Shebby/Tohari Analysis

ok, i shall start a bit. i think our game lacks width. cos i remember from what nasir told me last year, when teams defend, they narrow down, i assume to protect the box.

when attacking, teams are supposed to push wide, i assume to make space.

an observation of UCL games will quickly support this. also, a quick tune-in to the blip view of the Euro08 games will also show how teams expand and constrict when defending and attacking.

it explains why, after 0-3 down, and few chances created, i had stood on the left touch line for abt 5min. when the ball came, i was unmarked, cos the oppo can't risk man-marking & stretching themselves in midfield. then, just relay the ball forward, and luckily, firdaus poked it home. :) it really was a conscious effort to try and create a goal.

what im saying is that it stretches the opponents, creates space, provides options for the defensive line and central midfielders to pass, and even goalkicks from the keepers.

we badly need a water-carrier in midfield. i don't think i'm up to it. our last two games have exposed us in midfield, cos i just dun have the fitness to track back all the time, and so-called shield the defence (which ppl like Adil do brilliantly at).

almost always, i know its my man to mark and i can see him getting free, but i choose to leave it, cos chasing back everytime will just make me pancit, obvious esp in last game's heat. sorry guys... those times, were consciously risking conceding goals.

we only conceded a penalty in the 2nd half, so i tnk the switch with Hatta helped to plug the defensive holes.

knowing yourself: i can try create goals but i'll leave the centre super-exposed cos im unable to run box-to-box (at least not yet). so if im not making a contribution to the game, then id rather be a sub. ;)

i also think, myself included, that we look extremely uncomfortable on the ball. we lose a lot of possession from poor first touches, and when we don't, we seem too keen to punt the ball back to the oppo instead of building up passes and a rhythm.

if we noticed, nobody, and i really think nobody, attempts to run with the ball even when there's space. it's okay as a philosophy but i think holding onto the ball for that few seconds can at least:
1) slow down the game when its at a frenetic pace (cos we're not all very fit)
2) put the opponents on the back track
3) allow team-mates time to run into space.
Note: we're not playing rugby, so we dun have to have territorial possession, kick long balls into touch, or go forward all the time.

yep, so far dats about it... sorry ah, but just that, in the last 3 games since i came back, we've been losing lah, so these are just personal observations. u all also give some analysis ah.

cos next week's opponents are going to be equally, if not even more tough.

sufian23