There also so many thoughts that I like to share from the aftermath of the Asian Cup qualifier match bwtn Singapore and Iran that I dunno where to start from.
Ok lets not talk about Sun Baojie the referee, cause we all know he’s a bastard. Anyone got template for death treat letter? Perhaps we can issue him one…
Next, yes Iran is an traditional Asian soccer powerhouse.
But for all of that, we know that teamwork & tactical organization can help to neutralize opposition’s individual and Raddy’s team in the past have shown to be capable of being organized and frustrating the opposition.
With that in mind, I don’t care whether it is Iran, Japan, Korea. The fact is we are capable of holding our own against these teams if the Lions play to their true ability and semangat.
Now lets try to decipher more of last night’s game and my views.
Mental aspect - Players too emotional
Raddy was right. The players again could not recover from that mental block after the penalty conceded and the soft goal given away for Iran’s second.
Understandably, Precious & Farra lost their confidence and morale and this filtered through the team.
The goal NAS pulled back then gave the Lions their best spell where they played with more belief, but not necessarily the calmness and guile.
It was the same during the 2nd half up till we got counter-attacked for the third goal, it was more brute than guile.
Subsequently after our net got bulged for the third time, most of our Lions hearts sank, including the fans & ‘spectators’.
When NAS got into some entanglement with the Iran players, I suspect that it will affect him after that and it did. The concentration just wasn’t there anymore.
Concentration is the key. Being emotional to have to spirit to win is one thing, able to handle that emotion and turn it into good performance to ensure that is another.
Formation, Tactics, Players
4-4-2 with 2 defensive mids? Perhaps a 4-4-1-1 when you already knew that we were trying to at least not to lose this game and attempt to win if possible. Yes it was impotant to denfd deep but playing 2 up resulted in gaps between the central mids and the fwds.
Anyway I never thought Aleks and NAS can form a good partnership, and I think they never managed to. Bascially they are 2 fwds who play with their physical presence. You might think this is unfair for Aleks when he plays in the S-League, but in int’l games, his average footwork come to nought.
I would think you needed a more ‘guile’ player like Shahril Ishak, Indra, or Khairul to play behind Aleks or NAS, or possibly Agu, when he recovers in a 4-4-1-1 against more technical teams.
Farra & Hariss together? A fellow blogger has acknowledged perhaps its another similarity in style. Actually I do share the same sentiments to a certain extent. But Hariss do venture more. Just that I felt that a withdrawn striker or attacking midfield player will complement it better.
N man, I did think Hariss was one of those who put it a decent showing last night, considering his inexperience at intl level.
Substitutions
Noh Rahman for Farra?
I have said umpteen times. Noh Rahman can play in a DM position, BUT, only either in a 3 man centre midfield, OR, in the Sleague.
One must understand, there is a difference in requirement for DM in a 2 man and a 3 man centre midfield.
Considering last night’s situation, I thought Shi Jiayi would have been a better option. A better passer who spreads play, rather than bring on another DM. But then again, Jiayi has just recovered from some injury I think.
Then again, am I in a position to question Raddy?
My next entry will probably talk about the general deficiencies facing the Singapore Lions. I am already gathering some thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment