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[Preview] Balestier Khalsa v Sailors (Will Balestier Stick to their Guns?)

Leave a Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

This was earmarked as one of the tougher games we would have to face this season, and it is certainly shaping up that way. Although Balestier Khalsa come into this game 5 points behind us with a vastly inferior goal difference, they have actually performed well in every game they’ve played this season. And oh, about that inferior goal difference in relation to us? They just have not played Albirex yet. I know this is a Balestier preview, but you gotta have some sympathy for Albirex. The league table shows them scoring the fewest goals in the league, and conceding the most. They have now choked two leads despite having a one-man advantage for practically the whole second half. That these two games were against Young Lions and Tanjong Pagar will only make them feel worse because these are the two teams that they will feel they should be able to compete with – whether it be a transition year or not. But enough of that digression – Balestier is scary, and let’s dive right into the preview to figure out why. Kodai Tanaka is a Goal Machine I mean – you didn’t need me to tell you this. But I’ll tell you anyway. 2nd in the league top-scorer charts, Kodai has 8 goals in 6 matches. That’s more than a goal a game. Surely he can’t keep this up, I hear you say. Oh yes, he can. In the season before he joined us, Kodai notched 39 goals in 32 games for Albirex. He also scored in every match in the Singapore Cup that he played in that year for them – and when he got injured prior to the 2nd leg of the semi-final against Hougang, Albirex lost. Hmm. So more than a goal a game is definitely not uncharted territory for Kodai. Unlike Tomoyuki Doi, who shoots from anywhere, Kodai’s goals all come from inside the penalty area, and usually in very good positions too. This is indicative of a striker who has the knack of being in the right place at the right time. The stats paint the same picture – his 8 goals come from a cumulative xG of 7.28, suggesting that he is scoring just about the same number of goals from the positions he’s getting into. (For reference, Tomoyuki Doi’s 12 goals have come from a cumulative xG of 6.88, which is insane) Aside from just being a top-scorer, Kodai will have added motivation to prove to the Sailors management that they should have kept him. His time with us was truly unfortunate. The fans loved him, he scored 3 goals in his first 3 appearances, and then an untimely and sickening injury happened to him at the Jurong East Stadium. As his knee buckled under him, the fans feared the worst – and their worst fears came through. ACL injury, out for practically the whole season. He will be chomping at the bit to try and score against us I’m sure. In pre-season, in a match I didn’t attend, apparently he scored against us and started cupping his ears in the direction of the Sailors end. Some bad blood perhaps? Or just a cheeky celebration? I don’t wanna find out tonight haha. Kodai was missing last game with an injury, but I am pretty sure he will be sacrificing all manner of animals to the injury gods to make sure he can play this game. Bailey and Toni will have a tough task on their hands trying to keep Kodai quiet. But if they could keep Tomoyuki Doi quiet, then maybe they can do the same for Kodai too. Fingers crossed! Riku Fukashiro – the Livewire Riku is the 3rd-highest assists-maker in the league this season. If I could have picked one player from last season’s Albirex team to bring over to the Sailors, it would have been this guy. He is just so entertaining to watch. Just this season, he’s tried a rainbow flick in a game, and while I don’t have the stats, I am willing to bet that he is among the top dribblers in the league. Last season, Riku had very limited playing time, but yet managed impressive numbers. He had 9 goals and 8 assists from 29 appearances. While those are already commendable numbers, when you take into account that he only started 7 times out of 29, those contribution numbers start to look alot more impressive. This season, Riku has been in a rich vein of form. Always tormenting defenders in and around the box, he has 2 goals and 5 assists already. Add to that one penalty won, and he’s directly been responsible for 8 out of Balestier’s 19 goals. He’s definitely a key player and one to watch for our defenders. I wonder if he might cause Lionel or Chris some trouble down the flanks if he drifts out there. Unlike the Geylang game where Geylang didn’t seem really intent on finding anyone except Doi with the ball, I think the attacking threat will be a lot more varied in tonight’s game. Will Balestier Attack? This is a screengrab right before Ismail Sassi on the far side slips Fukashiro (no. 9) in behind the defence for him to cross to Amiruldin Asraf (no. 19) waiting for the cutback on the penalty spot. I chose this picture to illustrate that Balestier is a very creative team that doesn’t rely on just lumping the ball into the box at every opportunity. Look at Ismail with the ball at his right foot. I dare say that 8 out of 10 players, would see Madhu and Amer Hakeem in the box, and decide to just cross it in. It’s not even an irrational choice – the aerial presence of Madhu and Amer will cause problems. However, they’ve shown on more than one occasion this season that they are a team that will make that extra pass on attack, consistent with Peter de Roo’s attacking ethos. When you

