MAS VS THA: AN ANALYSIS

The final game of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup Qualifying second round for all the groups! Although unable to qualify for the next round of the World Cup Qualifying, MAS and THA still have everything to play for as seeding is at stake for the next round. Both these teams are looking for their first victory since landing in UAE, which makes for a tasty affair. For MAS three players were suspended, namely La’Vere Corbin Ong, Syamer Kutty, and Mohamadou Sumareh.

Third game: Malaysia 1-0 Thailand

Scorers

MAS: Safawi Rasid (52’ PEN)

THA:

Formation:

MAS: 4-1-2-3

THA: 4-1-2-3

Here are the formations of each respective team, MAS with the ball and THA without it. MAS lines up as a 4-1-2-3 with Syahmi Safari as LB. In midfield, Azam Azih comes in at DM, while Nazmi Faiz replaces Syafiq Ahmad alongside Brendan Gan in front of Azih. On the wings, Arif Aiman starts over Safawi Rasid, and Akhiyar Rashid begins the game at LW. Defensively, MAS converts to a 4-1-4-1 that moves into a 4-4-1-1/4-4-2 based on the team's pressing.

Starting the game off well, Azih demonstrates his strengths as a deep lying playmaker. Although less likely to jump into tackles than Syamer, Azih exhibits the willingness and ability to switch the play quickly in order to continue the attack. Here, he is shown playing a cross-field pass to Matt Davies in acres of space. Improvement over the previous game!

THA prefers to transition quickly. In the GK, they have a player who is able to play quick passes to the forward players to start an attack after collecting the ball from a cross. Here, the forward who receives the pass is allowed far too much time and space to turn and play a pass, initiating a dangerous fast break that results in a shot off target.

Poor marking in a set piece. Here, MAS allows not one but three THA players to run beyond the defensive line. Although it did not ultimately result in THA scoring a goal from the free kick, against more difficult opposition, this switch off from the defense can and will be punished.

Another aspect of defending that MAS players need to work on: tracking runners. In both the UAE and VIE games, the wingers on both sides of the field have shown that runners of the ball can catch them unaware, and receive the ball at pace in the wide areas. In this photo, it was Aiman who was caught not tracking the oncoming FB, but the wingers on both sides were culpable of this mistake.

The assist before the penalty. Syafiq shows creativity and awareness, being able to drag a defender out of position before backheeling it in between the two defenders, allowing Safawi to run goal side. Safawi then earns a penalty for MAS which he squeaks in under the THA GK. However, the most important part of this play was the ingenuity in tight areas that MAS lacked for most of this game, as well as the two previous matches that allowed for the creation of the chance.

Fitness is a concern for the MAS squad heading into the next stages. Although it has been alluded to many times by sections of the media, it is worrying that a couple of players were coming off the pitch with cramps, and others walking by the end of the game. As professional players representing their national team, a certain level of fitness should be expected of the players. With the discussion of the heat affecting the players, it is certainly a good point to talk about. However, with the team being in UAE for close to a month at the point of this game, the players should be acclimatized to the weather, thus pointing to further questions of the base fitness of these players.

With less than 10 minutes to spare should the team really be taking shots from here? Yes, there is an argument to saying that they are only one goal up and chasing another goal to secure the game. However, with tiring legs in the midfield and defense, it may be more pragmatic to stay deep and absorb the attacks. This speaks to immature game management as the players should be experienced enough to make run down the clock with an important 1-0 lead.

In the dying minutes, it was concerning that there was no tactical change coming from the bench. As illustrated here from the photos, the same pressing that the players were instructed to do was being carried out at end of the game while holding on to a narrow score line. Meanwhile, as the time ticked on, THA converted to a 3 at the back formation in order to push more players forward and look for the goal. Due to the uneven pressing from the front players, the there were big gaps left by these players and should be looked at as something to continue to improve upon in the future for the next rounds of Asian Cup Qualifications.

Overall: MAS managed to hold on for an important win for a 1-0 win and secured the 3rd position in the group, moving them forward to the next round of the Asian Cup Qualifying. With Azam and Nazmi on the pitch, MAS looked more able to move possession fluidly between defence and attack, looking dangerous when they had possession. They worked hard and remained a solid unit defensively and managed to get over the line for a victory, their first in the UAE after three matches. Another factor to look at is the lack of goals from open play. Only scoring goals from penalties is not a sustainable way of being able to maintain achieving victories (don’t let Manchester United fool you). Thus, the ability to create and score chances from open play should be addressed as well, and the attacking patterns used by the forwards and midfielders to make said chances. Currently, relying solely on crosses into the box after playing out wide seems to be the only route that we take.

However, there must be some questions asked from the selection of the team. Namely, why start Sumareh in both the games when he has only accumulated 5 appearances for JDT, while Arif has appeared in 3 times the number of games? Secondly, fitness concerns must be addressed by the team. If a team like VIE are able to continue running late into the game as a unit and be defensively disciplined, shouldn’t MAS be able to as well?

Finally, we should also put things into perspective. According to FIFA rankings, UAE are ranked 73, almost half of MAS. VIE is ranked 93, while THA is currently 106, and is the highest ranked team that MAS have ever beaten. We should take heart in that as supporters. The most important thing for the country to do is now look forward to the next rounds of qualifying and how we can further improve the team.