Sarawak’s draw can be seen as two points dropped instead of a point gained with poor finishing being their downfall. Clamor for a new striker prompted Sarawak to consider Vedran Muratovic, a veteran Croat, late last week as a replacement for injured Kalle Sone. Rather than a probable expensive signing, the team could probably look within themselves to solve their striking problems. They have the ability to create chances and get into good positions but lack the composure to put the ball into the net.

The only other concern for Sarawak apart from their run of playing two matches without scoring is the injury to starting goalie, Saiful Amar Sudan. While it was reported that Robert Alberts believes Sani Annuar Kamsani will be an adequate cover in between the two posts, Sani’s performances last season will give anything but confidence. A competent shotstopper, Sani has the inability to rush off his line when situations demand it, often leaving it to his defenders to dash back and help him out. Alberts must be praying Sani shakes off his injury and is able to take his place on the field.

Alberts must also be pondering how best to handle Ravindran. He has the pace and strength to wear down defenders but his biggest impacts in games have been when called on from the subs bench.

Negeri Sembilan will be missing Malaysian international, S Kunanlan, having seeing red against Felda United. They will still have Shukor Adnan and Cameroon import, Jean-Emmanuel Effa Owona who scored two goals in their 2-1 against Kelantan in the Charity Shield earlier this month. Jean-Emmanuel, age 28, is well-traveled having played with nine different teams in Turkey, France and Qatar before joining Negeri Sembilan.

Sarawak are 9th with four points from four games while Negeri Sembilan are up in 5th with seven points. A two goal winning margin for Sarawak will see them leapfrog Negeri Sembilan. Kelantan top the table and are the only unbeaten team left after four games.

Match Prediction: 3-1 Sarawak

Round 5 Full Fixture List

Friday 27/1/2012

PKNS vs Sabah

Saturday 28/1/2012

Felda Unites vs Perak

PBDKT T-Team vs Selangor

Singapore Lions XII vs Terengganu

Sarawak vs Negeri Sembilan

Kelantan vs Kuala Lumpur

Kedah vs Johor FC

Click to view slideshow.

It was a clear night and fantastic weather for football. A rough estimation of 17,000 people came to see Sarawak take on Terengganu with the TYT of Sarawak in attendance again. Robert Alberts’ message to the players may have been simple, play like how they did against Sabah and they will lose. I didn’t see them play against Sabah but if they had played like this, Sarawak would have been unlucky to not have come away with a result.

Terengganu looked menacing every time they went forward. Cool and composed with the ball, one would see why they are among the favourites to win the league. Sarawak did well to repel the Terengganu offensive with Hairol and Yosri once again looking like a competent center half pairing but it was only a matter of time before Terengganu’s midfield, that contained Malaysia internationals, Ashaari Shamsuddin, Shukor Jusoh and Ismail Faruqi, would find a breakthrough. Did I also mentioned Terengganu’s defence had Zubir Azmi, Marzuki Yusof and Muslim Ahmad? All are Malaysia internationals. Sharbinee is also a Malaysia international albeit the country’s No.2 goalkeeper.

Ravindran, in the starting line-up, wasted two half chances to put Sarawak into the lead. The first, collecting the ball just outside the penalty box, his sliding shot was well blocked. The second, from a corner, he was found at the penalty area but with the ball slightly behind him, he was unable to swivel his body and make a good contact.

Terengganu took the lead in the 37th minute. A quick one-two released Doe into the penalty box and he clinically slotted the ball high right of Saiful. Following that goal, Sarawak pounced into life. An innocuous cross almost dipped into the goal but for the fingertips of an alert Sharbinee. From the resulting corner, Sharbinee was called into action again as Captain Hairol rose unchallenged at the back post. His header was tipped over the bar.

The second half saw Sarawak adopt a more aggressive game, pushing higher up the pitch to win back possession.

Sarawak managed to hold Terengganu in their own half with Doe having to feed off long balls. Ravindran had a few half chances but couldn’t find the back of the net. It would not be his night.

Enter Zamri Morshidi. He gave the frontline a bit more edge and had a golden opportunity to equalise soon after coming on when a good cross from Rajan found him 6 yards from goal but his volley attempt was straight at Sharbinee. Zamri’s persistence on winning back the ball from defenders gave urgency to the attack but Sarawak were let down with poor passes in the final third.

Doe had an excellent chance late on to double the lead. A long ball found him as he beat the offside trap. He was able to knock the ball and round an advancing Saiful but his touch was a little bit too heavy on the turn and he was unable to recover.

