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[Post-Match Thoughts] Five-Star Performance (Hougang 0 LCS 5)

2 Comments / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

Life is much easier, and writing is much easier when the Sailors win, and win in such fashion. If you thought that this game was a walk in the park (which was something we suggested in our preview), then you’d be both wrong and right. To help illustrate that, let’s take a look at the stats. Some very interesting stats. You would be forgiven for thinking that the Sailors were lucky to win the game if you look at the respective xG achieved by each team. However, that came down to two reasons – more patient chance creation, and better individual quality. More Patient Chance Creation 2.5 xG vs 2 xG suggests that Hougang created nearly as good chances as the Sailors did – however one look at the Shots stat changes that thought. Hougang took 25 shots, mostly speculative, while the Sailors were a bit more patient with their possession, and took only 15 shots. If you do some very basic back-of-the-napkin math, Hougang clocked in at 0.08xG per shot taken, while the Sailors clocked in at 0.17xG per shot taken – so each Sailors shot was twice as likely to make it into the back of the net. That probably accounts for the Sailors’ high passing stat as well. As much as Hougang are a possession-hungry team (this was only their 2nd out of 8 games where they have less possession than their opponents), the Sailors played more passes than Hougang, perhaps in a bid to fashion better chances for their forwards. I will now show you a comparison of Sailors shots against Hougang shots, with a particular emphasis on shots that are 0.20xG and above. Hougang’s shots above 0.20xG LCS’s shots above 0.20xG (Diego’s goal + 2 Abdul Rasaq goals) In fact, if you look at Hougang’s shot chart, 14 of their 25 shots came from non-threatening areas of the pitch. Of these 14 shots, only 4 made it on target. Perhaps with a little more patience, Hougang could have fashioned slightly better shooting opportunities. That being said – Coach Risto and his staff must be analysing the tape to see if they can limit the number of shots being taken. Even if these shots are from non-threatening range, how many times have we seen bad things happen just by virtue of the fact that the ball is in dangerous areas? A wicked deflection off a defender leaving a keeper stranded, an unsighted goalkeeper not seeing a shot till it’s too late because of the mass of bodies in front of him, an unlucky bounce off an uneven pitch (thank goodness TPY Stadium is no more), a save that is parried out to another attacker – the possibilities are endless. To achieve true domination and to allow for less variables in the game, we should be trying to limit our opponents from taking such shots. Looking at the graphic above, 11 of those shots were in a decent area, and 3 were on target. On another day, some of these will go in, or lead to major chaos. Better Individual Quality SPL Twitter, SPH, and the club’s official website all led with similar headlines – Maxime Lestienne stole the show. It’d take a real fool or contrarian to argue that Maxime didn’t have a good game. 2 goals, 2 assists, all of which where he looked a class apart from the rest on the pitch. He kicked things off with a stunning free kick, and wrapped things up with an unerring finish into the far corner after blitzing past the Hougang defence. In between, he was involved in what is becoming a trademark cutback for Abdul Rasaq to finish, and also a move straight from the futsal courts where Diego used him to hold up the ball and then release to him for an easy finish in the box. It’s now 5 goals, and 8 assists in 7 games for our Belgian superstar – the only game where he did not register a goal or an assist is the 4-0 defeat to Albirex where we were reduced to ten men for the majority of the game. Even opposition fans will concede that Maxime is a class apart, and this ties in to the point made earlier. I showed you the graphic with 3 of our goals being 0.20xG and above. Well, the other 2 goals were below 0.20xG and they were Maxime’s goals. One was the beautiful freekick that had Zaiful Nizam grasping at thin air, while the other was pretty underrated if you ask me. Media outlets described it as a “neat finish”, but I don’t think that does justice to the difficulty of the finish, especially given that Zaiful is a very accomplished keeper. Maxime basically put it into the only part of the goal where Zaiful would not be able to reach, and that finish, particularly while running at pace, is not an easy one. But the night wasn’t just about Maxime. Shoutout also to Zharfan, Abdul Rasaq, and maybe a surprise one in this list, Anu. Let me elaborate Zharfan In the post-match reactions, I spoke to a fan and assumed that he would name Maxime as Man of the Match, given he notched 2 goals and 2 assists. However, I was caught by surprise a little as he named Zharfan as his pick for Man of the Match. And that got me thinking – while the score was 5-0, games really can turn on moments. Hougang is a team low on confidence, but what would have happened if they managed to get one or two goals when the Sailors had not raced away to a 3-goal lead yet? That might have turned the game, and if you look back at the game, Zharfan did pull off some crucial saves, not least the double save from Sahil who absolutely thwacked the ball at goal from a narrow angle, which was followed up by a good parry when Gabriel Quak tried to curl

