Blame the players, not the coach

[Ilovelamb]

I REFER to the Lions' defeat at the hands of Vietnam in the AFF Suzuki Cup ("Lions self-destruct"; Dec 9).

Those who have made calls for coach Raddy Avramovic to be replaced are missing the point. He has done a great job in lifting Singapore's football standards. The problem lies with the players who are clearly not up to mark.

Besides having poor stamina and fitness, the passing and movement skills were totally lacking. The pace of our football also leaves much to be desired.

There is no point in having the best coach with the best tactics and strategy if the players cannot carry out simple instructions. Yes, we can devise a common formation but all these efforts will come to nought if our players are not fit.

What the Football Association of Singapore and S-League organisers need to do is to demand a decent fitness level from our footballers.

Sebastian Tan

 

[ivebert]

I REFER to the Lions' defeat at the hands of Vietnam in the AFF Suzuki Cup ("Lions self-destruct"; Dec 9).

Those who have made calls for coach Raddy Avramovic to be replaced are missing the point. He has done a great job in lifting Singapore's football standards. The problem lies with the players who are clearly not up to mark.

Besides having poor stamina and fitness, the passing and movement skills were totally lacking. The pace of our football also leaves much to be desired.

There is no point in having the best coach with the best tactics and strategy if the players cannot carry out simple instructions. Yes, we can devise a common formation but all these efforts will come to nought if our players are not fit.

What the Football Association of Singapore and S-League organisers need to do is to demand a decent fitness level from our footballers.

Sebastian Tan

Blame the unprofessionalism of the Sinkies

Japanese are so much shorter and yet they can dominate Asian Soccer

If Sinkie players want to become the best, they can but they just don't have the right training and mindset to do so.

 

[red amoeba]

I blame FAS...FT policy - yeah right.

And for fucking up S-League - foreign team, yah right.

Well done. Singapore Lions continue to be the laughing stock.

 

[po2wq]

brame s leak, brame fas, brame mcys, brame ah vivian ...

 

[congo9]

I REFER to the Lions' defeat at the hands of Vietnam in the AFF Suzuki Cup ("Lions self-destruct"; Dec 9).

Those who have made calls for coach Raddy Avramovic to be replaced are missing the point. He has done a great job in lifting Singapore's football standards. The problem lies with the players who are clearly not up to mark.

Besides having poor stamina and fitness, the passing and movement skills were totally lacking. The pace of our football also leaves much to be desired.

There is no point in having the best coach with the best tactics and strategy if the players cannot carry out simple instructions. Yes, we can devise a common formation but all these efforts will come to nought if our players are not fit.

What the Football Association of Singapore and S-League organisers need to do is to demand a decent fitness level from our footballers.

Sebastian Tan

Look at the way they pass the ball and run. No speed , no control and no commitment.

 

[IceLemonT]

I just hate the "WAITING" mentality of the players, much like most of the sgers said "Wait for the gov to...", "Wait karma strike...", "Wait then see how..." etc.

In this case, "Wait for the ball to come to my feet".

I've been watching s-league since day 1 and their gears improved a lot (expensive ), but the skills and team coordination are still in stone age.

I remember one of the UK grassroot coach said "Football is a running game. If you can't run, how the hell can you win?"

 

[halsey02]

brame s leak, brame fas, brame mcys, brame ah vivian ...

Blame the shortie MBT...world cup 2010 had come & gone...maybe he meant 2030??:p

 

[EssaiveE]

Raddy did a great job lifting the standards of our national team but the problem is during the Suzuki Cup tournament, it was clearly obvious the players were unmotivated and in the match against Vietnam, it was obvious the Vietnamese wanted to win the game more than the lions did.

