only his fault. If you watch replays of the goal, Hariss fails to track his man in midfield, allowing Fernando to play a 1-2 with him on the wing. Mamat also fails to see what’s unfolding in front of his eyes, and allows Fernando past him on the wing to whip in a cross. Of course, the cross still needed finishing, and Chris will never score an own goal like that ever again. A bullet header into the top corner which gave Zharfan no chance. Sloppy all-round even before Chris’s meaningful touch. Shit happens. Unfortunately, in this case, when shit happens in a dead rubber game where the opposition is looking to gain their first points in the group and regain some pride, it meant that we lacked the necessary grit to overcome a Kitchee team that could now sit back in numbers and pick and choose their moments to attack us. Time and again, when we lost the ball, they launched a quick counter-attack and looked dangerous. We never really looked like scoring, and even when we came close to the goal, we found the Kitchee second-choice keeper to be an obstacle. It seemed pretty clear to me that we were not gonna score all night. The Killer Second Goal It kinda hurts to continue talking about this game. But OK the article needs to be written, so I shall plug on. I think for this one, Hariss puts some pressure on Fernando, but Bailey should have stepped up and backed his ability to not let Fernando past him. Being a defender myself, I know why he sat back – he probably felt Hariss was putting enough pressure on Fernando, he probably felt that if he sat off a bit, Fernando can’t dribble past him, and he probably felt that his body shape and the area he was covering did not allow Fernando to shoot past him. Unfortunately, Fernando took a shot through his legs, and it was on target. Zharfan must have seen it quite late as well. A very soft goal to concede, just when it looked like we were putting some pressure on Kitchee. Failure to Create History I think it is slightly disappointing that we did not manage to get to 7 or 9 points from this Champions League campaign. The reason I say that is not because I really care for this record. I just think that the way we played this season in the AFC Champions League was way more impressive than last season – so it seems a pity that we were not able to at least have a tangible record to hold on to. Instead, all we have are memories of these good performances. Why do I feel this season’s 6 points is better than last season’s 7 points? Here’s some reasons – So I feel like our failure to at least match the 7 points by gaining a draw against Kitchee at home is kinda disappointing. I am convinced though, that if this match wasn’t a dead rubber match, we would no doubt have got that equaliser or winner. I will take a “glass is half-full” approach to assessing our Champions League campaign – hopefully the team will have learnt some lessons which they can apply in ACL2 next year. The Return of Wookie I am so proud of our fans for giving Wookie the welcome he deserves. The online discourse surrounding Kim Shin-Wook is divided to say the least. It sometimes gets really toxic, with people calling him a flop. Imagine calling the 3rd

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[Preview] Sailors v Kitchee – The Deadest of Dead Rubbers