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[Tactical Analysis] Smooth Sailing Once Again? (Quick Look at Sailors in Their Games Against Geylang and Balestier)

[Preview] Tampines Rovers v LCS – Stopping the Top Team in the League

2 Comments / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

If you read the title of this post and felt it was familiar, you’re right. Our last post was titled “Stopping the Top-Scorers in the League”. Balestier Khalsa came in to the last game as top-scorers of the league with a swashbuckling style of football that ensured goals at both ends, but after a convincing 3-0 win against them, we are now the top-scorers in the league, with 12 goals after 5 games. Leaving aside the 4-0 defeat against Albirex, we have scored three goals in every game and generally looked comfortable, if not fantastic. Why are Tampines the top team in the league though? Through a combination of watching the matches, combing through the stats, and talking to my fellow fans of the SPL, I had hoped to conclude that it’s because of luck. However, it really isn’t. They are controlling their games well, scoring goals, and Faris has really found his groove. Bad news for us. Tampines in Control There’s a whole bunch of stats up there for you to take notice of, but I try to focus on Tampines’s very impressive average Opponent’s xG of 0.67. This probably goes a long way to explaining how they have kept all those clean sheets, including against Albirex. Their defence looks a lot more settled than at the same stage last season, where they had already conceded 9 in their first 5 games. Credit that to the addition of Milos Zlatkovic maybe, but my opinion is that it’s more than just that. Tampines are in control. They have a very impressive ball possession percentage of 63%, and an accurate passing percentage of 87%. This alone does not always tell the full story as there are teams that achieve high passing percentages because they just pass the ball aimlessly around the back without actually going forward or trying to create anything. This is why I included the last stat in the table above – entrances to the final third. This shows that as much as Tampines like to knock the ball around at the back, they also do get forward, and do in fact get the ball into the final third far more often than the Sailors do. It is pretty telling as well, that going into this match, Zharfan Rohaizad has the most saves of any goalkeeper this season. In previous articles, I gave praise to the Sailors defence for mostly limiting shots from our opponents to speculative efforts from outside the box, but conceding a high number of shots on target can still potentially bite us in the ass, as it leaves us vulnerable to any number of things that could happen from those shots – keeper blunders, rebound goals, a sense of unease spreading through the defence and the fans, etc. Faris Ram(li) Has Got it Going On Faris Ramli is a man on fire, and a man with a point to prove. Before we talk about his goalscoring achievements this season, I feel I am obliged to say that Faris is a real gem of a person. He was released by the Sailors but unlike others (or maybe just one player) who were released, he was professional till the end, and never moaned and whined about not getting a new contract. I mean, that’s what a contract is, isn’t it? It works both ways. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, a long contract is a double-edged sword for a player. While it guarantees financial security, it can also mean that they will find it hard to get offers for them when they are playing well, because the club can just point to the contract and say “nope, if you want my guy, you’re gonna have to pay what we want”. Even if there were some hard feelings about not being retained, Faris thanked the fans, still maintains a good relationship with us, and bade farewell to us with a cracking goal against Dortmund. (I am just jinxing myself, aren’t I? He is gonna score a last-minute winner, run the length of OTH and do a knee slide right in front of the LCS fans? Hahahaha hope not!) But back to the football. Faris Ramli, 4 goals in 5 games, what a start. Add to that 2 assists as well to Boris Kopitovic, and you can see that he is really in top form. For context, Faris only scored a total of 4 goals last season for LCS (including cup games). I am happy for him that he has been able to rehabilitate his career and his reputation a little, even if it sucks that he is doing it in the black and yellow of Tampines Rovers. Let’s hope he doesn’t score tonight, and if he does, let’s hope he doesn’t celebrate it that hard. Diego and Maxime But it’s not all doom and gloom, is it? Of course it isn’t. This will be the first time that Diego and Maxime start a match against Tampines together, and as far as I know, they are not weighed down by any injuries or niggles. This is something that we should be excited about. As much as Tampines’ defence has improved, we all know what Diego and Maxime can do together. Just ask Daegu last season. This season, the pair of them have started off really well too and are both at their creative best. I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. Those stats are not even funny. They lead the league in terms of accurate key passes – meaning passes that lead to a shot being taken. The gulf between Maxime and the rest of the league seems funny, but it’s true. And we all know how difficult teams have found it to keep this pair at bay. With a combined total of 8 assists between them, I am very excited to see what they can do against this new-look Tampines defence. I only wish we had Kodai Tanaka to gobble up these chances. If