The problem we have is our overdependence on the foreign players. Alex Duric is pretty good but at the age of 40, there's only so much he can do. Where were the Alam Shahs and the Khairul Amris? Even Baihakki who is a centerback, probably delivered the best cross of the night near the end of the match, the wide midfielders were absent, the strikers, especially Agu were toothless, the defenders were slow and unreliable, especially Precious. The only player I thought was consistent was Hassan Sunny but even then, there's only so much magic a goalkeeper can conjur.

The team needs a change, and first of all, we need to relook at our youth development system. I was once in the system as well and I can safely say that there is no shortage of talent there, the problem here is priorities, nobody wants to be a professional footballer in Singapore because it doesn't pay well and the S-League inviting foreign teams is just going to destroy us, just like what happened to Italy and England in the last World Cup, too much reliance on foreigners.

I hope the FAS can find a solution to this mess and bring our standard up instead of just boasting that we have one of the top 10 leagues in Asia. That won't mean jackshit to us in the long run.

 

[Ramseth]

The team needs a change, and first of all, we need to relook at our youth development system. I was once in the system as well and I can safely say that there is no shortage of talent there, the problem here is priorities, nobody wants to be a professional footballer in Singapore because it doesn't pay well and the S-League inviting foreign teams is just going to destroy us, just like what happened to Italy and England in the last World Cup, too much reliance on foreigners.

I hope the FAS can find a solution to this mess and bring our standard up instead of just boasting that we have one of the top 10 leagues in Asia. That won't mean jackshit to us in the long run.

There's no solution. There're no youths playing football.

Anyway, there's no problem too. Win AFF for what? Qualify for World Cup for what?

Figure out how to pay HDB, PUB, GST, COE, ERP etc. more important to life.

 

[congo9]

Raddy did a great job lifting the standards of our national team but the problem is during the Suzuki Cup tournament, it was clearly obvious the players were unmotivated and in the match against Vietnam, it was obvious the Vietnamese wanted to win the game more than the lions did.

The problem we have is our overdependence on the foreign players. Alex Duric is pretty good but at the age of 40, there's only so much he can do. Where were the Alam Shahs and the Khairul Amris? Even Baihakki who is a centerback, probably delivered the best cross of the night near the end of the match, the wide midfielders were absent, the strikers, especially Agu were toothless, the defenders were slow and unreliable, especially Precious. The only player I thought was consistent was Hassan Sunny but even then, there's only so much magic a goalkeeper can conjur.

The team needs a change, and first of all, we need to relook at our youth development system. I was once in the system as well and I can safely say that there is no shortage of talent there, the problem here is priorities, nobody wants to be a professional footballer in Singapore because it doesn't pay well and the S-League inviting foreign teams is just going to destroy us, just like what happened to Italy and England in the last World Cup, too much reliance on foreigners.

I hope the FAS can find a solution to this mess and bring our standard up instead of just boasting that we have one of the top 10 leagues in Asia. That won't mean jackshit to us in the long run.

The league is successful because there are willing pte owners who like to fund the club and make money out of it. Like at our Singapore, our only sizable company are only the GLC.

Also , who will want to play football well if you are paid a few thousand per month in s league. Your shelf life is only 10 to 15 yrs as a top flight footballers. You need to be paid at least 20 to 30 k per month in order to be DIGNIFIED. This way will make me run for the ball. Think faster , run faster , anticipate better.

Why bring in foreign team ? Basically, we are scrapping the ground with local.

 

[EssaiveE]

The league is successful because there are willing pte owners who like to fund the club and make money out of it. Like at our Singapore, our only sizable company are only the GLC.

Also , who will want to play football well if you are paid a few thousand per month in s league. Your shelf life is only 10 to 15 yrs as a top flight footballers. You need to be paid at least 20 to 30 k per month in order to be DIGNIFIED. This way will make me run for the ball. Think faster , run faster , anticipate better.