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[Preview] Hougang United v LCS – Walk in the Park?

2 Comments / Match Previews / Eddy Hirono

The thing you should focus on most in this headline is the question mark. It is no surprise that LCS are huge favourites coming into this. While we stumbled last time out against Tampines Rovers, we must bear in mind that Tampines are unbeaten in a run that stretches all the way back 14 games to last season – they have been playing very well, and they were a tough opponent, as we illustrated in our preview. We have lost to Albirex and Tampines so far this season, but in all our other games, we have done enough to get the win. Some wins have been more convincing than others, but at least we are getting results, and I don’t think we played badly in those games. Contrast that with Hougang United, who have lost 5 of the 6 games they have played, and in 3 of those losses, they even took the lead first. In fact if you look at their only victory this term, their 3-2 win against Balestier Khalsa, they came close to throwing away a 2-goal lead there too, when they allowed Balestier to come back to 2-2, but managed to grab a late winner. It is perhaps an understatement to say that they have been thoroughly unconvincing this campaign. Soooooo walk in the park for the Sailors? Or walk in the park but then you look into the trees and see a pontianak (a type of ghost that loves hanging out in trees)? Let’s try to break it down. Comparing 2023 to 2022 Trying to diagnose Hougang’s problems is a tricky task – you don’t quite know where to start. Let’s take a look at the stats comparison – They are down in almost every statistic, except number of passes per game, and pass accuracy (which feed into a superior ball possession stat too). Worryingly, their chances created and number of key passes is almost half – which suggests that while they are holding the ball, they are not translating it to goalscoring chances – it is inefficient football, or “sterile possession”, a term used to describe late Wenger-era Arsenal, where the teams were accused of holding the ball for the sake of holding the ball. But why is this the case? No Shahdan, no Krajcek One possible reason is that the team really misses their key players. Krajcek’s absence is perhaps the easiest factor to pinpoint. Just this season, Hougang looked good against Geylang in the first half. Then, Krajcek went off, and they promptly collapsed and ended up losing that game. In 2 league games this season, Krajcek has 1 goal and 2 assists, a total of 3 goal contributions. Despite not playing since then, Krajcek has been involved in half of the total number of goals scored by Hougang – they have only scored 6 goals this season. This is a major problem. If you look at last season’s stats as well, Krajcek has 12 goals and 17 assists from 33 games. That’s almost 1 goal contribution per game. Take that out from the team and attacking-wise, you’re bound to suffer. Defensively, Krajcek also averaged 5.3 tackles and 4.4 interceptions per game. You’re perhaps beginning to see the real influence that Krajcek has on the team now – not just offensively, but defensively. This is why there was an excited flurry of activity near where I was seated in the Geylang v Hougang game when Krajcek went off – as the punters around me started talking about the possibility of having a wager or two on Geylang to come back in the game. Krajcek’s influence is obvious for all to see – he is the one who starts the moves, is in the middle of the moves, and also the one who finishes the moves. Hougang’s acquisition of Shahdan could perhaps have helped alleviate the creative burden on Krajcek’s shoulders, but it is unfortunate that Shahdan himself has also been injured. Shahdan had 5 goals and 6 assists last season for the Sailors, and chipped in with an average of 0.66 key passes per game. This could have been helpful for Hougang, but he is also someone we do not need to contend with tonight. Brian Ferreira Simply put, his output is not good enough. When you watch him, it’s very easy to get frustrated, even as a neutral. 7 matches, no goals, 1 assist. That is not good enough for someone who is tasked with leading the attack or linking midfield to attack. Add to that the shocking stat that he has only made one key pass all season, and his lackadaisical approach to moving to get the ball from his teammates, or win the ball back, and it is no surprise that my friends who are Hougang fans are calling for his head. Regardless of whether he is a foreign player or a local player – the above stats are simply not good enough. But of course, stats don’t always tell the full story, so sometimes the eye test comes into play. The eye test tells me that Brian Ferreira can’t be bothered to get the ball if it involves a full sprint. He is often jogging, or even walking, and that makes it hard for his teammates to get him the ball. Interestingly, the last Hougang match I watched, when they surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Tanjong Pagar, Brian Ferreira ran a lot more, and had a new determination to his game that I had not seen before in his previous 6 appearances. I am not sure why there has been such a change – it could be tactical, it could be that he was previously dealing with an injury, but whatever it is, hopefully tonight we see the Brian Ferreira of the last 6 games, and not the Brian Ferreira of the Tanjong Pagar game. Shifting the Focus back to Sailors Enough about Hougang United – let’s look at our own Sailors. Doubtlessly, the

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[Tactical Analysis] Soundly Beaten (Tampines 4 LCS 3)

2 Comments / 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. It was the best attack against the best defence, and my oh my, was it a memorable match indeed. Tampines’ approach Tampines’ positional play approach meant they had very different and well-defined shapes both on and off the ball. On the ball, their shape was not too similar to LCS, in a 4-2-3-1 shape. However, it was off the ball where Gavin really worked his positional play system. Off the ball, Tampines were in a 3-2-4-1/3-4-2-1 shape. Irfan would tuck in and form a back 3 with Milos and Shuya, the other centrebacks; Glenn would push up and hold the width on the left while Faris would hold the width on the right. Saifullah would also come in field from the left, with him and Yasir operating as the 2 playmakers behind Boris. This made Tampines extremely secure in possession; their 3-2 shape in defense made it almost impossible to be pressed (because of the number of passing options), especially when the midfield pivot is extremely stable. Add to that occasional dropping movements from Saifullah or Yasir to help hold the ball, that made it hard for LCS to take the ball off them. They also had outlets wide in the form of Glenn and Faris. LCS’s approach LCS’s approach was simple. Stay compact in their 4-2-3-1 shape and try to pick Tampines off on counter-attacks with their superb attackers on the transition. Exploiting leftbacks Tampines did this to perfection, targeting Chris (who has struggled in recent games) while LCS really struggled to target Tampines’ own leftback Glenn Kweh. Here, for the Tampines equalizer, Saifullah drops deep and then switches the ball out to Faris Ramli. Faris stays wide, stretching the pitch and allowing more time for him to take the ball down. Here, the LCS leftback, Chris van Huizen is a good few meters away and is only just jogging over. Van Huizen is then subsequently beaten easily by Faris who crosses the ball, forcing a keeping mistake from Zharfan and Yasir scores the equalizer. This was a relatively textbook goal from Tampines. Tampines ensured they had a local numerical superiority with Saifullah, making it hard to press and drawing Sailors over to the left side of the pitch. Once Tampines felt LCS had moved sufficient number of players over, they would isolate Chris van Huizen 1 vs 1 with Faris Ramli, and exploit their superior individual quality in that particular 1 vs 1 duel. It has to be said though while Chris took his time going out to Faris, Chris received little support from Lestienne in front of him or a covering midfielder or centreback and this could explain his reluctance to close Faris down quickly. It remained quite puzzling in the second half