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

It’s the last game of the season for us, and it’s a dead rubber. I think I speak for all fans when I say I wish we were still in the running to qualify for the knockout stages, but it is what it is. There’s still the record for most points achieved by a Singaporean club in the AFC Champions League up for grabs, and it will be our last top-tier game for a while (we’re in ACL2 next season because our league coefficient is not good enough), so let’s cherish this match and take it in. Right, into the preview we go! Is it Really a Dead Rubber? There’s been some confusion over this. Some people still think that our Sailors can get second place if results go our way. I don’t blame them for thinking that way, but let’s clarify this! It looks like our Sailors are still in it, if you look at the points and the goal difference. Surely a win for us and Bangkok Utd beating Jeonbuk by enough goals would see us leapfrog Jeonbuk? Unfortunately, no. The rules state that in the event of two teams finishing level on points, the tiebreaker is Head-to-Head performance. In this case, Jeonbuk beat us 3-0, and we beat them 2-0. So even though we each got 1 win over the other, they did score one more goal than us, so in a Head-to-Head comparison, we lose out to them on goal difference. So even if we win 10-0 tonight and Jeonbuk lose 20-0, nothing changes, and we’re stuck in 3rd place. It is a dead rubber for Kitchee as well – even if they achieve a win, they will be on 4 points, not enough to overtake us. Hence, the deadest of dead rubbers. But there’s a record to fight for, isn’t there? The Chance to Make History Well the players have a chance to surpass the Sailors’ achievements of last year – win and they will be on 9 points, more than the 7 points last year. Call me skeptical but I am not sure this is the best motivator. The club website had this to say – Aleksandar Ranković’s team have their eyes set on writing their names into the Singapore football history books – by setting a new record for the maximum number of points a Singaporean team has attained in the ACL group stage. “We deserved a better result against Bangkok, but we’re totally prepared and motivated for this match. We want to finish strong, especially after the Singapore Cup final, and we want maximum points from tomorrow’s match,” said Ranko, adamant that his charges are not still swooning over the weekend’s Cup Final victory, and instead are determined to bounce back from the loss against Group F leaders Bangkok United on 29 November. “With the format change in the ACL (the Sailors will be in the ACL2 next season), this will be our last chance in this competition and we want to leave our own legacy.” I am not sure I am convinced, haha. I think the players and the coach want it – but I think it is human to not be as motivated as when there is a tangible prize at stake, say a cup, or qualification to the next stage. Leaving a legacy is well and good but I am not sure many people can remember who was in the SAFFC team that previously set a record for the most number of points in the Champions League group stage back in 2010. Can you even name 5 players from the team that beat Henan Jianye? (Fun fact – regular SPL commentator Rhysh Roshan Rai, who sometimes reads SFT articles, is one of them) Regardless, it is the last match of the season for our players, while Kitchee still has a game at the weekend. Alot of intangible factors might come into play here, all of which we have no insight into. Will Kitchee players conserve their legs in view of the weekend’s game? Will our Sailors already mentally be on their holidays? Will we give minutes to players who have not played much or players who are already leaving as a farewell? It’s really hard to say. One thing that we can look forward to though, is the return of a “fan favourite”, Kim Shin Wook. Return of the Wookie Wookie has not had a good time at Kitchee. I take you back to my preview article where I had this to say about him – But how has our Wookie fared since he transferred to Kitchee? Not well, apparently. Go take a look at the highlights from my interview with Kitchee fans Edmund and Tim – pretty scathing. Last season, Wookie finished with the now-overused 007 meme, as he recorded 0 goals and 0 assists in 7 appearances. (I say overused but yet I still use, lol) This season, he has only seen gametime against much inferior opposition. He took to the pitch and scored a hattrick against semi-pro opposition, and just last weekend, he played in a 6-2 victory in the league, but when he was subbed on, he managed to miss a penalty, and also the rebound (which would not have counted anyway because it came off the crossbar). Apparently he approached the hardcore fans and apologised to them for his performance and looked tearful. It pains me to say this because I’ve always liked him, but it’s not going well for sure. – https://sailorfantalk.com/2023/10/03/preview-kitchee-v-sailors-perhaps-no-better-time-to-play-kitchee/ Not much has changed since 2 mths ago. He has scored 2 more goals, and his overall record does seem decent now. 5 goals in 11 matches is a decent ratio. However, I think quite crucially, he still struggles to see gametime because of the availability of the other foreign players, who are deemed to be better than him. 11 appearances in a year is not great. Why I suspect we will see him tomorrow is because of the comments of his coach

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Singapore Cup Champions (Sailors 3 Hougang 1)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

