Just A Few Things: Thailand Vs. Malaysia

Oh, The Tenacity!

Goodness, this was the energy everyone in the country has been clamouring for the Harimau Malaya to exude in the past two matches. The forwards’ pressing was immense in making the Thailand defence nervous (Yes, even a certain naturalized Brazilian did well here. A bit more on him in a bit). There was far more urgency within the players to step up and cause Thailand trouble. They didn’t shy away from doing anything tricky, especially down on the wings. That’s how the Harimau Malaya won the penalty when a beautiful link-up between Safawi Rasid and Syafiq Ahmad saw the former winning and scoring the penalty.

The Thai defence got continually troubled, especially during free-kicks. However, Malaysia just couldn’t punish them as it was either easily dealt with by the keeper or some questionable decision-making.

If we have played like this against the UAE and to a degree, Vietnam, they would’ve been a different story. But what’s done is done. Whatever positives (And negatives) we have from this game, hopefully the team can work on it.

More Holes Than Swiss Cheese

While the attack has been doing well in putting the work, the game also exposes a major problem for Malaysia: The defence. Time and time again, the team made every Malaysian curse for every defensive lapse they made. Every time Thailand attacked, the defence always looked like they were in panic mode. Thailand’s attackers as a result were able to use any empty pockets of space in the box to get into position and all they needed to do was to get the ball in. But a combination of whiffed shots, last-ditch defending and luck somehow prevented the Changsuek from scoring.

Defending set-pieces were also a mess. The marking was so poor, it was like inviting Thailand to come in and score. Whether it was zonal, man-to-man or even mixed, the marking was loose no matter what defensive set-up we deployed. And again, how Thailand didn’t take advantage of all of this was baffling. To show how bad Thailand was offensively (perhaps how lucky we were too), Thailand had 18 shots, but only one went on-target.

There was another key factor as to why our defence was poorer than usual compared to our previous matches and that is because...

Get Another LB Next Time…

One major cause of this defensive leak was only due to one position: The left-back. La’vere Corbin-Ong, Malaysia’s only left-back in the current team, missed out due to suspension after picking up two accumulated yellow cards. So, Tan Cheng Hoe (TCH) has to put a makeshift left-back over there. While there were early talks of Dion Cools being put there, TCH ultimately decided to play Syahmi Safari. It did not go well at all.

Time and time again, Thailand often play their attacks down on the left due to the space exposed by Syahmi, who never looked comfortable playing outside of his usual position. Because Syahmi gets continually exposed, Cools sometimes have to cover him and in turn, why Malaysia’s defensive shape was as scrambled as scrambled eggs. This is one of the key reasons why Malaysia was so poor defensively. But one thing is for certain, we do miss Corbin-Ong and unless we have an able deputy if the mixed-heritage player is absent, we are in trouble.

So next time TCH, bring another pure left-back...

Deputies Proven

Speaking of deputies, Corbin-Ong wasn’t the only player suspended. Mohamadou Sumareh and Syamer Kutty Abba also missed out for the same reason. Thankfully, their replacements were able to step up. Akhyar Rashid and Nazmi Faiz came in and did their roles effectively. Nazmi Faiz was playing beside Brendan Gan in central midfield and did well as the chief passer to send balls into Thailand’s final third. At times, he kept it simple and yet showed good composure to keep playing those passes even under pressure.

As for Akhyar, he showed why we were all so optimistic about him when he first burst into the scene. He made brilliant off-the-ball runs and was also brave to take on the full-back a few times. And like his cameo appearance against Vietnam, he also finds himself in the box to attack a cross from the right. Just a shame he couldn’t control it on several occasions he got it. Still, it was an encouraging performance and perhaps should be our leading left-winger for the next few matches at least.

And Finally

Guilherme De Paula, who was the subject of intense scrutiny since he made his official debut, was deployed as the target man again and this time, he did his job well to hold up the ball, giving the Thai defenders some trouble to get the ball off him and he proceeded to play any incoming teammate making a run. He also did well in tracking back, winning the ball and made simple yet sensible decisions on the ball. Although there were a few groan-inducing tines he lost the ball that lead to Thailand attacking on the break numerous times just like it happened in our last two matches. Overall, De Paula didn’t do too bad here.

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