too, when Chris was obviously tired and struggling even more (before Faris was taken off) that Risto did little to help him, whether it be bringing on Zulqarnaen on the left (and switching Chris to rightback since they were chasing the game) or offering more support defensively to Chris. LCS themselves could have done the same to their opponents’ left back but failed to do so. Glenn Kweh, also another winger turned fullback has had shaky moments defensively, be it on his international debut against Hong Kong or his own goal later in the game. He was relatively untested with Hafiz Nor particularly ineffective against him. Lestienne on the other flank was also struggling against Irfan Najeeb. As mentioned earlier, with Tampines 3-2-4-1/3-4-2-1 shape, Irfan Najeeb would generally be conservative and not overlap, making him mostly goal-side of Lestienne. While Lestienne did assist the opener, he was generally ineffective against Irfan – nowhere near his usual high standards. Perhaps if Lestienne could run at Glenn Kweh directly, or exploit the space when Tampines moved from a back 3 to a back 4 when Glenn Kweh was high up the pitch, it would have been more effective. Diego too conservative in his positions? The LCS midfield often relied on rotations amongst Hami, Hariss and Diego to advance the ball. However, this often was not ideal. Quite often, Diego (red) would be picking the ball up deep. This was definitely not ideal. Diego is one of LCS’s best players and you would want him picking up the ball in tight pockets deep in the Tampines half making full use of his technical ability, not picking up the ball closer to his goal under lesser pressure. This was an extremely ineffective way to progress the ball forward and LCS surely has to work on this – get Diego the ball in tighter areas, further up the field. Conclusion As much as LCS coach Risto claimed it was a new team and still missing one of the foreigners, the Sailors were comprehensively played off the park on the day. The Sailors have had generally the same issues even since they won the league in 2021. In the bigger games facing opposition of similar quality, they have been too reliant on transitions and counter attacks. With a far weaker defense (as compared to under Coach Kim) and with a more progressive playstyle, this has led to the Sailors being porous defensively, able to use their superb attack to bail them out against lesser sides but totally ineffective against better sides. Looking forward, with Bernie signed, Shawal could play along the wing once again and give some flexibility in swapping the wingers as compared to Hafiz Nor who is primarily a touchline right winger. If the plan moving forward is to play on the counter in bigger games, Shawal and Lestienne in transition would be far more deadly than what has