It’s been 3 days since we won the Singapore Cup, but the sense of euphoria is still very much alive. I know we still have a game to go, but I think the fact that we’re already knocked out of the AFC Champions League means that this Singapore Cup final really felt like our last game. For reasons I will go into later, I don’t think the game really felt like a cup final, but I am glad we managed to come out of Jalan Besar Stadium with a Cup to show for it. Let’s dive into some quick thoughts! Atmosphere of a Cup Final The fans on both sides were on form, and I think this led to a very special atmosphere. Throughout the season, the Hools have not been at their sparkling best, owing to many of them having personal/work commitments. The move to Jalan Besar Stadium probably did not help as well. However, for this Cup final, they turned up in full force, and colour-coordinated to wear all-black, which was a real spectacle. On our side, the Crew stood loud and proud, as we belted out chant after chant, song after song, in our bid to spurs our boys on. As a long-time supporter of Home United and LCS, I think the atmosphere right now is at the highest level in recent years. Long may it continue. A picture paints a thousand words, and a video paints a bajillion words – pretty sure that’s a saying. So go check this video out. At the final whistle, the atmosphere only got louder, as the fans celebrated a first silverware since 2021. In my opinion, the Community Shield of 2022 doesn’t really count, but ok if you count it, then this is our first silverware since early 2022, still a cause for celebration. The trophy ceremony was glorious, seeing the players throw Rankovic and Forrest Li into the air was also fun. Even as fans of a rich club (in the local context), where trophies may come by a little easier than for other clubs, a cup win is always nice. However, if I were to be completely honest, the 2-0 win over Jeonbuk probably made me go a little crazier than the win over Hougang. I don’t think it’s just the quality of the opposition. It’s partly because the result never felt in doubt – there was no sense of jeopardy which would have made the win feel even sweeter. This is not to criticise Hougang by the way – I feel their circumstances rendered it almost impossible for them to compete with us. So why was there no sense of jeopardy? Hougang Didn’t Land a Punch If you watched the full game and wonder why despite Hougang looking solid at first, the result never felt in doubt, it’s because our Sailors didn’t allow them to shoot from anywhere threatening at all. Hougang registered a total of 7 shots, of which only 1 was on target. And that came in injury time in the second half, when the game had long been won already. Maksimovic, highlighted by me as a dangerman, and one to watch, did not even get one shot off. Zero. Nil. Nada. The backline marshalled him expertly, and almost came out of the game with a clean sheet. Funnily enough, Hougang scored right after the Crew did the “CAMPEONES” chant. We were ever-so-patient, waiting till the clock hit 90 minutes before doing it, and yet we still didn’t manage to ward off the jinx effect, and Hougang duly scored with their only shot on target. Shoutout to old boy Abdil Qaiyyim for the assist. The SPL website somehow credited the assist to Naoki Kuriyama – but make no mistake, it was old boy Abdil with a great flick-on header that led to Takayama heading in for the consolation. The SPL website also doesn’t think Sahil’s 2nd minute try from range was a shot, but in my opinion it was, hence the disparity between Wyscout and SPL stats when it comes to number of shots. But yeah – Hougang really didn’t generate any threat. Just look at where they were taking their shots from. And if you look at how many times they even entered our box, they came in 5 times. In comparison, we entered the Hougang penalty area 18 times, an average of once every 5 minutes. You can’t blame them for their approach – if you’ve read the preview, you’d have seen their horrendous injury list. They are truly unlucky that their key players weren’t available, or they might have been able to hurt us a bit more on the counter. If they were to try playing more expansively, I am sure our forwards would have got even more goals on the counter and the finnal would have been super lop-sided. To make things worse for them, we benefited from a stroke of luck or two too. Our First Two (Lucky) Goals I will start by saying that if the penalty kick given by the referee had been awarded against the Sailors, I’d be livid. I think it’s an incredibly harsh call. The cross comes in from van Huizen (and as we know now, everytime he crosses, something happens) – and Richairo flicks it on. It hits Kuriyama on the arm. Kuriyama barely raises his arm, and it is still near his body. He is also looking away, and I don’t feel he has enlarged his silhouette. To award a handball for this kills the game in my opinion. It is a Cup final, and a call like that instantly gave us the advantage, and sealed Hougang’s fate. I was really surprised when the VAR asked him to review the decision on the pitchside screen and he still gave the goal. But I am a Sailors fan, so I shouldn’t complain. I also will not complain about the big stroke of luck for our second goal. In the preview for this game,

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[Preview] Sailors v Hougang – Cup Final Against the Defending Champions