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[Preview] LCS v Balestier Khalsa – Stopping the Top-Scorers in the League

3 Comments / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

Before every game, we will do a short preview and share some of our thoughts, and also predictions. Starting this season, all 3 of us at SailorFanTalk will give you our predictions, and we will track these over the course of the year. 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). Balestier Khalsa are the top-scorers in the SPL. Yes, you read that right. It is very curious, but whenever you speak to anyone about Balestier, you would think they are the worst ever team (except Young Lions of course). Everyone automatically writes them off. This season is no different. I go around asking people for predictions all the time before Sailors’ games, and unsurprisingly, this match has had the most lopsided scoreline predictions so far. I’ve had people tell me 4-1, 6-0, 7-0. Which is strange, considering we are missing Kodai Tanaka, who was supposed to bear the goalscoring burden. People must really think that Balestier suck. But they really don’t. But back to the headline – let’s dive deeper into this and take a look at what’s changed, because last season, they were the second-lowest scorers. Of course, Young Lions were the lowest scorers – no prizes for guessing that. This Is Not Last Season’s Balestier Khalsa So far this season, they have picked up 2 wins against the Young Lions and DPMM (after the Bruneian side went down to 10 men). However, they were also arguably unlucky to lose to Hougang after coming back from 2 goals down. And they have scored 10 goals, did I say that already? That’s 1 more than us, and amazingly, Shuhei Hoshino, their reliable source of goals over the years has only scored 1 goal, and Masahiro Sugita has also not been playing ever since he got injured in the first game of the season. If you take a look at the stats this season versus last season, you will see that not only are they scoring more, this seems to be a direct result of them passing more, passing the ball more accurately, and holding the ball much more than last season as well. This could be a result of Alen Kozar’s signing giving them a bit more control in midfield and linking up the defence and attack better. This could also be a result of them not playing on the potato patch that is Toa Payoh’s stadium field anymore, which allows them to play a more controlled short passing game. The uptick in goals can also be attributed of course to the deadly duo of Daniel Goh and Ryoya Taniguchi – because as much as the passing is better this year, the xG is only marginally better, which indicates that the finishing this year is deadlier. Daniel Goh and Ryoya Taniguchi – Dynamic Duo This has been a good season for Daniel Goh. He has 2 goals and 1 assist, and has looked absolutely electric down the right flank. He seems to have really mastered the art of timing his runs this year, while his teammates are also searching for him much more regularly. Look out for this trademark move tomorrow if you’re at the stadium – facing their own goal, a pass will be played in to either Shuhei Hoshino or Ryoya Taniguchi dropping a little deeper to escape the attention of our centre-backs. Without looking, they will attempt to play a long diagonal in behind Chris van Huizen for Daniel Goh to chase. I can almost guarantee this will happen, especially if CvH pushes up into attack as he usually does. Speaking of Ryoya Taniguchi, he has 4 goals and 1 assist from 4 games, and he is an absolute livewire on the pitch. Whether we win or not will depend a lot on whether we can keep him out. Last season, he scored a hattrick against us in their 5-3 win which effectively ended our fight for the title. This season he has shown no signs of stopping – scoring a perfect hattrick (left foot, right foot, header) against DPMM to snatch victory for them at Jalan Besar Stadium. Taniguchi and Daniel Goh were also unlucky not to combine for a goal against Tampines, with Daniel Goh blazing over the bar when presented with a good chance in the box after a good run and pass from Taniguchi. Interestingly, Taniguchi has a slight preference towards playing on the right – so this combination will really test CvH and Super. See his heat map below for evidence of this. Honourable mention also of course, to Ho Wai Loon, who has 2 goals and 2 assists this season. Will the old boy come back to haunt us? Not All Doom and Gloom However, perhaps now is the right time to also tell you that aside from the Young Lions, no side has conceded as many goals as Balestier Khalsa. Their 10 goals scored is matched by their 10 goals conceded. Perhaps a result of their more attacking approach, Balestier have often been caught outnumbered at the back. Defending transitions does not seem to be their forte as well. This is what gives me quite a bit of hope going into tonight’s game. If we can counter-attack with pace as we did against Geylang and Tanjong Pagar, then we should be able to really hurt their defence. An interesting stat from the official SPL site – our Sailors have the best conversion rate of any team this season (22%). I alluded to this in a previous article, saying that we are patient in attack and prefer to create better chances rather than shoot on sight – this perhaps explains this stat, and also why Kodai’s goals this season have been tap-ins. (Sigh, Kodai. Sigh. Poor, poor thing. Please get well soon.) If we stay patient, the movement of our attackers should