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Not Good Enough (Tampines 4 LCS 3)

3 Comments / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

It took a while to write this one because work was busy af. If I am being completely honest with myself, perhaps a part of me just knew that this was gonna be painful to write. To lose this game by 1 goal only felt like a major stroke of luck – and I am not just talking about Glenn Kweh’s exquisitely-taken volley which gave us an undeserved glimmer of hope. Really, what a goal. It reminded me of Robin Snake van Persie’s goal against Charlton all those years ago, just of course, at the wrong end. It was a rare moment of joy in what was otherwise a terrible game to sit through. At no point did I feel that the Sailors deserved to win the game. We played well for 8 minutes, deservedly took the lead with a sublime pass from Maxime Lestienne (of course), and Shawal Anuar got a goal on his first start for the club. After that, it was just terrible to watch. We were so so passive, and although the fans tried their best to keep chanting and keep encouraging the team, I could audibly hear the frustration growing amongst the supporters. I put off looking at the Instat statistics for a long time, because I was afraid of what I would see. But here goes – a stat attack: Out-shot, out-passed, out-fought – the stats confirm what the eyes tell us. I think if I wanted to write all my observations and list all my disappointments, it’d take an eternity, so I will limit myself to two or three main points. I will also highlight some positives – ok I’ll start with this because I’ll be done in a jiffy. So, let’s get the positives out of the way. Nathan Mao Huge positive, this. Earlier this season, Sailors fans were introduced to the talents of 16 year-old Jonan Tan. On Friday night, it was the turn of an even younger prospect – Nathan Mao. Nathan was only 15 years and 5 days old when he made his debut, in the process breaking the record for youngest debutant in the SPL, previously held by Young Lions defender, Raoul Suhaimi (who I am a big fan of). Nathan came on late, and I think most of us thought that this was just a chance for the young lad to get some minutes – and it probably was. I don’t think Coach Risto sent him on thinking that he would make a difference and help us clawback a 2-goal lead. But it didn’t matter to young Nathan, who made the most of his time spent on the pitch. Within seconds, you could tell he wasn’t just gonna see out the minutes meaninglessly and just be a stat. He came on, and made incisive runs to try to get the ball. He was also a prolific “scanner”, immediately checking over his shoulder repeatedly to see where the space was, and where any potential opponents may be. For those who may be less acquainted with “scanning”, or “visual exploratory frequency”, this article may be of help. He managed to win 2 free kicks in his time on the pitch, including the incident where he got crunched by Milos Zlatkovic, who decided not to take any risks, even though the lad was 14 years old barely a week ago. Congrats Milos, you can add child abuse to your CV (just a joke, calm down). A proud moment for the boy and his family I am sure, and it was nice to see that regardless of what happened in the game, the Sailors fans were in full voice welcoming Nathan to the pitch and cheering his every touch. Nathan is one to watch! Anu In a match crying out for some movement, some aggression, it was kinda shocking that it took until the 84th minute for Anu to come on. Even though we never stopped singing for the team, it was clear to us once Faris scored that we were not gonna launch any sort of comeback. Anu’s introduction gave us something to shout about. And when Nathan came on too, suddenly there was movement, and even though we fans never truly believed we would get the equaliser, the heart and the effort made it easier for us to be loud and proud. Fans have a responsibility of lifting the team when they are down, but I truly believe that it’s a two-way process – the players also have to give something for the fans to hold on to, or the fans will lose steam. Anu gave us that. Now let’s move on to the negatives. Hariss Harun Believe me, I hate to do this. As a 35 year-old, I grew up supporting football not old enough to really take in Fandi’s talents, or enjoy watching the whole career of legends such as Nazri Nasir, Rafi Ali, Aide Iskandar, etc. So my hero growing up was Hariss. I have Hariss shirts at home and I think it is clear that he is no longer as mobile as he used to be. Thing about Hariss is that he still is able to affect games with his experience, and his decision-making. His leadership qualities are also held up by many as a reason to continue playing him in the national team and in the Sailors team. As recently as a few weeks back, when we spoke to Hami Syahin, he mentioned how Hariss actually gives a sense of calmness to the players when they defend transitions. Unfortunately, I think the Tampines game is one where he was really shown up. On transitions, it did not look like Hariss knew how to stop Tampines. On more than a few occasions, instead of pressing up to the ball, us fans were disappointed to see Hariss decide to take up a conservative position as he actively jogged away from the ball instead of trying to win it. This resulted in Tampines having a lot

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[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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[Post-Match Thoughts] Three and Easy (LCS 3 Geylang 0)