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

And then there were 2. 2 more games for our beloved Sailors – 1 tomorrow against Hougang United, and 1 next week against Kitchee. 2 sides vying for the only silverware available to them after a long, hard season. Hougang fans always chant proudly “Silverware, we don’t care“, while us Sailors fans sing about “taking every trophy, first the League and then the Cups“. Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is now very much time to take the Cup. But we will have to navigate the challenge of a Hougang United team who have nothing to lose in this final, and everything to play for. Let’s dive right into the preview. Silverware, We Don’t Care! First, the Hougang fans really should care, according to some basic research done online. Silverware ought to he handled carefully so that it will last for decades. Well the only thing that lasted for decades for them was their trophy drought. Until last year’s amazing win over Tampines Rovers of course. Back to the serious business. Why they should care is not only because the Singapore Cup is a prestigious trophy. Winning the Cup also comes along with it the carrot of continental qualification. After the changes announced by AFC earlier this year, Singapore has been left with only 2 AFC qualification slots, and both of them are for the 2nd-tier competition, the ACL2. (Just for added context, the ACL2 is still a pretty high-level tournament, because it will still feature good teams from the top leagues, such as the K League and the J League. Just see for yourself below) Ok now that you’ve seen the slots, you will realise that Hougang (and Tampines) will be very invested in the result of this game when it comes to their AFC chances. If Hougang win the Cup, they will get that second indirect slot and go into the playoffs of the ACL2. If they lose the Cup, then the 2nd slot will go to the next highest-placed team in the league after LCS, which is Tampines Rovers. (Yellow Knights if you’re reading this, it may pain you, but it might help your team if you cheer for us instead tomorrow, heh.) After a disaster of a season which saw their head coach re-deployed due to poor results, and multiple injury woes, Hougang will go all out to try and salvage something from it. Winning an SG Cup will be the most glorious salvage job ever. As for us, the motivation to win the Cup will hopefully be strong because a club like Sailors needs to win silverware every year. You can’t get away with spending so much money and building all these facilities, to lose to another local club. I hope our boys will be pumped up for this one. Injury Woes To make matters slightly easier for us, Hougang’s injury list is very unfortunate. Gabriel Quak and Hazzuwan Halim join the team in the treatment room, which is already a temporary home for Shahdan Sulaiman and Kiki Krajcek. Even with a full team, we still have the advantage on paper, but this should tilt the balance firmly towards us. We still have to worry about 2 of their chief attacking options though. Deadly Djordje If you think this headline is familiar, that’s because I warned us about him before the last time we played Hougang. And yes, he scored. He is in a very rich vein of scoring form, scoring 9 goals in the last 8 games for Hougang. He is also joint-top scorer of the Singapore Cup, along with Richi, Diego, Shawal and Balestier’s Shuhei Hoshino (all on 5 goals). Djordje is deadly because of his pace, finishing instincts, and ability to finish on either foot. You will remember him scampering onto a through ball from Nazrul Nazari when we met Hougang in the group stage. This is something that we can expect to see more of tonight. Hougang are quite adept at using the fullbacks to put long balls into the channels for Maksimovic to chase. Which brings us to… Nazrul Nazari Ever since the Hougang injury list started growing in the last few weeks and months, Nazrul Nazari has started growing in stature too. Not his height – he still remains a pocket-sized footballer. On the field though, he has started to take on more creative responsibilities in the absence of his key teammates like Kiki and Shahdan. In 21 games in the league this season, he has picked up just 1 assist. However, in the past few weeks, he has managed 3 assists in the Singapore Cup, and 1 more in the AFC Cup. If we look at Hougang’s assists and goals chart in the Singapore Cup, it is pretty clear the the burden of creating has fallen on his shoulders. If we stop Nazrul and Djordje, we can feel a lot better about our chances of winning the game. Magic Max And now the attention shifts back to one of our own. Our Player of the Year Maxime Lestienne is going through a bit of a barren streak in front of goal. In our last article, I said this – Maxime last scored in October, against Kitchee from the penalty spot. Since then, he has played in 7 games and not scored a goal – definitely his longest streak without scoring this season. That is almost unbelievable, considering how easily he has put the ball in the back of the net this season. 25 goals in 24 league games is amazing stuff, even if you don’t look at his assists tally. Thankfully for us, even though he hasn’t scored, his assists haven’t stopped. He has notched 5 assists and is quite clearly the chief playmaker for our Sailors. By his own admission, he said that he should have got a few goals against Tampines in the last game – so I predict Max will finally find the scoresheet tonight to break his little cold streak in

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Unexpected Breeze (Sailors 3 Tampines 0)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