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[Tactical Analysis] – Sailors Slain (Albirex 4 Sailors 0)

1 Comment / Tactics / Zachary Wu

The following tactical analysis is from Zach Wu, who’s not a Sailors fan, but we just thought it would be good for someone without rose-tinted glasses to analyse the tactics of our games. We hope to make this a regular column so that we can better appreciate what is going on in our games from a tactical perspective. As the full moon rose above the Jurong East Stadium, the werewolves were out for blood. Unfortunately for the Sailors, it was their blood that was shed all over the pitch. Here is the post-mortem … First Half The Sailors fielded the expected 11 in the absence of Nur Adam due to injury. Meanwhile for the Swans, Shodai Yokoyama dropped to the bench while Tadanari Lee made his first start of the season. It must be noted the strength of this year’s batch of Albirex players – Keito Hariya, a starter of last season’s title-winning side has played a total of 16 minutes thus far. Controversial red card Early on, the game was turned by a controversial VAR decision. Tadanari poked the ball past Anu, who cynically fouled him. While initially awarded a yellow card, it was overturned by VAR and Anu was given his marching orders. In the heat of the moment, I did feel it was extremely harsh. However, upon further review I could see why the referee had chosen to do so. He felt that Tadanari was taken down unfairly by Anu and with the covering defenders far away while Tadanari was fully sprinting, it would have been a clear and obvious denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Harsh, but correct by the book. In fact, a similar incident had happened in the A league with Tomislav Mrčela, having pulled down his opponent at a similar position to Anu, with the covering defenders extremely wide and saw red for a similar cynical foul. https://twitter.com/aleaguemen/status/1634175780828909570?s=20 (Editor’s note: That decision in the A-League is slightly different because the red card was brandished immediately. In the Albirex-Sailors game, the yellow card is given, so it would need a “clear and obvious error” for the referee to change his decision. Zach has been warned that such future nonsense opinions shall not be published on sailorfantalk.com. First strike, Zach, two more and I’ll throw you down the ledge from Bishan Stadium). Hami sacrificed In the immediate aftermath of the red card, LCS went to a 4-4-1-0. Bill filled in at centreback, Hafiz Nor went to rightback while Tanaka dropped to left wing. Diego operated like a false 9, coming short and holding the ball for runners leaving LCS with no striker up top. This did not last for long however with Hami taken off, Arshad Shamim playing at right back, Hafiz to the left wing, Diego at centre midfield and Tanaka alone upfront. This was more of a 4-4-0-1 as Tanaka got increasingly isolated upfront, up against 2 Albirex centrebacks. I personally did not like the change in setup for a couple of reasons. Firstly, LCS were holding well in their temporary shape. Secondly, taking off Hami so early on (18 minutes in) was a mistake as he was a midfielder who had plenty of energy and would have the eye for a forward pass or a dribble when LCS would want to spring counter attacks. Also, while there are 5 substitutes allowed nowadays, they are only allowed on 3 occasions which meant a sub this early on took away one of the occasions that LCS could potentially need later. Thirdly, throwing Arshad to right-back in one of the biggest and most high-pressure games was a poor decision as he is not naturally a fullback and given that Hafiz Nor spent most of last season already playing as a rightback, perhaps logically Hafiz should have stayed there. Arshad would subsequently concede the free kick (from a Rusyaidi Salime mistake) for Albirex’s third which was the final nail in the coffin. Lastly, this change ran contrary to how LCS were trying to play. Even after the red card, they were still trying to play their way through Albirex by holding the ball; they were not going long and playing solely counter attacking football. Hence by leaving Tanaka upfront alone, he was extremely isolated and LCS rarely got the ball to him. Diego as a false 9 could have been far more effective, being one of the best dribblers in the league, he could definitely hold up the ball to combine with midfield runners and win cheap fouls. This was a mistake by Vidakovic in my opinion. Lethargic off the ball (again!) As I mentioned in the previous game, LCS’s luxury players were not doing their fair share off the ball. This is just before the second Albirex goal. Here, LCS’s press is beaten. Lestienne does not even bother to press or win the ball back, leaving Albirex with 2 free players down the line. As Nicky Singh continues to run the ball down the line, the LCS players are out of position and dragged over. Even Hariss is ambling back and does not protect the space in front of the defense. This allows Nicky to cut infield and play a ball to the far side. Shuto Komaki holds up the ball intelligently, sucking Chris van Huizen inside before releasing the ball into space for the overlapping fullback Ryo Takahashi who slams it into the back of the net for Allbirex’s second. Just to recap, Lestienne does not track any Albirex player, Hariss does not cover the space in front of the defence while the far side winger Hafiz Nor is nowhere to be seen. This is all round lethargic and careless from the Sailors and a goal they should not have conceded even (especially!) when down to ten men. The lack of effort all round just 35 minutes into the game was abysmal. Surely, they should have run their butts off, keep it at 1-0, and get into half-time and hope the Coach can

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“Super” Signing – What Does It Mean for the Sailors’ Transfer Plans? How about Kodai?

