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Rams in quandary over Beijing form
Gary Koh
info@sleague.com
Woodlands Wellington coach A. Shasi Kumar will not find his side’s latest league assignment any easier than what he has already seen of late when they host Beijing Guoan Talent at Woodlands Stadium on Sunday.
The Rams are on a run of eight consecutive league matches without a win. With only two points out of a possible 24, they have slid to the bottom of the table.
Meanwhile the Talents are on a high after stunning a shockingly poor Etoile 3-1 at home on Thursday. This comes after losing 0-1 to Sengkang Punggol away last Sunday and a 0-3 friendly defeat to Malaysia Under-23s on Tuesday.
Four points clear from the bottom four, the young Chinese will be looking to consolidate their mid-table position with a second successive win.
Previous encounters saw Beijing overcoming the Rams 2-1 at home after being held to a goalless draw at Woodlands earlier in the season.
While Beijing should be the favourites to take three points off the struggling hosts, it will be a tougher test than what Etoile provided.
Fatigue and inconsistent form will be major factors for the young Chinese as they play their fourth game in eight days.
Those two losses earlier in the week, particularly the whitewash to the technically competent young Malaysians on Tuesday that saw significant game time for the fringe players, had cast doubts on the Chinese to deliver against Etoile.
While the emphatic victory on Thursday has lifted them, the enforced suspension of regular left midfielder Meng Yang, who provided the assists in all the Talents’ goal against the Stars, leaves coach Zheng Xiaotian with a headache on who to take his place.
Cui Yu looks the favourite to step in his place, but Ding Haifeng is another possibility after featuring in that position on Tuesday’s friendly match.
Wang Hao, Zhang Ye et al will not have an easy time up front against a more determined Woodlands defence.
Japanese defender Kazuki Yoshino returns to partner Winston Yap in central defence, allowing Chilean midfielder Luis Eduardo Hicks to resume his regular midfield partnership with Sazali Salleh.
While the Rams defenders do not possess the same quality as Etoile’s, they have the professionalism and determination not to allow opponents to steamroll over them.
The question is whether they will be entrusted with the job.
With only pride to play for in the remainder of the 2010 season, Woodlands coach Shasi has opted to mix the veterans with Prime League boys, a policy he has already put into practice for some time now.
The likes of Navin Nigel Vanu, Azli Mahmud and Nardi Asani have been featuring regularly alongside old-timers Yap, captain Mohd Noor Ali and Sazali, owing to the accumulation of injuries and suspensions.
The blooding of young rookies has come at the expense of much-needed victories, but Shasi has indicated his pleasure in seeing the plan work well so far and is expected to do the same against Beijing.
Shasi will have a full-strength side to choose from, sans injured players Syed Karim and Sahairi Ramri.
The absence of the latter has set up a curious duel on one flank. With both Woodlands’ Nardi and the Beijing replacement left midfielder being both rookies, the personal duel could turn out to be the deciding factor of the game.
On the bench, the likes of Guntur Djarfril, Asraf Abdul Rashid and Shahri Musa, those who are sacrificed at the expense of the youths, will have to dig deep and show Shasi they deserve to be in his plans for the 2011 domestic season.
The fight to stay in the S.League is no more prevalent anywhere else than at Woodlands, where Shasi already has one eye on blooding the juniors for future senior football at the expense of experienced mid-career players.
Against an opponent like Beijing, this could be the crucial chance for those out of favour to show their worth. |
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