We’re using this picture for the second time because – well, it was much easier than expected. Tampines have proven very very tough opponents for us in the past few seasons, but this, this was a walk in Bishan Park. Replace the pavement with red carpet, and line the carpet with drink stalls handing out free drinks and snacks to fuel your walk. Then put on a pair of Adidas Ultraboosts (not sponsored) with hotel cushions strapped on below. And then maybe have strong people carry you so you don’t even have to walk. And an army of people behind you carrying portable fans to give you a breeze from behind. Ok there we have it – it was that easy. As much as the Sailors were brilliant, Tampines really did not show up. Let’s dive into some quick thoughts I had during and after the game. Tampines Did Not Show Up Over the past few seasons, Tampines have consistently been a thorn in our side, both on and off the pitch. Who can forget the pitchside scuffle between Kim Do-Hoon and Mustafic Fahrudin, when KDH headbutted Mustafic and Mustafic choked KDH? #allhandsonneck Or the brilliant Maxime equaliser at OTH last year to cancel out Boris Kopitovic’s opening goal, closely followed by an impressive freekick from Mehmedovic – all in 5 minutes? Or our Sailors getting completely outplayed at OTH early this season? Or Pedro Henrique’s last-minute winning goal after the #allhandsonneck incident? I could go on forever, but as I mentioned in my preview, we were neck and neck this season. We each had 1 win over the other, and 2 draws. It doesn’t get closer than that. Last season saw us beat them 3 times out of 4, but even then it was seldom comfortable. I spoke with Tampines fans who mentioned that fatigue may have been a factor. I am not so sure about that because I think if anything, our Sailors have had far more minutes in their legs, and travel too, considering our AFC Champions League fixtures. Perhaps our gruelling schedule has ironically helped us to manage the stresses of playing twice in three days better? If I could hazard a guess at another factor leading to Tampines’s lacklustre performances, I’d probably mention the mental blow of going behind so early in the game, which forced Tampines to come out and play. Not only did that perhaps bring down their morale a little, it also meant that we could keep on hitting them on the counter. How early was the goal you ask? 77 Seconds + Let’s Talk About Anu 77 seconds is all it took for us to open up their backline. Anu did well to dispossess our old boy Faris in midfield and play a nice pass to Diego Lopes. Diego’s run through the heart of the Tampines defence opened them up and allowed him to slip the ball into the path of Richairo who finished under the body of Syazwan. Anu’s part in this goal should be highlighted. It was really good work for him to win the ball, but the key to the goal was him quickly playing the ball forward. This was a consistent theme for him and Hariss all afternoon. Every opportunity they got after taking the ball from their opponent, they tried to move it forward quickly or switch it, to really stretch Tampines and hit them on the counter. It is really no wonder that Tampines stopped making adventurous runs after a while – they were worried about the Sailors’ threat on the counter. On the contrary, Anu and Hariss always looking to play the ball forward, and playing it accurately meant that the forwards could be bolder in their runs because they smelt blood each time the ball was won in midfield. The semi-final games have been good for Anu. Two good performances, and a goal to go along with it, that is the best way to reply to the haters who unfairly pinned the loss to Bangkok solely on his shoulders, and who repeatedly call for him to be replaced by other midfielders in the league. Let’s hope he puts in another commanding performance in the final! It Really Should Have Been More 3-0 is a commanding scoreline to win by, but I think even the most hardened Tampines Rovers fan will admit that it really should have been more. 9 minutes in, Nathan Mao’s shot right in front of goal from a Maxime pull-back was deflected wide. On 14 minutes, Anu’s lofted through-pass puts Richi in on goal, but he smashes the shot straight at Syazwan. 19 minutes in, Maxime really tests Syazwan, who does superbly to save from him. On 21 minutes, a Maxime corner kick makes its way to Richi near the penalty spot but he skies it. On 39 minutes, a big switch by Lionel Tan leads to some superb interplay involving Maxime, Diego, and Richi, but ends with Diego’s shot being deflected wide. 54 minutes, another fantastic save from Syazwan after a 1-2 from Maxime and Diego. 55 minutes in, a Richairo cutback is somehow missed right in front of goal by Maxime on his favoured foot. Two observations. First, that’s 7 very presentable opportunities. On another day, the scoreline could have been very ugly. Second, it is a rare day that Maxime is involved in so much but ends up with only 1 goal contribution – his assist for Diego for our 3rd goal. In fact, Maxime last scored in October, against Kitchee from the penalty spot. Since then, he has played in 7 games and not scored a goal – definitely his longest streak without scoring this season. If you are looking at non-penalty goals, his last goals came in August, against Hougang. That makes it 11 games without a non-penalty goal for our top-scorer this season. That’s why despite the result being super-secure, I was hoping he would score a goal to break this rather unfortunate

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[Preview + Post-Match Thoughts] Sailors v Tampines Rovers – Even Stevens

Leave a Comment / Match Previews, Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