This is Sarawak’s second loss in a row and things look bleak as they head to Selangor this Saturday.

Man of the Match: Guy Bwele. His tenacity and unrelenting spirit was evident to see. He took the key role of stamping his authority in midfield. He may not have been the most skillful player on display but it was enough to spin a few Terengganu markers around.

Moan of the Match: Kalle Sone. His presence in front of goal was as dominating as a shop-house in the KL skyline. This is due to the fact that he is still injured. Sarawak fans will definitely see him in action. One day. Yup. One day.

Sara-fisticated stretching techniques: I don’t have a degree in sports science but I believe doing cross leg lunges make you look like a twat.

It will be a homecoming for Joseph Kalang Tie who left Sarawak in 2009 to join Terengganu. Joseph will be a creative threat in an already impressive Terengganu team. Terengganu can look to local stars Hadi Yahya, Muslim Ahmad and Marzuki Yusof. At just the age to 22, Muslim Ahmad is already a seasoned professional, regarded as the best centre back in the country. He has 2 gold SEA games medals and a AFF Suzuki Cup winners medal.

Losing 2-1 to their fiercest rivals, Sarawak will be wanting to bounce back with a win. “Soft goals” was how Coach Alberts described Sabah’s goals.  “…  lost too much possession and we didn’t win most of the ball” was his summary of the game calling Sabah “a different team when they play at home”. As with any league match, Sarawak will just need to move on. The only consolation for Sarawak is that K Ravindran has now scored 2 goals in as many matches. His current form is a relief after reports that Kalle Sone will be out with a long term injury.

Alberts will be banking on the fact that Sarawak too are a different team when they play at home. Kickoff is tomorrow, Tues 16 Jan, at 8.15pm. Here’s hoping to a clear night. God knows I’ve had enough of watching games with soaked feet.

My Match Prediction: 0-2 Terengganu

My Hopeful Forecast: 3-0 Sarawak

T-Team lead the standings with the only 100% record after 2 impressive 3-0 wins. KL are bottom after 2 defeats and with an away game against Singapore, it doesn’t look like they’ll be moving up the table any time soon.

Round 3 Full fixture list

Tuesday 16/1/2012

PBDKT T-Team vs Sabah

Felda United vs Selangor

Singapore Lions XII vs Kuala Lumpur

Sarawak vs Terengganu

Perak vs Negeri Sembilan

PKNS vs Kedah

Kelantan vs Johor FC

Sympathy For Mancini

Roberto Mancini has spent the last week bemoaning his squad’s lack in depth. Looking at his squad, one would have to agree. Based on his favoured 4-5-1 formation, he would only have Gareth Barry, Owen Hargreaves, Nigel de Jong, James Milner and Yaya Toure able to call on in center midfield. His defence is also lacking in personnel with the likes of Aleksander Kolarov, Vincent Kompany, Gael Clichy, Joleon Lescott, Stefan Savic, Nedum Onuoha, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure and Pablo Zabaleta. He was also seen complaining to an M&M representative that there weren’t enough M&Ms in the fun packs to spell F.

Roberto may have a problem with counting having said that 6-7 cigarettes a day aren’t that bad. Normally people would agree 1 is bad enough, Mr Mancini.

Comeback Kids

Big waves were created with the return of Thierry Henry to Arsenal and Paul Scholes trading his coach’s tracksuit for a player’s kit. Now there is a clamor for cheap but familiar signings. Arsene Wenger had to padlock the gates to Bell Lane after police reports of seeing a 1.9m German identified as Jens Lehmann running around London Colney shouting ‘sign me up’. Joe Kinnear was also seen tracking down Marcus Gayle and Vinny Jones. Harry Redknapp has decided to bolster his squad for a title challenge. Close aides have heard him mention a Frenchman, David Ginola. Harry will have to rethink his persuasion speech after failing to wine’n'dine his son, Jamie into returning to the pitch. Ronaldo (the fat one) has generated interest from top European clubs after playing against Hamburg with Zidane’s UNDP team.

On The Move

Carlos Tevez seems to be going no where with Man City adamant that their €35mil evaluation  be met. He is of course their main talisman having featured for them in various golf tournaments. Unwanted Wayne Bridge is reportedly on £95,000 a week. Roberto Mancini has hit out at Bridge, calling him a greedy player who would rather train with the youth team than play week-in week-out with Portsmouth. Damn him. Now if only a club will shell out Man City’s assume evaluation of £5mil for a player that has featured once in the first team this season. Greedy players.

