Sarawak coach Robert Alberts is elated his frontline team are now more effective but has demanded better performances from his four foreign players to enable the Crocs to have more bite.
Except for Bosnian striker Muamer Salibasic who is still nursing a knee injury, and defender Gabor Gyepes’ performance, Alberts wants Milorad Janjus and Iran striker Aliredza Abbasfard to have more bite in their performances.
During the match against Sime Darby on Tuesday, the coach partnered Milorad with local strikers, and rested Aliredza.
Milorad and Aliredza’s partnership had failed to impress during the encounter against Kelantan, which the Crocs eventually lost 1-0.
“The new formation is better now, but I expect more from our foreign players. If you ask me, our foreign players are still not up to the mark.
“The foreign players should be more influential in the team,” noted Alberts.
He said there was never a plan to play Milorad and Aliredza together, but Salibasic’s injury forced him to try the combination against Kelantan. He said it was also not easy for his team as they had been playing against the top teams in the previous two matches.
“The victory over Sime Darby showed our strength, that we can beat any team in the league if we have our full squad.
“This is the positive sign (3-0 victory over Sime Darby) in our team.”
He said Sime Darby played good attacking football, with commendable passing and strong foreign players.
Alberts said it was a deserving victory for his team and was delighted the team had earned their first win in the Super League.
What delighted him most was their clinching a big win, the biggest so far recorded by any team in the Super League.
He said his team deserved to be awarded the two penalty kicks, which team captain Joseph Kallang Tie and Gabor coverted.
“If the penalty kicks were not given to us, our players could have scored the field goals,” he added.
On the second round FA Cup match against Selangor on Tuesday at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya, Alberts – echoing the rest of the coaches previously – expressed disdain over the bad condition of the pitch.
“Most coaches are complaining about the bad pitch and I am also worried that it will affect our game,” added Alberts.
Last year, he had complained about the long grass on the pitch, which was followed up by Armed Forced coach B. Sathianathan recently.
Alberts said with full players and good pitch, he was confident his team were capable of beating the Red Giants and any
team in the league, adding that all teams in the Super League were capable of winning and losing their games.
Meanwhile, Sarawak football fans are unhappy with the Super League match fixtures as
most of Sarawak home matches in Super League are played on Tuesday night.
Tuesday is a working and school day, and many fans are unable to make it to the State Stadium to watch the match.
Alberts said he could understand the fan frustration but did not want to dwell on the matter.
Instead, with a wry smile, he said: “Nothing much that we can do as the match fixtures are decided by the tournament’s organiser.”
Source: BERNAMA
