MALAYSIA SUPER LEAGUE 2016: Selangor vs Sarawak, 1 March 2016
A promising display first quarter of the game until that injury to Ronny changed the shape of Sarawak team.
Preparation:
During the warm-up, the ball was seen wobbling on the pitch, showing that the pitch was very dry. Short pass build-up to the game was conducted to enable layers to get use to the hard pitch. Fitness coach also did not push the players too hard to make sure the team got comfortable with ball control and passes.
How we lined-up:
Iqbal Suhaimi (GK) – Ramesh Lai Ban Huat, Riduwan Ma’on (Thanaraj Kumarasamy 68’), Hairol Mokhtar, Davide Grassi – Ronny Harun (Shreen Tambi 20’), Júnior Aparecido Guimaro de Souza, Gurusamy Govandar Kandasamy, Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim (Partiban Janasekaran 62’), Makeche Ndumba, Gilmar Jose da Silva Filho.
A compact shaped 4-1-4-1 deploying a deep lying defensive midfielder.
How the opponent lined-up:
Norazlan Razali (GK) – Mohd Azrif Nasrulhaq Badrul Hisham, Mohd Raimi Md Nor (Mohamad Azmi Muslim 78’), Mohd Razman Roslan, Muhammad Shahrom Abdul Kalam – Veenod Subramaniam, Muhamad Nazmi Faiz Mansor, Mohd Hafiz Kamal, Gopinathan Ramachandra (Adam Nor Azlin 88’) – Mauro Andrés Olivi (Abdul Hadi Yahya 77’), Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh
An attacking 4-4-2 formation.
How we perform:
The first 20 minutes displayed organized passing until the game plan changed due to Ronny’s exclusion, a result of his sudden injury.
Pro: Gilmar and Juninho was ever present in the team. Gilmar positioning was a bonus to the team. Juninho & Gilmar’s work rate up front, coupled with them helping the defence is something we don’t see often from previous imports.
Con: Gilmar’s finishing was abysmal. Sarawak should have got away with at least a draw. The absence of Ronny leaves a hole in the defensive midfield area. Makeche was not even helping the defence today.
Match Statistic:
How the players fared.
Starting players:
Iqbal – 5 – Not a form to remember, even though he made 8 saves through-out the game, he fumbled one shot that resulted to a Patrick Ronaldinho goal.
Davide – 4.5 – Another mixed game at the back. Made 9 interceptions throughout the game, but could not help Sarawak from conceding 4 goals. A bit jaded in performance, could be the hot weather. Found himself out-muscled by Patrick on numerous occasions, especially during that first and second goal.
Hairol – 5 – A solid display at the back, won some important interception (5) but couldn’t stop Selangor from terrorizing the defence.
Ramesh – 5 – Made a critical error by giving Gopinathan the space to tap in that unexpected heavy deflection of Gurusamy, leading to that first goal. Made three important interception today.
Riduwan – 5 – Overall gave a good performance but the one time he left his post allowed Azrif to easily penetrate and score the fourth goal. Won four interception through-out the game. The lack of cover to the center-back is a worry, especially during overlappings.
Gurusamy – 4.5 – A mixed game for him, despite covering quite a number of defensive duties by making important interception. Was yellow carded for delaying the game. Some notable errors noticed was him giving away the ball to Nazmi and he could not stop a surging Mauro Olivi from taking a shot that led to a rebound, and a goal by Patrick.
Juninho – 6.5 – Worked hard in the midfield. His work rate and aggression was something to cheer about and an improvement from what we saw in the earlier game. His goal and goal attempts were key to Sarawak’s attack. Unlucky to not add more goals for Sarawak.
Ronny – 5 – Injury might have been caused by the poor pitch condition. Was solid when on the pitch.
Syahrul – 5 – Lacks the match fitness and had poor first touch. Two opportunities to score, which was wasted due to the quality of his first touch. An intelligent player with well timed runs. Needs to improve his first touch nonetheless.
Makeche – 4 – A nice assist in the first half, but tempo went down afterwards. Most of his runs were easy to read. Did not show much effort to help the defence and had creativity when it came to penetrate the opponent defences. Found to be at walking pace when off the ball. Looked demotivated throughout the game.
Gilmar– 6.5 – Unlucky is an understatement. Squandered way too many chances. Did well to calmly slot in the penalty kick, but was out of luck to score that elusive field goal. Had he converted his chances, Sarawak would have secured a draw, or even a win. A very hardworking player on the pitch, and even helped the defence when needed. I still do believe the goals will come eventually, but in order for that to come, Gilmar needs to trust in himself to start scoring again.
Subs:
Shreen – 5 – Came in with fresh of the bench but played a different rhythm of football if compared to his teammates. Very good work rate on the pitch, pressing high to increase the chance of winning back the possession. Gave the team a different dimension, but lacks that defensive capability. Made some important runs but could not beat the Selangor defences.
J Partiban – 5.5 – Made two decent crosses, created chances to score, but all efforts were wasted by Gilmar and Makeche who failed to finish the delivery. Didn’t help the defenders much, leaving Thanaraj uncovered at times. Needs to deliver those early crosses instead of running to the byline.
K Thanaraj – 4 – Not sure why he was given the nod ahead of Dzulazlan. Not much contribution during the game except for some clearances. Riduwan’s tiring legs may be a major factor of why Thanaraj was brought in.
Conclusion:
A win was possible but the team’s finishing remains to be the a big question mark. Selangor goalkeeper was on form today despite fumbling the ball several times.
The poor pitch condition was another factor which caused the Crocs to be unable to play their smooth short passes well. Player selection was doubtful to me with as Syahrul has yet to regain full match fitness after the end of his controversial signing saga.
It’s easy to point fingers at players and the management after this game nonetheless, but on a general scope, this match was one of the best performance the team could offer. It is just a matter of finishing those chances which were created. Makeche needs to be given competition for his starting spot as he looked rather demotivated during the game.
Defenders should work as a unit. The defensive midfielder needs to close up the gap in the middle of the field, and wingers should be responsible to defending as well as attack.
Back to the drawing board. Next Home game against Kedah is a must win.
