Part I: MSL 2014 Team Review

The Malaysia Super League will be starting this Friday, and football fans across the country are excited of what’s in store for the league.

With all teams finalizing themselves, SarawakCrocs.com takes a closer look at what these teams are capable off, and where we predict they would be at the end of the season. The first list consist of the following six teams:

1) ATM FA
REVIEW: ATM is a title contender in the Super League this season with more quality signings made to beef up the already strong squad which consist of some of the best local players. Sathianathan has ensured ATM is disciplined on the pitch, with their strike force key to their season’s success.
COACH: B. Sathianathan
NICKNAME: The Gladiators
NEW FOREIGN SIGNINGS*: Spase Dilevski (Ex-Tottenham Hotspur), Juan Arostegui (Ex-Boca Juniors)
KEY PLAYERS: Spase Dilevski, Hairuddin Omar, Marlon Alex James, Juan Arostegui
PREDICTED FINAL RANK: Title challenger
GROUND: Stadium Selayang (17,000)

2) JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM
REVIEW: Johor Darul Ta’zim, or better known as JDT assembles the best in the country and is widely expected to be a title challenger. The likes of Pablo Aimar, and Luciano Figueroa would be enough to showcase that the team under the Crown Prince of Johor means business, and is vying for top spot. A side with top quality with massive home support.
COACH: César Ferrando Jiménez
NICKNAME: Southern Tigers
NEW FOREIGN SIGNINGS*: Pablo Aimar (Ex-Benfica), Luciano Figueroa(Ex-Panathinaikos)
KEY PLAYERS: Pablo Aimar, Luciano Figueroa, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, and Mohd Fadhli Mohd Shasi
PREDICTED FINAL RANK: Title challenger
GROUND: Stadium Larkin (30,000)

3) KELANTAN FA
REVIEW: Kelantan suffered the most when JDT went on a player spending spree, but the discipline team remains dangerous due to a massive number of emerging youngsters, and good ‘steals’ from Selangor FA. Kelantan will not return empty handed this season, but the lack of experience in their side would deny any hope to challenge for the title.
COACH: Steve Darby
NICKNAME: The Red Warriors
NEW FOREIGN SIGNINGS*: Brendan Gan (ex-Rockdale City Suns), Mohamed Shawky (ex-Middlesbrough), Mohammed Ghaddar(Lebanon international)
KEY PLAYERS: Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Francis Forkey Doe, Mohd Badhri Mohd Radzi
PREDICTED FINAL RANK: Top half
GROUND: Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium (22,000)

4) PBDKT T-TEAM
REVIEW: One of the underdogs in the MSL, but always ready to stun their more elusive opponents would describe T-Team the best. The squad lacks sufficient depth in many departments, hence why we feel it would take momentous efforts for Azraai Khor to accomplished more from his new team.  Despite that, Azraai Khor’s magic may just bring something to shout about this season, although we do feel it is unlikely.
COACH: Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah
NICKNAME: The Titans
NEW FOREIGN SIGNINGS*: Fabio Flor de Azevedo(ex-Emirates Club), Evaldo Gonçalves(ex-Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Patrich Wanggai(ex-Persipura Jayapura), Nelson San Martin (ex-Kedah FA)
KEY PLAYERS: Patrich Wanggai, Mohd Ramzul Zahini Adnan
PREDICTED FINAL RANK: Relegation battlers
GROUND: Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium (15,000)

5) PKNS FC
REVIEW: PKNS FC is expected to struggle this season as teams with strong financial backing move to improve their side with quality players, plucking them away from teams such as PKNS. Despite having some very talented local players, we believe that PKNS would not be able to handle the intense pressure from the MSL, and that Wan Jamak would be looking at a long and hard season this year.
COACH: Wan Jamak Wan Hassan
NICKNAME: The Red Ants
NEW FOREIGN SIGNINGS*: Kim Dong-Chan (ex-Persita Tangerang), Karlo Primorac (Sime Darby FC)
KEY PLAYERS: Nazmi Faiz, Karlo Primorac
PREDICTED FINAL RANK: Relegation battlers
GROUND: MBPJ Stadium (24,000)

6) PAHANG FA
REVIEW: The Malaysia Cup 2013 winner would be eager to continue their success in the MSL this season, and they have retained most of the players whom won them the Malaysia Cup. With two new imports, Pahang has indeed bolstered their side, but we feel they have not done enough to compete with preparations made by other bigger teams, particularly JDT and Kelantan.
COACH: Ronald Smith
NICKNAME: The Elephants
NEW FOREIGN SIGNINGS*: Zesh Rehman (ex-Bradford City), Dickson Nwakaeme(Kelantan FA)
KEY PLAYERS: Matías Conti, Damion Stewart, R.Gopinathan, Mohd Razman Roslan
PREDICTED FINAL RANK: Top half
GROUND: Darul Makmur Stadium (40,000)

NOTE:
*Only indicates teams which are well known, or the teams they excelled best in their careers.

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