The Reviewer: Hitting the ground running

The Reviewer: Hitting the ground running

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

We have seen it before. Some club signs a player who is said to offer so much promise, he could propel his new employers towards that elusive piece of silverware practically all by himself. And then he takes to the field looking enthusiastic and everything, but leaves it feeling frustrated with his lack of end product week after week.

Numerous examples spring to mind. Chris Sutton at Chelsea. Maxi Lopez at Barcelona. And, according to some, Federico Martinez at SAFFC.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Uruguayan had scored a wonderful goal for the Warriors against Suwon Samsung Bluewings, not to mention Richard Bok’s mitigating claim that an early-season injury had hampered his star signing’s ability to contribute until the latter weeks, the much-maligned Martinez was shipped out at the end of just one season.

Fortunately for everyone at SAFFC, the next man they signed has done pretty well so far. And we are, of course, referring to Mislav Karoglan, who had just scored his fifth goal in as many games for the Warriors this season to top the charts.

Alright, so it was a penalty, big deal. And Balestier Khalsa coach Salim Moin was apparently not too happy about the call given against his side. But Karoglan was just doing his job.

In fact, he’s doing it so well that he will probably hit a dozen goals or more before May is out. And that would mean the SAFFC management will have plenty of reason to extend his stay beyond the initial six-month loan, which is apparently when his current contract with his parent club NK Rijeka will expire anyway.

It also bears mentioning, by the way, that Fazrul Nawaz seems to be getting his scoring touch back, after firing blanks in the Warriors’ last two games. A late strike against Balestier means his season-long tally now stands at three goals – not too bad for a man struggling to hit the barn door in the latter half of 2010.

SAFFC aren’t the only club that can boast of a new hotshot striker. It looks like Etoile have found some success in that department as well, if Maxime Belouet’s form is any indication.

The 24-year-old hit his fourth goal in the league this week, the only one in an emotional game of football at Jurong East as the goodwill towards Japanese club Albirex Niigata (Singapore) flowed generously.

In fact, if you had only followed the match through newspaper reports, you probably wouldn’t know how the game had played out, since everybody seemed to care about the banners of support and the money raised to help rescue efforts in Japan – and very little else.

One club known for their dud signings over the years might be feeling glad they have not had to deal with that problem yet this season. Yet for Geylang United, the bigger concern is their continued delay in securing their fourth foreigner for 2011.

Between getting a solid man to firm up their defensive line and plumping for a striker who can threaten opposing defences, it is hard for this writer to tell which one the Eagles need more following their disastrous outing against Gombak United that ended in a 0-2 defeat.

On the one hand, the type of basic defensive error that allowed Obadin Aikhena to score on the rebound off a corner and the sort of lax tracking that gave Park Kang Jin the time and space to lob over the often-reliable Yazid Yasin was very unlike Geylang. On the other hand, relying on Masrezwan Masturi and Hafiz Rahim to carry the attacking line all the time can be stifling, especially without Kim Jae Hong around to open the supply lines.

Mike Wong is certainly one man stuck between a rock and a hard place, and he only has one more week to decide who he is going with for the final foreigner spot – not that the choice might be entirely his to make, mind.

Home United, on the other hand, seem to be making out like a bandit as far as their new signings are concerned. And we aren’t talking about Frederic Mendy or Qiu Li, who put their names on the scoresheet against Tanjong Pagar United in style.

No, the surprise standout performer in the Protectors’ six-goal demolition was Asraf Abdul Rashid, who has been doing quite well since joining the club from Woodlands Wellington in the off-season. On this occasion, he scored a sweet goal within minutes of his second-half substitute entry, made himself an absolute terror to the Jaguars midfield, and offered a lovely assist for Mendy to head home for his second goal of the evening with only a couple of minutes to spare.

In fact, Mendy had almost helped Asraf bag his second goal earlier with an unselfish pass at the end of a storming run down the left, but the timing of the ball made it a little tough for the midfielder to plant his flying header in the correct direction.

If even fringe players like Asraf are able to turn it on, it makes people shudder just thinking about Home’s first-team stars, who were not even playing all that well but found this game just too easy-peasy as they got away with quite a few little errors most would readily forget.

Hougang United’s collection of off-season signings seem to be cobbling together into a decent side as well, even though they earned their 1-0 win over the Courts Young Lions through the efforts of a pair of players who had played for the club for a little while.

Jordan Webb’s header off a Duncan David Elias free kick was ultimately enough to clinch all three points, although it must be said Fazli Jaffar and Carlos Delgado also had good games for the Cheetahs as they gave most of the Courts Young Lions an unhappy sendoff for their international assignment against Yemen in the London Olympics qualifiers.

And finally, rounding the week up, we have the AFC Cup, where Aleksandar Duric extended his scoring streak for Tampines Rovers in their 1-1 draw with Muang Thong United.

Starting from the Charity Shield, Duric has now found the back of the net in all seven of the Stags’ games – a run that left Muang Thong coach Henrique Calisto seething in fury after his instructions to the team appeared to have been conveniently forgotten.

Having quipped in the pre-match press conference that he would have to kill the big man in order to stop him from scoring, Calisto might well have wished he had really done the deed when, in front of his very eyes, his defenders allowed the 40-year-old to latch on to a long punt by Hassan Sunny and put the ball past Kawin Thamsatchanan.

Duric could even have caused a major dent in Muang Thong’s confidence had he finished off three gilt-edged chances in the second half – but don’t tell that to Calisto. He’s angry enough already!

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of FAS and the S.League

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