Leave a Comment / Player Profiles, Transfers / Eddy Hirono

Well, this came out of the blue. There were no rumours of this signing happening – all the usual people in the know had not hinted at this signing as well. Supporters all assumed that Pedro Henrique would be back in a Mattar of weeks, not months, so we thought the plan was just to sit tight until then and let him make his comeback slowly. After all, Pedro had already come back from Brazil, and had been spotted chatting with fans in the stands. In fact, one fan (thanks Ryan Lim) even mentioned that he had spoken to Pedro a few weeks back and he had said he might be back in around six weeks’ time. Well, apparently not, according to the club article accompanying the signing of Manuel Herrera Lopez (Super), which states that “Súper is poised to take the place of Pedro Henrique in the Sailors’ first-team squad as the team launches an assault for the 2023 league title, with the towering 30-year-old Brazilian still in recovery following a season-ending injury in a 3-1 defeat to Geylang International last September.“ So this naturally raised some questions in the SailorFanTalk Telegram chat, and I was also hit by a flurry of messages wondering what’s going on, and what this means for our allocation of foreigners in the squad. Let’s take some time to answer some commonly-asked questions. Does this mean that Pedro Henrique is going to be de-registered? We don’t know for sure, but it is highly likely. Let’s do the math. We have Maxime Lestienne, Diego Lopes, Kodai Tanaka, and of course, Pedro Henrique on our books. While we can add more foreigners to this list, we can only register 4 of them for Singapore Premier League games. Please see below, an excerpt from the Singapore Premier League Regulations for 2023. Maximum of 4 players – Diego and Maxime show no signs of leaving (God please don’t let that happen), while Kodai Tanaka’s injury has spurred talk of him being replaced, but if you look at the rules, he must be replaced by an Asian player, and Super is not Asian. (I checked lol, cos I thought maybe he would somehow qualify as Filipino with his years at Ceres Negros). So logically, that means the club’s statement is to be taken literally, and Pedro Henrique will not be registered for the SPL squad for now. His injury is probably worse than what we as supporters had hoped for. Take care and see you soon, Pedro! How about Kodai Tanaka? Is he going to be replaced? Well, as long as the transfer window remains open, the Sailors can replace him. It’s a crushing blow for both the club, and Kodai himself, and it’s the last thing we’d wanna see. However, the club would be placing a lot of faith in untested youngster Abdul Rasaq if they were to choose not to replace him. Summarised very neatly by Deepanraj Ganesan in the tweet above, the clock is ticking. Kodai’s replacement must be an Asian player. Will we sign another Asian forward? Or boost our midfield ranks with that Asian slot? Only time will tell. How about Obren Kljajic? Wait, who? Ok I guess we should devote a section to him too. How about Obren Kljajic? Apparently, we have a U21 player by the name of Obren Kljajic (it gets easier to spell every time I spell it). We have heard that in pre-season, he played upfront, while various online sources state that his position is right-wing. Could he then be the one to replace Kodai Tanaka’s place in the squad? Considering that he seems to have Australian citizenship, and could thus fulfil the requirement of registering an Asian player in our 4th foreigner slot? We know next to nothing about him, so it remains to be seen if he will be trusted as Kodai’s replacement, or if the club will go out and sign someone. An unexpectedly exciting end to the transfer window! Written by Eddy Hirono if you haven’t got this season’s threads yet, the new jerseys are out on Shopee!!!! If you click on the links below and make a purchase, SFT gets commission of like a dollar plus, and you don’t pay more. Show your support for the work we do! And don’t forget to use your vouchers if you are a member. Check out Lion City Sailors Football Club 2023 SPL Home Jersey for $65.00. Get it on Shopee now! https://shope.ee/5panI7G7On?share_channel_code=2 Check out Lion City Sailors Football Club 2023 SPL Away Jersey for $65.00. Get it on Shopee now! https://shope.ee/5AL6Uq6bH0?share_channel_code=2 Check out Lion City Sailors Football Club 2023 SPL Purple GK Jersey for $65.00. Get it on Shopee now! (this one is our favourite!) https://shope.ee/d0Nxqsd7?share_channel_code=2 Check out Lion City Sailors Football Club 2023 SPL Green GK Jersey for $65.00. Get it on Shopee now! https://shope.ee/5fHWk5vXwf?share_channel_code=2

