Submitted by: Confaderal | 28th July 2024
Our Hougang notched their first league win of the campaign on tuesday as a Stjepan (pronounced "Stipe") special strike and a clean sheet from birthday boy Zaiful Nizam ensured we get the precious three points. Furthermore it came against Albirex, a side whom we should have won in the last encounter. Oh, sweet victory.
Finally, after a few tumultuous weeks, balance in the world is restored once again.
Now our boys will have to travel away to Bishan to face a Sailors side that wants to continue their winning momentum after a horrendous defeat at home to BG Tampines Rovers.
Unlike our victory against Albirex on tuesday, we can't go into the match thinking we're going to dominate. But just like against Geylang and Tampines, it's better to bide our time, be patient and wait for the right opportunity to strike.
LION CITY SAILORS VS HOUGANG UNITED â SPL 24/25. Let's do this!
importance of bart & klajic
In this match-up we will discuss about the omission of these two players from the starting lineup.
Bart Ramselaar is one. The creative midfielder has been the playmaker for this LCS side and recently, with him out injured, LCS now have one less outlet for attack. Namely, their middle. It's been awhile since they've been able to carve out chances from the middle of the park without him unless it's through a counter-attack.
Another player who has been great has been Obren with his penetration through the flanks to send crosses in. Not only that, but to do it along with his defensive duties is pivotal. In the LCS vs BG Tamp game, his replacement Carmona has been found wanting. He had a horrid time trying to deal with the threat of Glenn Kweh and thus didn't get any penetration until Glenn shifted to rightback duties. By then it was too late in the 2nd half with BG leading 4-0.
Deducting the attacking outlet of (a)attacking through the middle, and (b)Obren's crosses & defending from the left flank. LCS now only has to rely on set pieces, counter-attack, balls-over-the-top and crosses from their forwards(which leaves lesser forwards to actually attack the crosses).
Head Coach Rankovic did mitigate the issues he faced by introducing the return of Rui Pires and Chris Van Huizhen. So far this has provided some stability and we saw that when they beat Young Lions 6-0. But it remains to be seen if it's enough against our Hougang though.
LCS also sought to press high up the pitch, but as of now, their press hasn't worked a treat. If we keep our shape compact and keep focus on playing through their lacklucstre press on the break, then we're only one step away from getting into their final third.
Their pressors: |
Song Ui-Young |
Harris Harun |
Anu or Hami (Depends on who's playing) |
The midfield overload
Why do I say the above? because it seems that their midfield are very easily overloaded. It seems that teams like Geylang and BG Tampines have found success putting 4 midfielders to isolate LCS's 2 pivots.
Against Geylang, they overloaded the midfield such that the only way LCS goes through them is by going through the flanks. Geylang successfully nullified LCS's attack.
Against Tampines, Tampines took it even further by using a 3-4-3(diamond) system where the midfielders are packed narrower for a numerical superiority in the middle of the park. Their defensive midfielder can fall back in defence or shift up when needed. But what was better here was that they still had their forwards up top to not just pin the LCS defence, but to also numerically challenge LCS in the final third against the LCS backline.
Gavin knew that a narrower midfield means his flanks would be susceptible to attack and he remedied that by pinning the wingbacks.
But to pull this off though, both teams had religiously get men behind the ball when an LCS counter is on the cards. The LCS attack really thrives on open spaces. Which leads me to the next point.
Give the sailors some space
LCS can punish teams like Balestier and Young Lions because the opponents play an energetic and open brand of attacking football. We are neither a free-scoring side like Balestier or an aggressive pressing team like Young lions. Thus we must not be naive and store away our gung-ho, swashbuckler style just for this match. Just be compact in the middle and maintain the shape. Be patient and wait to pinch the ball from their two-man midfield pivot.
"The Sailors thrive on space for this period in their time..."
The Sailors thrive on space for this period in their time when they're missing their key playmaker Bart. That's the one piece of nugget I saw when they were up against the Young Lions: YL allowed the Sailors space to run into. 4 out of 6 of LCS's goals were from transitions, with the other 2 being crosses. There's Rui Pires but he's only just returned â he might not be adapt yet at unlocking defences.
If we don't allow them space, keep our fullbacks back, and keep a low-block, they'll only be left to rely on crossing and pressing to beat us.
If we take it further and disrupt all crosses religiously, then they'll only have to rely on their inconsistent pressing. Of course, this sounds easy in words. So our boys have to turn on their focus for this match. Keep calm.
TLDR;
I've got the belief in the boys to pull off a major upset with this one. The boys will have to maintain focus, keep compact ,keep their shape and men behind the ball, keep our full backs back, overload their midfield, and bide our time for a transition or a set piece.
If the stars align and our focus doesn't shift, we should be able to get a result. We have quality too. #1H1H
Lion City Sailors vs Hougang Quick Report:
- Rather slow backline. Expect a back-three.
- Injured: Obren Klajic and Bart Ramselaar.
- The return of Rui Pires, Chris Van Huizhen and ex-hougang, Izwan Mahbud.
-If we focus on the defensive side of the game, then we would limit the sailors to just crosses from the flanks.
- Hougang needs to keep men behind at all times.
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Do you think our boys have enough rest?
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Coming down to Bishan Stadium?
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