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Shasi demands tighter defence against Stags
Sham Majid
info@sleague.com
Buoyed by their exhilarating comeback against Home United just when they seemed dead and buried, a rejuvenated Woodlands Wellington outfit will lock horns with league leaders Tampines Rovers at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday evening.
This time, however, coach A. Shasi Kumar will be hoping his side would not need to claw back a deficit again.
There seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel for Shasi’s charges after the Protectors had raced to a 2-0 lead early in the second half, but a thoroughly industrious display after the interval culminated in an impressive 2-2 draw.
Strikes from Moroccan forward Abdelhadi Laakkad and Japanese defender Kazuki Yoshino ensured a share of the spoils and send the Rams faithful into rapture that night, showing just what the players were capable of when they put their hearts to the job.
For Shasi, their sterling comeback against the Protectors was just the massive shot in the arm his side needed to tackle the Stags following disappointing back-to-back losses against Etoile FC and Sengkang Punggol.
“It was definitely a real confidence booster for us; firstly, it was a good comeback for us and secondly, it was a great result too,” he enthused.
“The confidence and mood in the squad is high, and I was pleased with the character and fighting spirit of my boys.”
Nevertheless, despite hailing his troops’ mental strength, the new Rams incumbent maintained that it was imperative to eradicate the defensive errors which have blighted their campaign so far.
“I’ve got to look at the goals we conceded so far, and there have been individual errors which have cost us,” he elaborated.
“It is not really a mental problem in terms of losing focus, but rather, we have committed some defensive mistakes and we have been punished. But we have been working hard in training trying to cut out our mistakes after the Home game, and we want to improve on that aspect.”
Woodlands share the unenviable record along with Albirex Niigata (Singapore) of being the only sides so far not to have registered a victory in league proceedings, but Shasi insisted he is not losing any sleep over trying to shed that dubious honour.
“At the present moment, we are not really concerned about the situation,” he said in reference to their winless start.
“We are always looking at one game at a time, and we’re not thinking too much about that first win. Obviously, the thought of the first win would be playing some players’ minds, and though it would be good to get the victory, it’s still early days yet.
“The points gap amongst teams are very close and teams will drop points. So we just want to focus on a game at a time and not worry too much.”
This year’s Rams are no strangers to facing the Stags, having dumped the latter out of the League Cup competition with a 1-0 win in the quarterfinals, but Shasi is expecting a wholly different ball game come Wednesday.
“This is a brand new game, and I’ve already forgotten about the League Cup run, even though it was good for us and we finished second”, he commented.
“This time we are facing a Tampines side full with their national team players, compared to the League Cup game, so their threat comes from everywhere.
“I think we’ll approach the game the same way as when we last played them, but even without their national players they were still a tough team, so there’s no difference. But having said that, Home are also a good team filled with internationals and we could get something from that game, so we have a chance.”
Off-season signing Syed Karim is finally fit after being sidelined for weeks with a muscle injury, but the former Gombak honcho is looking to gently ease the midfielder back into the fray.
“Syed is ready but I don’t think he would start, as we don’t want to risk him,” he declared.
Stags assistant coach Syed Faruk meanwhile brushed aside any suggestions that his team would be sidetracked following their highly-publicised clash against Etoile, which attracted the headlines for the wrong reasons after a couple of unsavoury incidents had occurred on and off the pitch.
Centreback Benoit Croissant was involved in a number of verbal clashes with his countrymen, but Faruk stressed no other team member has been dragged into the messy affair.
“The players are not at all distracted in any way from that game, as it was just one player from our team who was involved,” he said.
“We are concetrating on the task at hand against Woodlands.”
Faruk conceded that the Stags could glean a pointer or two from their encounter against the Rams during what for his side was a brief League Cup campaign.
“I think there were a couple of lessons learnt from that defeat,” he said.
“I don’t think we were complacent from the way the players performed against Woodlands, but you never know what is going through the mind of the players.
“We missed our international players and we missed a whole lot of chances, and I think we did a lot of finishing practice after that loss. So we’ve improved a bit on that.”
The former national midfielder has no questions about the competence of the Rams, citing their impressive 2-2 comeback against the Protectors as a sign of their credentials.
“Woodlands drew with Home after being two goals down so they must have done something right there,” he argued.
“I’m not putting three points in my bag just yet.”
Looking back at his side, the Stags assistant chief believed that his team’s first-half display against Etoile was a true barometer of their playing capabilities.
“I think the first half against Etoile was the real picture of the team in terms of the way they can play,” he added.
“I would like that to happen for the whole of 90 minutes, but obviously teams will know our style and they would work their way in stopping us. So we must accept that it’s not possible to play like that always, and try to adapt to how teams play when they face us.”
Apart from defensive stalwart Park Yo Seb, who is struggling with a knee injury and is rated as doubtful, the Stags have a clean bill of health for this fixture.
This includes star striker Khairul Amri, who has been making fleeting appearances from the bench following his return to fitness after an ankle injury, although Faruk was keen to stress the collective potential of his squad.
“Amri has just played twice as a substitute and he’s not fully match fit, but the whole squad has been doing well when someone has to step in to play,” he said.
“Everybody comes in and does their job, so it’s good for the team as everyone is capable of stepping in to play their roles.” |
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