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[PREVIEW] Albirex Niigata (S) vs LCS – Time to End The Streak

1 Comment / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

Before every game, we will do a short preview and share some of our thoughts, and also predictions. Starting this season, all 3 of us at SailorFanTalk will give you our predictions, and we will track these over the course of the year. 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). You’ve heard it time and again from local football podcasters, rival clubs’ fans, press, etc. They say it in a variety of ways – some with a smirk, some matter-of-factly, some even with a sense of condescension, as if they had anything to do with the mighty Albirex team keeping up this impressive record. I am, of course, referring to the fact that LCS has still not beaten Albirex in competitive action (except in the Community Shield). It’s getting annoying to keep hearing this and while there is never a good time to play 5-time SPL champions Albirex, tonight’s game does fill me with some hope. Maybe it is because I am an optimist, maybe it is because I am an LCS fan. Or maybe I am just deluded – but if you’re still reading this, maybe you can see if you agree with me or you think I am grasping at straws. Albirex is a new team This is not a new problem, of course. I liken Albirex to a fearsome snake. Every year they shed 95% of their team, but somehow they still possess the ability to be so deadly, so dominant. Like a snake. Except snakes aren’t polite and do a cringeworthy dance with their supporters after every game. Ok ignore me – I am trying to generate some rivalry here. It is so difficult to hate Albirex. Their community outreach efforts are amazing, they have a fun academy dedicated to cheerleading, they play some lovely football, and most of all, they are always humble. Ok so maybe they are not like snakes at all. I digress. Back to the point about them being a new team, Albirex won the title last season but you may remember that they struggled at first. Out of the first 6 games, they dropped points in 4 (!) games, losing to Tanjong Pagar, and drawing with LCS, Hougang, and 10-man Geylang. This is unsurprising as unlike the other clubs who usually at least retain at least half a team, Albirex almost always have to start from scratch. In fact, it is amazing that they can always put up a strong showing, but that is probably testament to how strong the football scene is in Japan, such that even talent from their tertiary institutions and lower league clubs can thrive here. Like us, Albirex have already played two games this season, and recorded positive results in both. 3-0 vs Hougang in the Community Shield was followed by another 3-0 vs Young Lions in the League. However, that was about 2 weeks ago, and of course, the hope is that their team have not had a run of games to gel with each other yet. The form of Maxime Lestienne Maxime has started the season like a house on fire. 3 assists in the first game against Tanjong Pagar was followed by a good team goal against DPMM Brunei. Against DPMM, Maxime was unlucky not to add to his goal tally. A fizzing cross by Hafiz Nor was turned onto the post by him when it looked easier to score, while later in the game, he skipped through the whole DPMM midfield to fire a shot headed for the bottom corner, only for the keeper to deny him by pushing it against the post. He also came close to adding to his assists tally, while it was his searching cross that found Diego Lopes to head across goal for Kodai to find the crucial 2nd goal. He was a menace all night, and there is no reason that he can’t repeat the trick tonight. Crosses from Christopher van Huizen In Christopher van Huizen, Maxime has a very able ally down the left side of defence. We assume that Chris will start because Nur Adam’s injury means that the most likely U21 player to start will be Bill Mahmadou at rightback. While Chris is not the most robust of defenders, his ability to cross with both feet accurately and with pace make him a very valuable weapon down the left. As you can see from the Ball Touches Map from the last game against DPMM, Chris is not shy to get deep into enemy territory to support and/or offering a crossing option. This may mean that opponents will find it harder to double up on Maxime, because he will then be able to lay the ball back for Chris to put a dangerous cross into the box. With Kodai in the box, it has the potential to be a deadly combi as well, given Kodai’s aerial prowess. He has not had an assist yet, but mark my words, it will come. Who to look out for – Riku Fukashiro Of course, this preview would be too one-sided if I didn’t also highlight what we should fear from Albirex. Diminutive forward Riku has caught the eye despite not starting either of Albirex’s games. He has been a 2nd half substitute both against Hougang and against Young Lions. In that time, he has dazzled supporters with his nifty footwork, and sharp dribbling skills. He was a thorn in the side for both opponents and even managed a goal against Hougang. Even though he is a new player, there was already such an air of expectancy everytime he picked up the ball in or around the left touchline. He did not score against the Young Lions, but he was close – hitting the post barely 4 minutes after he came on. Watch him do his thing tomorrow –

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[Tactical Analysis] Room For Improvement (LCS 3 DPMM Brunei 1)