1 Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

There were a few hairy moments, but in the end, the result never felt in doubt. Let’s hit you with a stat attack first – which may make it look like it was abit less comfortable than it was. Now that you’ve had some time to make your own snap judgments of the respective teams and what they did well, I leave you with a few thoughts. Zharfan’s Impact on the Game Zharfan had a good game. He saved 9 shots, and while most of them were from non-threatening areas, every shot/chance/interaction does present a keeper with the chance to screw up – and he did not. The same could not be said of Ridhwan Fikri, who had a very nervy game. Not only did he concede a penalty, his ill-advised rushes out of the box, coupled with the lack of composure in those situations, led to pretty disastrous results. Some of these were punished, some weren’t. He could also arguably have done better with Hafiz Nor and Rasaq’s shots, given that he managed to touch them. Back to Zharfan, look at the areas where those shots were coming in. Of the 9 saves, only 4 of these were from inside the box, and 3 of them were from reallly far out. 1 shot stands out in particular, and that’s the dot that is right next to the penalty spot. This was when Iqbal Hussain was given way too much time to sweep a shot on target, but luckily for us, he hit it tamely and Zharfan caught the ball well. For the other 3 shots on target in the box, the Geylang players were surrounded by Sailors defenders, so the angle did not favour the Geylang players. Zharfan will have tougher tests to come, but it is definitely encouraging for him to pick up his 1st clean sheet, especially after the chastening result last week against Albirex and the mistake he made against DPMM. Sailors Stay Patient and Create Better Chances While Geylang sought to test Zharfan from everywhere, you can see that the Sailors opted for a more patient approach, waiting to get into the box before shooting. This in the end contributed to the Sailors win. You can see this in the xG comparison between the teams, which stands at 2.5 for the Sailors v 0.94 for Geylang. Even if you remove 0.75 from the Sailors tally because it is inflated by the penalty award, it still is a healthy differential of 1.75 v 0.94. It was also important especially I feel, for Chris van Huizen to finally get off the mark in terms of assists. More and more you will see in games that opponents like to collapse their defence into the box, and stay compact and narrow to avoid being sliced open with a Maxime/Hami pass, or a Diego/Shawal dribble. It is then important in such games that Chris is able to punish these defences for defending just the width of their box, with his trusty crossing. Chris is a rare Singaporean player who can get some real whip on his crosses whether on his left or his right foot. On Wednesday, the second goal was created by patient play from two players – Adam Swandi and Maxime Lestienne. First, Lestienne passed up a chance to shoot, when Ridhwan rushed out and made a hash of his clearance. See below. He could have chosen to shoot from there, but he did not. He dribbled all the way into the box, and then instead of whipping a blind cross into the danger zone, he had the presence of mind to pick out Adam Swandi on the edge of the box. Even from here, you could have expected Adam Swandi to perhaps try to curl a shot in to the far post – but he turns that down, and instead waits for Chris van Huizen to provide support on the left. CvH is not even in the frame above yet, but Adam buys time and then plays him in for him to cross to Diego to score. This pattern of trying to create better shooting chances was also repeated in the last goal of the game, where Maxime turned down a chance to shoot, and instead squared the ball back for Rasaq to smack into the net. In light of Kodai potentially missing the whole season, the Sailors may need to continue creating high-quality chances, rather than quantity, now that we lack an elite finisher. Shoutout to Bill Mahmadou Quick shoutout to Bill Mahmadou, who only played half a game, but whose contribution indirectly led to the first two goals being scored. If you watch the highlights of 1-0 and 2-0, you will see that it seems like Bill was targeted by Geylang as a pressing trigger. Each time he got the ball, two or three Geylang players converged on him, trying to put pressure on him. This didn’t work as intended, as both times he managed to get a crucial pass away – first to Diego Lopes in acres of space, and then to Maxime Lestienne for him to launch an aerial through-pass behind the high backline (who had pressed up also to support Geylang’s press). It was incredible footwork and composure, especially for someone so young and so tall/big. Bill also gave the supporters something to cheer about when he absolutely bodied a Geylang winger into touch with a strong bodycheck. He not only passed the eye-test, he put up some really encouraging stats as well, despite only playing 45min. The stats back up what we see. He was efficient in using the ball, won most of his challenges, and even got in the occasional dribble. A very encouraging outing for the big man! Hopefully his injury is not serious, because he is one of the few U23 players we have who has really cemented a first-team spot. With Nur Adam also out, we will need Bill to stay fit. Frivolous Thought of the

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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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[POST-MATCH THOUGHTS] – Clear and Obvious Refereeing Error (Albirex 4 LCS 0)