Hughes Marks The Man

Sparky’s back. His curly top remains in London having signed for QPR. Dubbed a “strange man” and a “flop” by Al-Fayed, Hughes is no stranger to foreign owners having worked under Thaksin, Abdel and now Tony. He has only lasted a year at each of his last two clubs; Man City (sacked-16 months), Fulham (resigned-11 months) and with QPR’s CE Philip Beard stating Hughes will face the sack should QPR get relegated, don’t expect him to be at Loftus Road for a long time to come.

Click to view slideshow.

Sarawak go into the game on a high after a good showing last Tuesday against Kuala Lumpur. Sarawak did have to work themselves into the game with early exchanges going to KL but eventually took the initiative in the second half and looked more potent with the introduction of K Ravindran and ran out winning the game. Sabah had a bad away day, losing with a similar scoreline of 2-0 to Felda United. Australian Brendan Gan and former Sarawak player, Bobby Gonzalez, both had first-half goals rightly ruled out for offside. Sabah will be itching to get their season started and doing it at home against Sarawak tomorrow will be the perfect tonic.

It is still early days for Sarawak and Sabah will definitely be banking on their experience of being in the MSL last year. An enticing game is on the cards. T-Team leads the league after a 3-0 home win against Kedah. Sarawak is at third, possibly the highest they’ll ever be this season and Sabah in thirteenth.

Both teams boast similar honours, winning the FA Cup and the Malaysia League once.

The Astro Malaysia Super League is in it’s 9th year. There are 14 teams participating; the bottom team facing relegation and the last 3 teams going into a relegation play-off. The winner of the league will gain entry into the AFC Cup.

Round 2 Full fixture list

Friday 13/1/2012

Kelantan vs PKNS

Saturday 14/1/2012

Kuala Lumpur vs PBDKT T-Team

Terengganu vs Felda United

Sabah vs Sarawak

Selangor vs Perak

Kedah vs Singapore Lions XII

Johor FC vs Negeri Sembilan

Click to view slideshow.

The game got off to a drab start with the TYT of Sarawak in attendance and the rain still pouring. KL had early possession and restricted Sarawak’s offence to the usual long punts from defense. Sarawak lined-up with the usual 4-4-2. The only noticeable omission was Kalle Sonne, the Cameroonian forward, injured during last Friday’s practice match against the Sarawak President’s Cup team. KL had the lion’s share of the ball but could breach a strong standing Sarawak defense. Saiful Amar Sudar, given the no.1 jersey, was a mere spectator in the first half and had minimal involvement in the game.

Sarawak sprung out of the traps in the second half, dominating KL in possession. They displayed the ability to play the ball through the middle with good movement from Guy Bwele. Everything good that happened, happened through Guy. He’s showing his importance to the team in only his first competitive match for Sarawak. Good on the ball, his off the ball running provided avenues to keep the play alive. He looks a definite astute signing. So too new boy, K Ravindran.

Having come on in the 65th minute, he was lively and eager to introduce himself to the home crowd. His excitement got the better of him a couple minutes later. Zamri Morshidi was played through into the penalty box with a precision lob from Guy. He fired a low cross and with only a touch needed to get it across the line, K Ravindran slid over the ball, stopping the ball in front of goal and giving KL’s Rozaimie Rohim enough time to dive on top of him. Ravindran didn’t have much time to rue his missed chance as Dzulazlan Ibrahim romped down the right wing and sent a cross to the front post. Ravindran was alert and nipped past a lone KL defender to score his first of the season.

Dzulazlan, playing at right fullback, was a constant thorn to KL with his forward running and excellent crossing.

Sarawak kept up the pressure. A corner in the 76th minute brought the second of the night for Sarawak. KL could deal with a floated ball and after Ravindran saw his effort blocked, the ball fell to captain Hairol. He may be one of the taller players in the squad but it was a delicate chip to the far post which found the side netting that doubled the lead and caused delirium in the stands.

KL had a few looks on goal. Saiful Amar had a few shots and crosses to deal with, the most dangerous being a 30 yard curler he finger-tipped onto the post. All in all, a good start. With the Borneo derby (15th Jan) in Sabah, a tough home game against Terengganu (17th Jan) and an even tougher away date against Selangor (22nd), a win against a lesser KL side will have done wonders for morale.