[POST-MATCH THOUGHTS] – Winning On A Cold Rainy Night In Bishan (LCS 3 DPMM 1)

1 Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

Pre-game, the club cheekily said in their Instagram post that it was time to do it on a “cold rainy night in Bishan“. For those who may not be familiar with the reference, this is one of English football’s greatest cliches, where if you wanted cast doubt on a foreign signing, you would claim that while he may be a world-beater, you would question if he would be able to “do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke“. The origin of this phrase was from Andy Gray who in 2011 ridiculously claimed that while Messi was a world-class talent, he would not be able to do well in an away game at Stoke, presumably because the physicality of the Stoke players, and awful weather conditions would combine to nullify Messi. DPMM Playing Like Stoke? Enough with the history lesson. If there was any team that was going to be Stoke-like last night, it certainly wasn’t the Sailors. DPMM, making their comeback to the SPL were physical and robust all night, fighting and scrapping hard to try to wrestle some control of the game. In some ways, it was pretty admirable to watch, given that they managed to pump themselves up for the fight when they had not played a high-level competitive league game for three years. I had the privilege of speaking to Coach Adrian Pennock after the game, and he gave praise to his players for their attitude. He also said he was filled with enthusiasm after the performance especially because he was dealing with some injuries in the squad, and also because key midfielder Josip Balic was out. However, even though it pains me to say this because Coach Pennock was such a gent in the post-match interview, the fans (myself included) did get mighty pissed off by the time-wasting antics of the Bruneians in the first half before the goal went in. The keeper seemed to take an age with every goal kick. He Pickford-ed at every opportunity (do yourself a favour and check it up on youtube to see what I mean – but basically this means a keeper wasting time by dramatically falling onto the ball and taking a long time to get up even though it is a routine save). In fact, he wasted so much time that at one goal kick, a small boy in the stands behind me shouted “What’s wrong with this goalkeeper? He take one kick take 50 years ah?” Kids say the darndest things, don’t they – but in this case he wasn’t exactly off the mark. Perhaps if we can have some sympathy for them, this is their first competitive game in a while, and Coach Pennock also referred to the fatigue suffered by his players, especially in the second half, so maybe they were just trying to slow the pace of the game down a little. Still doesn’t make all that diving and time-wasting OK, but oh well we got the win, so, moving on. Defensive Frailty? Much like the Tanjong Pagar game, there is a bit of a worry within me watching our Sailors play because while we look to be in control for large parts of the game, when we come under some pressure, it really seems like a sense of panic spreads within the team, and this period of pressure becomes a little sustained. We then have to rely on excellent goalkeeping, or last-ditch tackles to really try and keep our opponents out. Last night, the goal came from an error by Zharfan Rohaizad, who up till then had been pretty decent. He was called upon to save a few shots, and he did that well. He was also good with distribution too. However, the error was a glaring one as he passed the ball straight to Varankow and this eventually led to a goal. I think this happens sometimes when we play out from the back, and I liked that Coach Risto played down the error when he said – Zharfan had a decent game otherwise, especially considering the wet conditions. He made saves when he had to, clung on to some of the crosses well, and although I am sure he will not be happy with his overall performance, it is definitely something to build on. Defensively, I thought Lionel Tan had a great game and he seemed to crunch into many challenges, getting on the nerves of the DPMM players, who repeatedly got into verbal tussles with him. He was involved in 15 challenges, and won 11 of them. Impressively, he only gave away one foul despite his front-foot approach towards defending which led to him sometimes being pulled out of his favoured central-defensive position. Also impressive was his 93% passing completion rate with 54 passes played – a high percentage considering one of the often-held criticisms about him is his lack of ball-playing ability. Anu won 82% of his challenges as well, and was generally untroubled until a spell in the second half, where the whole team seemed to lose composure for a little bit. In our post-match interview with Hami Syahin, he mentioned that there will inevitably be times in a game where the players lack a little focus, or the opponents look to be dominant in attack, but the team would rely on Hariss to calm them down and help them remain composed. I have to admit that from my perspective in the stands, it really did seem that the period before DPMM’s goal already showed us hints that DPMM were going to trouble the scoresheet soon – so I am not so sure that the composure was really visible to us fans. Why the apparent sudden defensive frailty in the 2nd half? Frankly I cannot tell. I’ve already tasked Zach to look into this, and hopefully he will have some answers for us in the Tactical Analysis piece that should come out in the next few days! Quick Thinking Makes the First Goal Before I

