maxime lestienne – Page 2

[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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[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)

Leave a 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. It was a potential title decider just 2 weeks into the new season. However, both teams were far from being in title-challenging form, be it LCS’s new-look side settling in or DPMM playing in a far less competitive league of late. First Half LCS set up in their customary 4231, being relatively unchanged, bar Anu starting at centre back. Nur Adam, however, was replaced relatively early with a dislocated shoulder, so Van Huizen moved over to left back while Bill Mamadou filled in at right back. DPMM interestingly started in a 352/532 system not too dissimilar to the formation employed in their title-winning campaign in 2019 (image below). They were without one of their foreigners in Josip Balic, and Coach Adrian Pennock highlighted him as a key miss. Finding the free players Naturally, the free players for the 4231 team against a 532 team are the fullbacks because it is a 2v1 on the wings (winger and fullback (4231) vs one wingback (532)). However, just playing the ball to the fullbacks alone would make the team one-dimensional and the buildup flank-orientated (i.e. the ball only sticks to the wings). Here, seconds later from the previous image where the ball was on the left, LCS are able to find the far-sided fullback Bill Mamadou (pink) while the DPMM block is shifting over, allowing him time and space to drive the ball forward. After running with the ball a few meters, the DPMM midfield is slow to move across while the defence is too deep, creating a big space (red) in the centre. Unfortunately, Diego is too deep (pink). If LCS had been able to work the ball to Diego in this red area, he could do significant damage with the ball, given his ability. DPMM not up to speed Generally, DPMM seemed to be adapting to the game especially in the first half, even if they were moving slowly across and not compact – but the lead-up to the opening goal really summed up their lethargic approach. Here, LCS win a throw-in and take it quickly having seen DPMM’s right wingback caught out of position. Diego (red) spots this and makes a dart into the space. The covering centre-back is slow to respond and this leads to the cutback which Lestienne finishes. This is a routine error, with no one stopping LCS taking the quick throw in. In fact, even the seasoned #8 Hendra Azam is there but not even looking at the ball when the throw is taken. If DPMM want to go for the title again, such routine mistakes must not be repeated. While Coach Adrian Pennock told Eddy in a post-match interview that the players had thought the throw-in should have been awarded to them, it is still no excuse as players are taught to always play to the referee’s calls and be alert to what is going on around them. Second Half Luxury Players Switching Off Lestienne and Diego Lopes have been lauded for their plaudits with the ball, but off the ball, their contribution at times have been questionable especially later on in games. Here, LCS has just given the ball away. There are two pictures above and if you look at the first, what is happening there is the ball is attempted to be played into the box by the DPMM player. Lestienne sees four LCS players converging onto it, and gambles, by starting to angle his body forward and slowly jog forward in anticipation of a counter-attack if the ball can break kindly for an LCS player. This is either clever play, or coach’s instructions to gamble in such situations. However, when it becomes clear that there is some defending to be done, you will see that Tanaka and Lestienne have in fact continued advancing forward (observe the differences in their positions, and how they are now closer to the centre-circle), and make no attempt to close down space or put themselves closer to the action. Lopes is also watching the action instead of tucking in to be in a position to react to a potential loose ball. With Tanaka also upfront, this leaves LCS with just 7 outfielders to defend. This forces Lionel to step out to close the man down – far out from his preferred central defensive position (see below). He is not able to intercept, and the ball is swung to DPMM’s right. It eventually reaches Voronkov who forces a good save out of Zharfan. On another day, this could have been a goal. Akin to the Neymar-Mbappe-Messi situation at PSG, Vidakovic has to find a solution to ensure their marquee players do not cost the team defensively. Lack of control (and options) As the half wore on, both sides were starting to tire but with both sides pushing forward for a goal (be it Sailors for the third and DPMM for an equalizer), it remained a very open game. With Hariss the only defensive minded midfielder protecting the backline, and Hami naturally more attack-minded, the midfield was quite empty at times. Unfortunately given the centre-back situation, Anu had to be played in defense and there was no natural defensive midfielder on the bench. Perhaps Rusyaidi Salime could have come on to help plug the gap in midfield? While he isn’t a pure defensive midfielder, he posted pretty high defensive stats last season, and could have done a job in midfield. Conclusion As a whole, LCS generally played well, creating 2.1 xG against 1.27 of DPMM, especially factoring in the mistake by Zharfan. This was an improvement compared to the TPU game where they let in 1.78 xG against a

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[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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