Another quick turnaround means that the Preview article for tonight’s match, and the Post-Match Thoughts article for Saturday’s 1st leg between the two sides. If you are wondering whether the title “Even Stevens” refers to tonight’s game or Saturday’s, the answer is “both”. Even Stevens on the Saturday because the score ended 3-3 after a see-saw game saw neither side really convincing, and Even Stevens for the preview article because after a season which has seen us face each other 4 times, amazingly, the sides are even. Tampines and Sailors have one win apiece, and drawn twice. Tonight’s game will be the tie-breaker, and what a tie-breaker it will be. Let’s dive into some of my quick thoughts about the game on Saturday and of course, tonight. The Height Factor It was kinda appalling to see the defensive frailty from set pieces in the first half from our Sailors. If you look at the lineups, you would expect that setpieces is not an area we would be weak in, considering the height we have. Besides Lionel and Bailey (1.84m tall), we have Richairo at 1.87m, Anu at 1.81m, and Hariss at 1.78m. These players are all taller than the average Tampines player. In general, the Sailors do have the height advantage. For reference, the Sailors’ starting 11’s average height (excluding the goalkeeper) = 1.77m, while the Rovers’ starting 11’s average height (excluding the goalkeeper) = 1.74m. That’s a difference of 3cm per player, a significant advantage. Yet if you look at the still from below, you will see two of the Rovers’ biggest attacking threats from set pieces completely unmarked – Shuya Yamashita, and Milos Zlatkovic. This was no luck – it was a planned set-piece from Tampines, because once the ball was played back to Joel Chew, you can see the two Rovers centrebacks sprinting to the far post in anticipation of a cross there. The knock-down occurred when Shuya expectedly beat Mamat to the ball in the air, and from the chaos, Diego Lopes was a little late to react, and Joel Chew scored. A very sloppy goal to concede and it was not the only time that Tampines put us under pressure aerially in the first half. Of course, we ourselves scored from a setpiece too when Bailey Wright timed his jump better than his opponent Milos Zlatkovic, and managed to direct a good header towards goal. That’s now his 3rd goal in 7 appearances, all from corner kicks. He’s proven to be quite the weapon in the air. I sure am glad that he did not accomplish the 0-0-7 that his compatriot Bernie Ibini-Isei managed. 3 goals, and as a centreback! More to come tonight hopefully from him, and more to come from our Sailors as well. Let’s make full use of that height advantage. 5 at the Back? When I saw the starting lineup, I was sure that we were gonna play 4 at the back, with Hariss and Anu patrolling the area just in front of the defence. Instead, what we saw was 5 at the back, just like how we line up in our continental fixtures in the AFC Champions League. This puzzled me because it felt like we were giving too much respect to Tampines Rovers. I don’t remember any other game this season where we played 5 at the back against local opposition, even if it was Albirex. Packing the numbers in defence against the likes of Jeonbuk and Bangkok Utd is understandable – there is a quality gulf and we want to reduce the space that each defender has to cover. Packing the numbers in defence against Tampines – strange to say the least. And it had tangible consequences in the game. As a result of stringing three centrebacks on the defensive line, there was often a lot of space for Tampines’ midfielders outside our box. Anu was tasked with patrolling ahead of the defensive trio, but he is just 1 man. He played brilliantly by the way – snapping into challenges and reminding people why he still is the best defensive midfielder Singapore has right now. What happens when the lone Anu is dragged out of position by a run? Look at the amount of space that Kyoga has to run into. He is highlighted in yellow. After this still, he would pick up the ball and drive at goal, with no opposition in his way, before he fires it on target and Izwan pulls off a great save, topping the ball over the bar. This was not an isolated incident – in fact Faris’s goal came as a result of Joel Chew being given all the time in the world to stride through a vacant midfield with all the defenders in a line too far away to engage Joel Chew. Thankfully for us – Coach Rankovic switched it to 4 at the back in the second half, and we immediately looked a lot better. At home tonight, and hopefully having seen what 5 at the back does to us, we will start with a more positive formation and back our midfield and attackers to do the damage. Shawal Anuar – A Man in Form Shawal Anuar was substituted on in the 1st leg at half-time and all it took was 1min 35s for him to make an impact. Shawal really is turning into one of the most reliable sources of offensive output for us. In the Cup, he has an amazing goals – minutes ratio. In 214 min, he has 5 goals, for an average of 43min per goal scored. We’ve seen him score headers, we’ve seen him score from range, score tap-ins, assist his teammates, and run the channels tirelessly. He truly can do it all. I believe I speak for most fans when I say that we really want to see him in from the start. Let’s make Tampines think hard about whether they really want to play a high line. Shawal caught them out

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[Preview] Tampines Rovers v Sailors – Rebound Redemption?