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A Song in our Hearts

1 Comment / Daily Musings, Player Profiles / Eddy Hirono

The season starts on Friday, and while I’m sure you’re all excited to see our beloved Sailors again, a part of me still feels a tinge of sadness that club legend Song Ui-Young is not going to feature this year, after his departure to Nongbua Pitchaya. So before we leave the past behind and bring you all sorts of content for the season ahead, let’s take one last look back. Song’s first appearance for us was in 2012 (for Home Utd), and his last appearance for us was in 2022, so that makes it a decade of solid service for the club. Someone give the man a testimonial match! During that time, he thrilled us all with his goals and assists, captivated us with the quality of some of his goals, and last but not least, he represented us fans on the pitch with his tireless running and constant battling. This article has taken longer than usual to write, in part because I have been procrastinating, but also because how do you write something fitting for a club legend, something that does justice to the impact he had, and the huge hole he left in the heart of us fans? In the end, I decided that nothing is going to do justice to his legacy, but something is better than nothing, so here goes. Here is why we love our Singaporean Song. End Product What an unsexy and transactional title for the first reason we’ll miss our Korean-Singaporean superstar. We can’t run away from the truth though – a huge reason why we will miss him is because his numbers. His goals and assists will need to be made up by the rest of the team. In our earlier article (written before Song’s transfer to Nongbua Pitchaya) talking about Kodai Tanaka’s transfer to the Sailors, I had this to say: Yuuuuuup, I apologise. Clearly, I jinxed it and now Song is no more. Why did I even write that in the first place though? Let’s take a look at the stats from the last 5 years, when he started being deployed in attack / attacking midfield. Year Games Played Goals (G) Assists (A) G/A per Game 2018 26 19 4 0.88 2019 25 11 4 0.60 2020 12 9 0 0.75 2021 15 7 1 0.53 2022 31 16 4 0.65 Stats taken from Instat Just drawing from the stats above, it is perhaps not a stretch to say that whenever Song is on the pitch, the Sailors are more likely to score. Bear in mind that 2021 and 2022 saw Song having to share his minutes with many talented teammates as the Sailors started stockpiling quality in every position. However, whenever he was on the pitch, he was a threat. In our debut AFC Champions League campaign last year, many supporters in fact wanted to see Song play more than Kim Shin-Wook, and who could blame them? Song delivered the goods when it mattered most. He finished that campaign with 3 goals from 6 games, including 2 goals over K-League opposition Daegu FC. I remember being in the stands in Buriram and cheering like a madman when Song looped a header over the Daegu keeper to open the scoring in what would eventually be an epic 3-0 win, the Sailors’ first-ever win in the Champions League. Part ecstasy, part shock maybe – he was doing this to K-League opposition! But perhaps I should not have been so shocked – us supporters have a little nickname for Song. We call him “AFC Cup Song” because there’s some magic in continental football which seems to bring out the best in him. Who can forget how round after round, Song performed miracles in the AFC Cup, scoring a total of 8 goals in 10 games which eventually culminated in us winning the Zonal Finals against Ceres Negros FC. Filipino opposition, Indonesian opposition in hostile away grounds, under the lights at Jalan Besar Stadium – whoever, whereever, whenever, he did it all. He even scored in North Korea when he was still a South Korean citizen (gasps). Back to Buriram, and the 2022 Champions League campaign. Song even repeated the trick against Daegu, scoring an improbable volley from long range to threaten an upset in our final group game where qualification for the knockout stages hung in the balance. Alas, it was not to be, as we were knocked out of the competition, and little did we know, that was the last we would see of Song in continental competition. No more “AFC Cup” Song, and now, no more Song at all. This leaves us dangerously thin should we see an injury or severe loss of form for Kodai Tanaka. Abdul Rasaq has shown shoots of promise in his appearances for Young Lions last season, but he is a raw talent with 5 goals in 19 appearances for Young Lions. It would be unrealistic and unfair for the Sailors to rely on him should something happen to Tanaka. Bangers, bangers, bangers Alright, a slightly less transactional title this time. Song has over the years scored some absolute bangers – and in important matches too. Don’t just take my word for it – check out this compilation video we put together to highlight some of the ridiculous goals he scored. Once again, I will remind you that there is good reason to call him AFC Cup Song (hint: all the goals highlighted were from AFC competitions). Even in this small sample of goals we picked out, you will see that it consists of a left-foot banger from range, a right-foot banger from range, a looping header, and a placed finish after running past a whole bunch of defenders. A lot of variety for someone who is not just a goalscorer! An out-and-out striker would be pleased if he had such diversity in the goals he scored. The sheer quality of those goals captivated us. The crowd always went mad. Friends of mine

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