Man of the Match: Guy Bwele. There were many star performers on the night but it was all built on the stage Guy built. His running and covering opened up more room for his teammates to operate.

Moan of the Match: A tie between the rain and supporters singing ‘I Will Follow You’.

Merry-Go-Round, Sarawak style: Sarawak decided to stay in slightly longer in the dressing room during halftime. As the fourth official disappeared into the tunnel in an attempt to look for the missing team, Sarawak ran onto the pitch from the side entrance.

]]> http://supermonkey.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/sarawak-off-to-a-flyer/feed/ 0 jojo of mojo http://supermonkey.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/malaysia-super-league-2012/ http://supermonkey.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/malaysia-super-league-2012/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:36:35 +0000 jojo of mojo http://supermonkey.wordpress.com/?p=1086 ]]> Finally, it’s back. The new season of the Astro Malaysia Super League. Malaysia football has been on a bit of a high the past couple years; winning the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first team in 2010 and retaining the gold for football in the SEA Games. Beating Indonesia in the final on both occasions, the icing on the cake. The former success being the catalyst for Astro’s big money sponsorship of the league, RM120 million for 2011-2014 broadcasting rights of the league on top of an additional RM100 million on promotional activities, and signs of good things to come. Singapore’s under-23 team will be joining the MSL on a 5 year contract with Malaysia’s under-23 team playing in the S-league.

Sarawak are back in the big leagues after facing relegation in 2008. Welcoming the country’s best teams in Selangor and Kelantan will be a welcoming sight. Are we ready though? Having watched Sarawak in play against Sabah in two friendlies, I am slightly pessimistic. Sarawak managed to get a 1-0 win and a 0-0 draw and while it may seem like good results against a seasoned MSL team, the performances were patchy and resembled the old uninspired Sarawak of late. Sarawak are still unable to hold on to possession for long periods of the game and still have no idea what to do with the ball when they do.

Coach Robert Alberts is no stranger to success, having won league titles in Malaysia with Kedah, Singapore with Home United and Indonesia with Arema FC. I am curious that with his ability, why hasn’t he fixed the fundamental flaw in the team? It can be hard to win games on a regular basis even with a lion’s share of possession in games but it’s even harder to do it without. Long balls are excellent for counter-attacks but require speedy direct players who can take on the last defender. Sarawak has no such player. Zamri Morshidi might have an eye for goal but he lacks the pace to outrun defenders or even latch on to wild goose chases he often finds himself in.

The good news is that Sarawak look to finally have a capable keeper since Mazlan Wahed. Saiful Amar Sudar, signed from Selangor FC, looked sharp and reliable. In the first friendly against Sabah, he kept them at bay with a few good saves and was good with his distribution. Guy Bwele, signed from Coton Sport FC de Garoua, showed signs that he will be key to Sarawak’s survival. He gave a spirited performance and a fighting attitude to regain possession and fleet footwork to keep it. He’s listed as a defender but operated well as a defensive midfielder. He is my man to watch this season. K Ravindran, a former Harimau Muda A, did well to make space for himself throughout the game but couldn’t hold play up as well as he should have. There is a reason he was part of the elite youth team of Malaysia but sadly, he hasn’t shown it. Another one yet to prove himself, Cameroonian Kalle Sone signed from CS Otopeni. On paper, he looks an intriguing player having graduated from the Vitesse Arnhem academy. The same academy that Tijjani Babangida came from. Kalle missed the friendlies through injury.

I am looking forward to seeing Selangor and Singapore XII take on Sarawak but it’ll be a home-coming of sorts for Sarawak’s current best export, Joseph Kalang-Tie when he comes to town with his current team, Terengganu. So much to look forward to for local football.

First Round Fixtures

January

• 10th – KL (H)
• 14th – Sabah (A)
• 17th – Terengganu (H)
• 21st – Selangor (A)
• 26th – Negeri Sembilan (H)

February

• 7th – Perak (A)
• 11th – Felda (H)
• 14th – Johor (A)

March

• 3rd – T-Team (H)
• 17th – Singapore XII (H)
• 31st – PKNS (A)

April

• 7th – Kelantan (A)
• 14th – Kedah (A)

This blog has been left idle for a long time now..

I am happy to say that I will be back writing crap again..

Mix FM isn’t exactly my favourite radio station but when compared to the consistency of Hitz FM on playing the same tunes every day and that other station on 89.9 FM (in Kuching), it’s a case of being the only one tolerable. They do have a huge repeat on songs but it’s probably the only station where they’ll throw Billie Myers right after Akon.

