Just A Few Things: Selangor Vs. Terengganu

Problems That Make A Selangor Fan Bang Their Head On The Table

Yes, this is a lengthy title to this lengthy section of the article. But there is absolutely no way to sugarcoat this. There is a serious problem going on in Selangor. On second thought, make that a lot of serious problems. Firstly, let’s break down what has been the positives. They looked good by playing attractive attacking football, they have controlled most matches, a long-term plan by inserting youth players and of course, Ifedayo Olusegun. So what are the serious problems they’re facing right now? Wasting golden attacking opportunities and a leaking defence in the shape of Niagra Falls, further aggravated by a tendency of conceding goals in the final ten minutes, which are enough to overshadow all the positives.

And this match perfectly captures the negatives that were mentioned in this Selangor so far this season. Selangor had 18 shots in this match and about 16 of them happened to be on-target with seven of them saved and eight of them blocked. How is it possible that out of all those 18 shots, only one went in? And that one goal came from a penalty. Selangor had so many chances to score that second goal, but all of them were wasted. And of course, this isn’t the first time that happened. Their matches against Kedah and Sabah are examples of this. In fact, Selangor was so wasteful, scientists should list them as a major cause of climate change.

How about the defence? It’s been years now but it looks like there’s no still no sign the problems at the back have been fixed. They’ve now conceded 20 goals in 13 games this season, which is an average of conceding 1.54 goals. You have to go back to 2017 the last time Selangor conceded an average of fewer than 1.5 goals in a season. And that isn’t the most incriminating stat about their backline this season.

They’ve only kept one clean sheet all season so far and that was against bottom-placed UiTM FC, lost 12 points from winning positions and have conceded goals in the final ten minutes in SEVEN out of their 13 matches. All of these stats are extremely damning to the defensive mess Selangor are dealing with.

It’s great Selangor has a long-term plan, especially by looking to inject a type of DNA into the team. But they need to deal with the short-term problems as urgently as they can. Because some fans’ patience is wearing thin. And who knows how long the others might lose it if this isn’t addressed fast?

Left-Back-Up Delivers

Sometime during the second half, Selangor kept knocking and knocking on the door while Terengganu’s own offence faded. They were lively in the first half, but as Selangor had control of the second half, head coach Nafuzi Zain had to make changes. Strangely though, he subbed off two of his defenders first with Shahrul Nizam Ros Hasni and Arif Fadzilah coming on for Muhammad Mohd Faudzi and Azarul Nazarith. Little did everyone know at the time, one of those changes paid off for the Turtles as Arif Fadzilah was instrumental in both of the goals.

On 73 minutes, Arif let fly a searing low shot that proved too hot for Selangor keeper, Mohd Khairulazhan to handle firmly. As a result, the ball went loose and Engku Nor Shakir, another sub who came just a few minutes ago, pounced on the rebound for the equalizer. And then, just before injury time, Arif punted a free-kick from just inside Selangor’s half to find Carli De Murga at the far post to duly score a looping header for Terengganu’s winner. Whether if Nafuzi did expect any impact from Arif, that’s up to anyone’s guess. But the fact remains, Arif turned out to be important for the Turtles on this night.

A Case For Malaysia’s No.1

Head coach Tan Cheng Hoe has a head-scratching conundrum to deal with. And it’s a good kind of headache, mind you. There has been a debate as to whether Selangor’s Mohd Khairulazhan or Johor Darul Takzim’s Farizal Marlias should be Malaysia’s first-choice keeper for Malaysia’s three remaining World Cup/Asia Cup qualifying matches.

Both of them have provided good cases so far, but Khairulazhan has made a late surge here. Yan, as he is fondly known, made at least six saves to keep out Terengganu for so long. Out of all them, two of them were exceptional stops early on in the match. First, he read the situation well to close down on David Da Silva to save his effort on 11 minutes. Then he made an even better save to deny Carli De Murga’s well-hit strike as he tipped it over. While he did Ok, it remains to be seen who Tan Cheng Hoe will choose.

The Chase Is Paused For Now

It really wasn’t pretty from Terengganu’s standpoint, but sometimes, title contenders would have to win ugly to keep the momentum going. JDT did it last weekend against Kedah by scoring a last-minute winner and Terengganu had to labour to seal a dramatic comeback win in the same way. Terengganu has finished the first half of the domestic season just three points behind the Southern Tigers. With nine games to go, there’s still a chance for the Turtles to keep up and push JDT all the way.

For now, the Super League is taking a two-month pause for not just the Hari Raya break, but for international and continental competitions. As soon as Malaysia finishes up their World Cup/Asia Cup qualifying, Terengganu (Along with Kedah) will then turn their attention to the AFC Cup with Singapore set to host both ASEAN groups. Terengganu is drawn with Philippines’ Kaya-Iloilo, Singapore’s Geylang International and the winner of either Cambodia’s Visakha or Timor Leste’s Lanelok United as on paper as well as how their season is going so far, the Turtles should be contenders to winning their group on paper. Whatever you make of Terengganu’s upcoming schedule, you can’t deny there are exciting times ahead for the Turtles’ fans.

THIS ARTICLE IS POWERED BY CYBERLYNX INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: EDUCATION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM