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Bok urges strength as Warriors brace for Beijing
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
Six days after their sensational victory over AFC Champions League opponents Henan Jianye, SAFFC are set to face Chinese opposition again when they take on the youngsters of Beijing Guoan in an S.League encounter on Monday evening.
While the 2-1 result at Jalan Besar last week was greeted with much ecstasy, however, this match at Choa Chu Kang will be nothing less than a must-win encounter for the Warriors, according to their coach Richard Bok.
His charges currently stand sixth in the league table, seven points behind leaders Tampines Rovers, having already fallen to shock losses at the hands of Gombak United and the Young Lions.
With key clashes against French outfit Etoile and archrivals Home United still to come in the first third of the season, Bok was acutely aware that his side cannot afford to drop any points against the Beijing boys.
“For us, this game on Monday is a game where we have to collect the three points,” he declared on the eve of the match.
“Four days after this game, we play against Etoile. It’s important that we get some good results from these two games to keep up with Tampines.
“After the win against Henan in the Champions League last week, all the boys are looking forward to doing well in the league. Hopefully we can be more consistent in our play, show more urgency and have the winning mentality.
“We need to go in, put in the work and show our strength. Being at home, we need to give a good professional performance and get the three points.”
Even though the season may only be three months old, early portents suggest that SAFFC will have quite a tough challenge on their hands if they are to claim the league title for a fifth consecutive season.
Already Tampines are standing out as leading candidates to lift the trophy, having stormed to an unbeaten start stretching eight league matches, including a 1-1 draw with the Warriors back in February.
Bok however remained confident that his side can still catch the Stags if they string together some good results before the teams’ next league meeting on 17 May.
“We’ve still got to play against them twice, and they’re the first team we will play against in the second round,” noted the 40-year-old.
“It’s still a long season, so we want to keep as close to them as possible by the end of Round One. It’ll therefore be important to get the points this week.
“Of course, teams like Home and Gombak had the opportunity to close in on them, so it’s good for us to see what happened last week. But if you look at this year, all the teams are very competitive, and I don’t expect it to be easy for anyone.
“Apart from Tampines, who are ahead on 18, everybody else is on 14, 13, 13, ten, ten, nine… It’s all quite close from top to bottom, so we’ll have to work hard to claw those points back.”
SAFFC have been boosted by the availability of leading striker Indra Sahdan Daud for the Beijing match, after the groin strain that had prompted his early exit against Henan appears to have cleared up.
The 31-year-old is likely to start alongside free-roving forward Park Tae Won in the attacking line, which means Erwan Gunawan, the man who scored that historic goal last week, will have to content himself with a spot on the bench.
Erwan will be joined by Singapore internationals Noh Rahman and Mustaqim Manzur, both of whom have shaken off their respective injuries as well and could get substitute runs to warm them up ahead of the Etoile clash.
Uruguayan striker Federico Martinez is meanwhile close to full recovery from the latest of a series of niggling injuries as well, making Bok a very happy man indeed as he prepares for the big week ahead.
“Indra is okay, his mobility is good, so he’s looking forward to the game,” he reported.
“We’ve got a healthier squad now, the injured players are coming back one by one. Noh Rahman is going to be back on the bench, and even Mus will be back on the bench.
“We’ll see how the game goes before deciding whether they or even players like Syaiful Iskandar or Erwan will get on. The first thing is that we want the three points first, then we’ll see how things go.
“Having said that, it’s good that I’m getting the injured players back. After the Champions League campaign ends at the end of the month, we’ll be looking forward to going all out in the league with everyone in apart from Shaiful (Esah).”
It could all start badly for the Warriors, of course, if they should fall on their faces against Zheng Xiaotian’s charges, who are proving to be rather unpredictable.
Impressive in their emphatic wins over Geylang United and then Home, they have left observers baffled by their losses to Balestier Khalsa and, most recently, Albirex Niigata (Singapore).
But the Chinese side can pose a real threat if they manage to piece things together in midfield, and in Liu Teng, who is returning from a two-match ban, Zheng could have the man who can make things happen for his teammates.
Bok also pointed out the dangers posed by the attack-minded duo of Tan Tiancheng and Wang Hao, who are likely to give Daniel Bennett, Ivan Lovric et al a serious test with their speed and creativity.
Ultimately, how things will play out depends on which Beijing Guoan turns up at Choa Chu Kang, but the SAFFC coach reckoned his opponents could throw all caution to the wind and go all-out against his side.
“I think they’re a bunch of young players who have nothing to lose,” he remarked.
“It won’t be easy against them. They have some good individual players like the No.24 (Tan) and the No.23 (Wang), and some of these players represented China at Under-19 level before, so we’ve got to be careful of that.
“They’ve also shown some good pattern play, but although they count a lot on teamwork they have some good individual play too. Plus, they’re full of energy, so it won’t be easy.
“They’ve been up and down so far, but I noticed they seem to play particularly well against the big teams. So all the more we need to put in a good shift against them.” |
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