Submitted by: Tesla | 18th July 2024
It's crazy how within the blink of an eye, round 1 of the SPL is at it's end. Who would've guessed that we'd still have three teams going unbeaten with one match left in round 1. We will be up against the Wasps this Friday in an away match at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium. Here's the preview for Brunei DPMM vs Hougang United — SPL 24/25.
"There is no iron rice-bowl in the SPL no more"
1.The Changing of Guard
It seems that DPMM has beaten the England national team to the punch when they decided that their newly-released coach Rui Capela would leave the club in a "shocking" move(at that time). When asked in an post-match presser(Balestier vs DPMM) about him leaving, Rui Capela sounds as shocked as the club. But while Gareth Southgate left his team in a better state than when he got it, Rui Capela is now leaving his team with his successor needing a lot to do.
Now, DPMM has not been a stranger to sketchy mis-management. Just last year they created a big hoo-haa when the Bruneian government and FA had a spat which almost cost DPMM their place to compete in the SPL. Along with DPMM, Albirex have also recently announced the departure of Kazuaki Yoshinaga as their head coach. So yeah, the SPL is slowly shifting towards "sack the manager" approach as the competition heats up.
And as always, the dismissal of an opposing teams' coach is an opportunity for Hougang. We will look on in glee as their new head coach Jamie McAllister enters the fray. Will McAllister be able to conjure magic in such a short time? We'll find out this friday. Here's some quick facts about DPMM's new head coach.
As a player, has played for: Aberdeen, Bristol City and Preston North End. |
As a player, has represented the Scottish National Men's "A" team. |
Has 10 years experience in being Assistant manager at Kerala Blasters FC, Bristol City, Sunderland, Hibernian, Bristol Rovers. |
2. Advantage brunei
Speaking of their new head coach: Jamie McAllister, DPMM go into this match with a huge advantage being well rested after getting a "by" two weeks prior. After the game against the stags, they'd have flown off to Brunei to get settled-in as quickly as possible with their new coach and spammed training on the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium grounds. This, while the Hougang players would have to shake off a draw over the weekend against Young Lions and then travel to Brunei in a jet-lagged fit.
Decades ago when Jamie McAllister was a player, he was a defender. So it's not a long-shot to suggest that the DPMM backline will have leveraged off McAllister's defensive experience and expertise as a player and as a manager. Their leaky defence will be the first thing to fix. They have conceded 17 goals so far.
What's more leaky than a DPMM backline? the Hougang backline. Clocking in 22 goals conceded, Hougang is just 1-3 goals above the Young Lions and Albirex respectively.
Then, another thing going for Brunei is the lack of goals we seem to have upfront. DPMM will rub their hands in glee as they know we're as dry as the desert. We've only scored 10 goals.
If this continues, and DPMM manage to fix their defence, and with Patrick Flottman coming back, then sorry to say: we won't be able to score against them.
The only comfort for us is that their goalkeeper Naumovski is a traditional goalkeeper. He doesn't sweep the ball. This can leave big spaces in front of goal if we decide to lob a ball over the top.
DPMM's fullbacks have also been known to be traditional in that they don't overlap as much if not at all.
This is going to be a war of attrition. Whoever scores the first goal will dictate the match.
3. Contain the set pieces
Every time I see us conceding goals from set pieces I die a little inside. It has been a disaster on the set piece end when we constantly concede goals from them. Maybe it's because of the departure of our set piece coach, Yuki, that has led to this downfall. But it's incredibly disappointing that we keep conceding at nearly all set pieces considering we have a lot of height this season. Just look at the previous game against Young Lions where we concede goals from set pieces on the first balls(not even the 2nd balls!).
It's horrible to see our forwards look downcast after getting goals wiped away after conceding a set piece goal.
Further compounding the issue, we provide exactly zilch when it comes to attacking set pieces too. We need to take advantage of Farshad Noor's(DPMM) foul streak and utilize the set pieces he will give us .Failing to do so means that that's another attacking dimension we've lost.
We must handle set pieces well. That's the bottom line.
"We must handle set pieces well. That's the bottom line."
Closing statement
DPMM are not a passing team. We don't know yet if they are going to change their ways. But if this continues, this is our silver lining here. DPMM are a very traditional team. Let's take advantage and hopefully collect our first 3 points of the 1st round here. I'd like to wish our beloved Hougang players all the best!
Be more incisive and don't rush your passes. #1H1H 🐆
DPMM vs Hougang Quick Report:
- Traditional team with a non-sweeping goalkeeper and non-overlapping fullbacks.
- Dangermen: Miguel Oliveira, Julio Cruz, Hakeme Yazid, Gabriel Gama
- Hotheaded: Farshad Noor, their CDM.
-DPMM has two weeks rest and familiarity of grounds. Hougang will be jet-lagged.
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