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

Having crashed out of the AFC Champions League in midweek, tonight’s clash against old foes Tampines Rovers allows our Sailors a quick chance at redemption. Will fatigue play a part in this game? Will the absence of Yasir Hanapi be a key one? Let’s dive into some of my thoughts about the game. Quick Thoughts on Bangkok Loss Sorry for not getting a proper post-match thoughts article out for our loss against Bangkok Utd. I am still on holiday with the wife, and if I spend too much time doing SailorFanTalk stuff, I suspect she won’t be best pleased haha. Sorry also that this extended trip means that I will not be able to do a post-match interview at the stadium. It sucks to break the streak – we’ve done one for every game this season, but I guess it ends tonight. (Joseph is also busy with a wedding – not too late for some last minute cold feet from the bride or groom eh? Jk jk) The team came in for some criticism midweek. Generally, there was a feeling that our boys should have set out to attack a little bit more, especially as a win was realistically the only way we could qualify for the group stage (finishing 2nd is not a guarantee that we would be one of the best 2nd-placed teams). There was also plenty of criticism for Anu – for not jumping in the wall. My feelings on this are a little mixed. When goals get conceded, people often tend to get a little black-and-white or a little simplistic in their analysis of the goal. In this case, perhaps it really is black-and-white, so let me say it loud and clear – Anu should have jumped. On this point, I agree with the many people online who said that he should have jumped. If he had a time machine, he’d get back in time and he’d jump. Was there a miscommunication with the keeper? Was it fear that the ball would hit him? Misjudgment of the ball? I guess we will never know. What I do know is that regardless of who made the error and the magnitude of the error, I do not believe it warrants online harrassment or over-reaction. I saw shameful behaviour from so-called “fans”, who tagged Anu in Instagram, and told him he should retire, or that the goal was his fault. Hey, if you were a true fan, maybe don’t rub it in? And certainly don’t make it personal. You can point out the error, but also show some compassion, love, and some support for the players you are supposed to support. Even if you think there are better players than him that the club should sign, that can’t change till next season – so get behind our boys please. Also, and this is the more important point. We lost by a goal to Bangkok Utd, and we all know that margins at the top level are fine. But if you want to go down the route of assigning blame, how about we blame Zharfan also for not at least diving to get the ball? How about we blame Shawal Anuar for not just not jumping, but ducking as well? The ball could well have gone right above Shawal’s head – but it went over Anu’s. This is an outcome-based criticism of Anu when Shawal did the same or even worse. How about we blame Maxime for wasting 1 or 2 chances to put better balls into the box when we got the rare counter-attack? How about we blame Shawal for missing the 1v1? How about we blame Rui Pires for a few misplaced passes in midfield? Does he get insulated from criticism more because mistakes in his role seldom directly lead to conceded goals? Where I am going with this is simply that in supporting a team, you should not be singling out players for abuse. It’s a team game after all. You can criticise them, but let’s be fair and balanced in our criticism, and even then, let’s be a little kinder with the actual words we use. Back to analysis of the game – our Sailors will be raring to go to show that despite the loss, they are still the top local side, and what better way to do that than to do it against our old rivals on their home patch? Speaking of home patch… Pitch Imperfect The first leg of the semi-final will be held at Our Tampines Hub, which was used by SAF for a passing-out parade just yesterday. Hundreds of people marched around the hallowed grounds of Tampines Rovers, potentially causing damage to it. This is not without precedent – earlier on in the year, a Tampines game was postponed due to poor pitch conditions after a football tournament was held there. Could there possibly be a postponement? While I hope not, I think the condition of the pitch could still adversely affect Tampines. As we’ve seen this season, Tampines likes playing a controlled game revolving around numerous short passes in the backline. With a pitch that might have some slight tears lying around, it may be good for the Sailors because they are capable of playing some much more direct football than Tampines, who rely on their quantity of passes. In fact, this was their downfall against us because some sloppy passing led to Maxime capitalising to score a wonderful chip. Oh, and that reminds me – who gave the ball away? Yasir Hanapi He is suspended after his reckless foul led to a red card against Geylang in a group stage match. That is definitely good news cos he’s the captain. His industry in the middle of the pitch is an example for all, and sets the tone sometimes for some very ferocious intense Tampines pressing. Besides that, let me hit you with a quick stat attack on why he is so influential for the team – However, it

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Author name: Eddy Hirono