The survey was very vague and non-specific. There wasn’t much space for me to point my frustrations of having a station called Mix and not having much of a mix of songs. The only mix is between artists of similar genre that have been in some form of Top 40 somewhere along the line where I would have liked listening to different songs that haven’t really been on the playlist of most Americans as that seems to be the basis of what forms Malaysian song choices.

I’m talking about bands like Billy Talent, Ben Folds Five, Shinedown, Seether or even local bands like Naked Breed or regional bands like Cueshe (Philippines). But no, we have to listen to dribble like Kesha, Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber.

Naked Breed – Tribute

The survey asked stuff like what’s my favourite breakfast show, what does that show have in comparison to the Mix Breakfast Show (as if they had anticipated people don’t rate it that highly) and stuff like that. I can’t remember the specific answers I gave but in short, I said, “You’re shite BUT you have the potential to be better.” And they do have potential. They just need to tone down on the number of times they play Macy Gray’s Beauty in the world.

I wouldn’t say my survey was negative and cynical. On the contrary, I think it was constructive. I advocated they have a football segment where pundits got on the air and took calls from fans. I also suggested that the Mix breakfast show be revamped because Ferhad was someone I’d like to listen to on my 15 minute drive to work in the morning. He’s probably good in a recording studio doing his songs but not as a DJ let’s be honest.

I think I’m not alone on the Mix breakfast show because starting January 3 next year, there’ll be a new breakfast show featuring this guy and some girl. I’m not familiar with the line-up but I’m giving them a clean slate to impress me.

One question asked, “Which celebrity would you like to have on as a DJ?” and I answered, “Me.”

I didn’t win an iPhone 4. It probably went to those people who ended their surveys by going, “Mix FM is the best. I love you so much. You’re so amazing.” The same people that think Taylor Swift is musically gifted and turn up the volume when they hear the 1Malaysia song.

Since I’m on the subject, anyone else think the Kuching Hitz FM DJs are crap? One has a whiny voice and the other sounds like he picked up English after he got the gig. They probably know somebody who knows somebody who knows their parents.

Morning radio shows had caller-ins describe the laser beams antics as ‘very much of the game’ with one caller comparing it to the English Premier League where fans shout abuse to unsettle opposition players and that we simply have to accept it. The DJ then concurred stating that in basketball games, home fans would wave their finger foams during opposition free throws.

What is more embarrassing that those idiots who thought their actions were for the goodness of the team and part of FIFA’s fight for fair play are the bigger idiots that see nothing wrong with the actions of those fans. There can be no excuses for this sort of behaviour which is both unsportsmanlike and near uncivilized.  I was cringing the first time the referee took notice to this offence in the first half and 55 minutes into the game, the referee stopped the play and ordered both sets of players to the subs bench. He had every right to call an end to the game and probably handing Malaysia a 3-0 lose but thankfully, common sense took priority and he merely called a lengthy time-out. Malaysia did win 3-0 through a Safee Sali brace and that other guy whom I can’t remember the name because, I’d like to point out, Safee played for Sarawak before moving on to greener pastures.

I blame the idiotic fans who decided to play Luke Skywalker and use the force (lasers). But that is expected of them as the average Malaysian football fan who go to games are wankers with jelly for brain. Sarawak fans would gladly rip out plastic seats and throw them onto the track. They’d cheer if their projectiles hit a match official. They’d gladly walk home barefoot if their slippers are the only thing left to throw. This is the classic case of not knowing the consequences of their actions. Should the game be cancelled, they’d blame the players, officials but never the dickhead that looks back at them through the mirror.

I believe the police could have done a better job. There were already complaints from Vietnam when they played the semifinals against Malaysia. A person with brains would have thought about patting down fans at the turnstile. A moron would say that would take forever and the match would be long over by the time everyone gets in. It would take forever if the gates were open only 2 hours prior to kick-off. It’s a final. Open it 5 hours in advance. If fans want to miss the game, they can come late.

The point is, the police or those in charge of security should have thought about prevention in contrast to the obvious plan which was probably some muscle head saying “If we have a lot of men in groups, fans will be intimidated by our force..” That worked to a peach. And just to show how scared they were, someone lit flares and another lit firecrackers. Soooooo effective.

Don’t forget, return leg is on Wednesday 8pm if you’re in Malaysia, 7pm if you’re in Indonesia and if you are, say you’re from Singapore.