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San Martin eyes fresh start with Home
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
New Home United signing Nelson San Martin has vowed to end the club’s four-year trophy drought, as he looks to start the latest chapter in his football journey in Asia.
The Chilean will make his S.League debut in the 2010 season after contrasting spells in Malaysia and Thailand, where he starred for back-to-back treble champions Kedah before enduring a wretched seven-month spell with Bangkok Glass.
Formally unveiled by the Protectors on their official website two weeks ago, San Martin revealed that he was drawn to the club after hearing much of their reputation during his time at Kedah.
That reputation has however not translated into silverware since their RHB Singapore Cup triumph in 2005 – a record the Santiago native was keen to do something about.
“I am very happy to be here in Home United,” he told sleague.com at a recent pre-season training session.
“I know that Home United is a big club in Singapore. In fact when I played in Kedah, my coach said to me back then that Home United is the best club here.
“After I came, I can see that this team is very professional, and training is very hard. But for the last four years, even with eight or nine national team players, the club has not been able to become champion in any competition, I don’t know why.
“Now that so many new players have come, we will push hard for Home United to become a champion team again. And I know with good players like Peres (de Oliveira) and Valery (Hiek), we have a very good team who can become champions.”
San Martin, who had begun his professional career in 2000 with Universidad de Chile, plied his trade in his homeland for six years before moving to Kedah midway into 2006.
The playmaker became an instant hit with the Hijau Kuning, pulling the strings in central midfield as he forged a devastating attacking combination with strikers Marlon Alex James and Khyril Muhymeen Zambri.
His arrival at Home was warmly welcomed by assistant coach S. Subramani, who had crossed swords with him when the Protectors faced Kedah in the AFC Cup in 2008.
The former Singapore defender was glowing in his assessment of San Martin, pointing out that his presence would be a great help to Oliveira, who had turned 35 in November.
“Nelson is a quality player, the kind of attacking player who can dictate a game,” said Subramani.
“He is very clever with the ball, has good vision, and he fits the role where he can feed the team’s strikers. We have players who are of a similar type, but I think Nelson can provide even more than what we’ve had in the last couple of years.
“Especially when you look at Peres, he’s getting older, and for next season we want to push him further up front to become a goalscorer. With Nelson here, we can take some of the weight off his shoulders so that he doesn’t have to do everything himself like this year.
“The other good thing about Nelson is that he’s 29, and that is a very good age because normally footballers would be at their peak at around this age. He’s had a long layoff last year and he’s got some back pain now, but eventually these things will go away.”
Apart from the substantial time he had spent receiving treatment for his injuries – most notably a niggling problem with his left knee – San Martin’s stint at Bangkok Glass had also been marred by a deteriorating relationship with coach Surachai Jaturapattarapong.
Surachai was stinging in his criticism of the player, accusing the latter of showing petulant behaviour whenever he was informed that he would not be included in the Glass Rabbits’ starting lineup.
But San Martin, perhaps mindful of Surachai’s legendary status at Home, opted to play down the issue as he attributed the fallout to a difference in opinion on team tactics.
“I didn’t have good feelings for my time with Bangkok Glass, but I think it’s just me and the coach having different ideas for our football,” he claimed.
“My football thinking is more on attack, and I think a team should attack and go for three points every time. The coach preferred to defend more, and I didn’t like this.
“But I know the coach used to play here in Home United, and I think he’s a good coach with his own ideas. It’s just that we had different ideas and we cannot agree.”
“Every player will have a bad period in his life, and I guess maybe he had his reasons for not getting along with the coaches or the team when he was in Bangkok,” added Subramani diplomatically.
“But I don’t see that in the last two weeks he’s been down here. What I have seen is that he is very encouraging to the other players, and he gives everything during training, which is more important for us.
“I spoke to him a couple of times, and he’s willing to put aside everything that happened in Bangkok and start afresh. He’s showing that he is clearly motivated to do well this season, and that’s a good sign for us.”
While it remains to be seen whether San Martin’s time with Home will be a happy one, it was apparent from his behaviour at training that he was keen to hit all the right notes.
Apologizing profusely to everyone for what he claimed to be a below-par performance at the 90-minute session, he looked comfortable with his new teammates and club officials.
The one person any player has to win over above all others, however, is the coach – and with the club yet to confirm the identity of the man who will replace PN Sivaji, San Martin was quick to admit that there was still much uncertainty despite the positive vibes.
The situation is made even more complicated by the embarrassment of midfield riches at the Clementi-based club, with Singapore internationals Shahril Ishak, Shi Jiayi, Isa Halim and Tengku Mushadad all vying for starting places as well.
In the face of such intense competition, humility appears to be San Martin’s preferred policy.
“It all depends on the coach and what he wants to do,” he said when asked how he sees himself integrating into the team.
“I don’t know what system he wants to play for next year, but to me, it’s about 20 or 22 players working together to become a champion team. If the team wants that, it’s no problem for me if I have to follow what the coach wants me to do.
“It’s not important whether Nelson plays very well or Peres plays very well. It’s more important that next year, Home United become champion.
“When I played in Kedah and Kedah became champions, the name people remember is not my name, it’s Kedah. If we all try our best, we can make Home United the name to remember.” |
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