Why bring in foreign team ? Basically, we are scrapping the ground with local.

yup precisely! the S-League is a wasted cause, the charm and magic died a long time ago the moment they started bringing in the Sinchis and the Albirexes. I miss the days when Tanjong Pagar FC used to play at the Queenstown Stadium (near my old place) and the atmosphere was pretty enjoyable. I mean we can never go back to the Malaysia Cup days but the first few seasons of the S-League almost managed to capture the spirit. But somehow, all the teams lost their identities when they got shifted around save for clubs like Tampines that play their home games in Tampines.

Basically Singaporeans have decided to follow European football, be it the EPL or the Primera Liga and they have every reason to, the competition and the level of skill in these leagues will never be seen in our league. I won't be surprised if the S-League just ends up becoming an invitation league for foreign clubs eventually. Then it just becomes a money-making machine for the companies involved, and nothing for us true football fans.

 

[IceLemonT]

Like that say ah, means sg football have to downgrade to just kampong soccer - purely recreational and bit of entertainment. Disband the professional team/club/FAS, totally remove sg ranking from FIFA also.

From now onwards, we just subs red umbrella mio and watch football thats all.


Is that what we want now? Any future ahead? Or just fall back?

 

[EssaiveE]

Well IMHO, If I was running FAS, I would get funds from the Govt or sponsors to start up a 2nd league made up entirely of local teams or teams wanting to join the S-League but don't have the means to do so. Pump in some startup capital into each participating team, maybe we cap it at 8 and start a 2nd league. Something like the Championship League in England. The matches in this league can be played on Weekend afternoons in various smaller pitches or the other unused stadiums like Yio Chu Kang, Serangoon, etc or even school pitches with a decent sized grandstand for spectators. There are a lot of SSC fields in Singapore. And change the format of the S-League so that the bottom 2 teams get relegated and the top 2 teams from the other league get promoted into the S-League. This way, there's automatically going to be much more competition because teams will be fighting to stay in the top tier and this will also boost the entertainment and crowd figures for the S-League.

 

[Airlib]

Read from Straits Time that, during the Suzuki Cup match.. Got players breech the lights out curfew and played dai dee in one of the room, kenna caught and fine....

Speaks alot about the players we have....

The link here.. Just a brief report...

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_614040.html

 

[Watchman]

Yeah Blame the Sinkies not the ministars !

 

[red amoeba]

Well IMHO, If I was running FAS, I would get funds from the Govt or sponsors to start up a 2nd league made up entirely of local teams or teams wanting to join the S-League but don't have the means to do so. Pump in some startup capital into each participating team, maybe we cap it at 8 and start a 2nd league. Something like the Championship League in England. The matches in this league can be played on Weekend afternoons in various smaller pitches or the other unused stadiums like Yio Chu Kang, Serangoon, etc or even school pitches with a decent sized grandstand for spectators. There are a lot of SSC fields in Singapore. And change the format of the S-League so that the bottom 2 teams get relegated and the top 2 teams from the other league get promoted into the S-League. This way, there's automatically going to be much more competition because teams will be fighting to stay in the top tier and this will also boost the entertainment and crowd figures for the S-League.

===

bro..i like ur idea....and make the match free for anyone to come and watch & support....

and shrink the S-league and pump money into the GRC and let the manage the team...there are so many GRCs in Singapore and each GRC can have one team - manage and funded by GRC...the funds not from your monthly conservency charges but from another source either subsidised by FAS in the beginning and then corporate.

If you want a thriving football scene, you need to have money...you need to have a league where players can be found and developed and moved into the national team. And players must be motivated to play professional football - becos until now, after a football player retires, he has no future...which is why no one wants to play....unlike BPL or even Jap league...there are alternatives open - coaching, management etc.

And finally, encourage private ownership of football teams -if that billionaire chap can buy Liverpool why can't he spend some money and create a local team to play & contribute to local football?

Another problem to address - dwindling audience - S league is now a weekend pasttime for foreign workers...which is why Chinese teams are there - I betcha, if they could, there would be an Indian team...so is this S League or Foreign Workers League.

The idea of a feeder league is good....we just need more community identity...