Leave a Comment / Post-Match Thoughts / Eddy Hirono

The first 10min of the game was pretty even, and you probably know what happened after that, and what we are going to spend 99% of the time in this article talking about. Yes – it was that horrendous decision made by the refereeing team to send Anu off for an innocuous pull on Tadanari Lee on the halfway line. Let’s get this straight. Foul? Definitely yes. Yellow card? Definitely yes, it was cynical, calculated to stop an opponent from going past him. Red card? Nah you’re having a laugh. Anyone who’s ever played football knows this – if you’re gonna bring your man down, bring him down early. Do not let him go all the way into the penalty area, or just outside, where conceding a freekick or a penalty kick can have disastrous consequences. Manchester City practically turned this into an art form – the sight of Fernandinho putting on an innocent face after he trips someone on the counter is both annoying and also funny. Enough of the preamble – let’s dive right into it. I will try to be as objective as possible and lay down the facts as they are – feel free to let us know in the comments, or on our IG post if you have an alternative view. We’ll do a step-by-step analysis. We won’t even bother to talk about the rest of the game because once the red card was shown, the referee killed the game. Facing Albirex is tough enough with 11 men – with 10 men it’s almost impossible. Was it a foul? And was it a foul deserving of a yellow card? I don’t think Anu, or even the most hardened LCS fan will deny that this was 101% at least a yellow card. Tadanari Lee had cleverly flicked the ball around Anu, and was about to race onto it when he was pulled back slightly. I don’t even think Tadanari Lee made a meal of it. He was blameless in this – he tried to go for the ball, he was pulled, it was a tactical foul. Answer: Yes it was a foul, and yes, it definitely deserved a yellow. What is the VAR process? When can a VAR intervene? To answer this question, there is no better place to start than looking at what FAS themselves said in a press release prior to the start of the season. This is consistent with the International Football Association Board’s rules, specifically the VAR Protocol, which states that – Looking at the above rules, the VAR should assist the referee to check if a red-card offence has been committed. The on-pitch referee had given a yellow card, but it is appropriate for the VAR to check, and advise the referee if he feels there has been a mistake. In this case, we can assume that the VAR felt that this was a foul that denied a goal scoring opportunity. Not only that, but the VAR felt that this was a potential sending-off offence. Let’s look at IFAB’s rules when it comes to sending-offs for denying goal scoring opportunities. Focus on the wording here. The key words to look out for here have been highlighted in yellow. To qualify for a red card, the referee needs to be sure that Anu’s actions have denied a goal, or an OBVIOUS goal-scoring opportunity. There are two questions to then ask:- Was Anu’s foul a foul that denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity? I shall start referring to the denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity as a DOGSO offence for the ease of my typing and your reading. Whether or not Anu’s foul is a DOGSO, is dependent on four factors. These four factors are :- General direction of the play Let’s clear up the easy one – “general direction of the play”. This is an important factor to consider because even if the foul were to happen in the penalty area for example, which is obviously a dangerous area of the pitch – if the attacker was moving away from the goal to such an extent that he is unlikely to score, then it cannot be said that an OBVIOUS goal scoring opportunity has been denieed. In this case, I would say that Tadanari Lee’s push of the ball is right towards goal, and so factor no. 2 is fulfilled. Distance between the offence and the goal The next easy one is factor no. 1. There is obviously a reason for why distance between the offence and the goal is a factor to be considered. Generally, the further away from goal a player is, the more uncertainty there is when it comes to scoring the goal. Any number of things can happen – the player may lose control of the ball, the defenders may catch up, the keeper has more time to set himself, etc etc etc. Let’s take a look at the still image of when Anu fouls Tadanari Lee. Try not to chuckle (or chuckle in pain if you are me) when you see that the foul literally happens not just in the centre circle, but on the halfway line. An easy decision here on whether factor no. 1 is fulfilled – it is very far from goal and so this is a clear “no”. Likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball I think the touch taken by Tadanari Lee to bring it around Anu is a smart one, and I think he pushed it the right distance to still be able to get to the ball. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a very good touch, and Tadanari Lee would have been able to reach it and regained control of the ball. Factor no. 3 is thus fulfilled. Location and number of defenders I think this one is debatable. You can see in the image above that there are 2 other defenders with Anu. Bill is closer to his own touchline

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