The other night was a big, oh no..it was a huge disappointment from our national football team who lost their mojo and got beaten by Malaysian team 3 to nothing. After being unbeatable in previous rounds, suddenly Gonzalez and his gang seemed to not known how to play football anymore. I mean, come on..not even one single attempt that they had done. Overall, they looked like a bunch of kids who just got thrown into the field and told to play. Such a useless performance!
Alright, was that completely the boys fault? Wait a minute. They were actually bunch of kids who got thrown into the field and told to play by their manager! A-ha! We got the defendant here! In football game, just like every other team games in sports, the manager was the first 'IT' factor who actually made the team. Their intuition that create such a good team to aim the winning title. Good managers can build a good team whether they hire superstar players or not. For example, Jose Mourinho. He was one of the great man who famous for not being a big spenders on superstar players, instead, he just reform the remained players and use his magic touch to make them a good team. Remember what he did with Inter Milan last season? I even believe that he left Chelsea for that particular reason. When Abramovich started to buy all of those superstars just for sake of buying them, he quit. Yeah, great managers buy players who play well, not who cost well, not who sell well. Look at Ferguson who hardly bought any superstar players lately, he just concentrate in how to teach the remaining players to play great as a team, not individually.
Alright, back to our team, one biggest mistake that we did was being over confident. Yes, we did beat Malaysia before 5 to 1 but it doesn't mean that we are better than them. We often forget that one of the reasons why we battered them on the last game was because we were playing at home. Thing is, when a team in any game plays at home, they were actually play with one additional player which is the supporters. So when last time Malaysia played with eleven men in field, we played with twelve men, and oh believe me, this made a lot of differences. Likewise, it happened the other night as well in Bukit Jalil Stadium of Malaysia. We were actually can say that we were lucky for only got beat 3-0 by them considering how bad we played. Because that means that we have to beat them at least 4-0 on the next leg and since we did hammer them 5-1 at home before so the possibility is still there. But of course, as I said above, do not over confident by under estimate them!
Then let's talk about what did the manager does wrong the other night? Everything! Oh well, am not a football critic but I can easily saw so many mistakes from the other night's game. First, I know for sure the fact that Gonzalez was a hero from the two previous games, but putting him in the field from the beginning was a mistake. Don't get me wrong, but here is the thing, true that Gonzalez is indeed a good closer, not brilliant yet just good, but he can't run. Do not count him to chase the ball, because he is actually kind of slow player. What can you expect from a 34 years old guy anyway? I mean, come on..that was like 50 in football years! Seriously! So if I were the manager I will save him for the last 20 minutes of the game so he could play to the max, and instead, I will put Bambang Pamungkas in. Hold on, don't you yell at me yet. Yes, I know that BP is also kind of old as a player, BUT, he is the leader. He was like Laurent Blanc for France national team. Remember the 1994 world cup when France won the title? I believe with all my heart it was because of him. He was the leader in field and every player looked up on him. Oh no, unlike BP, he wasn't the captain for the team but he was the brain. Like the Prime Minister to the Queen of England. Just like BP, he got the charisma and other players need him in the field. So yeah, if I were Alfred Riedl, I would've put him first instead of El Loco. I know that Gonzalez has already got his Indonesian passport, but knowing our other aspects with Malaysian, we need an Indonesian leader in the field to put our players together, to burn their spirits and use it as a weapon. Firman Utina just not quite there yet. Seriously, the game last night was supposed to be a patriotic one considering our history with this nation, but obviously it was too much to handle for the boys.
You guys were probably wanted to kill me at this point, but hey, this was only an opinion. You don't have to be agree with me, because actually am not finished yet. Let's now talk about another naturalization player from Holland, Irfan Bachdim who barely touched the ball last night. I mean, it was so easy for us to treat the players as our hero just because of they scored in a game but often we forget who actually masterminded the goal. For example, Irfan Bachdim was became an overnight sensation after he scored on the game against Malaysia on the qualification round and for some reason, it doesn't matter anymore whether he plays well or not, which actually he doesn't. I mean, he is good sometime but he is just average overall. Just the fact that he was now in the list for every teenage girls dream date doesn't mean that he is indeed a great player. I mean, shoot me if am wrong, but now I can totally see why 2 Indonesian clubs gave him a NO before. He isn't just that good. He was just like David Beckham without that bend. So if I were Riedl, I will definitely put him on the bench. And do we have any other goalkeeper apart from Markus? Come on, people..please don't make me write why did I ask that question? Alright, if you insisted, he was just an awkward guy and awkwardness was not something that we want to see in the field. Everything about him was just so annoys me, specially how easy he falls down like a feather. I mean, this is football after all, you supposed to got kicked and elbowed in there, unless if you were Gonzalez who was never mind chasing the ball..ha! Just because of he got hooked up with that Indonesian actress wanna be, doesn't mean that he is a superstar as well. Oh come on..get a life! It was sickening to hear how the Indonesian TV commentator referred him as her husband rather than his own name. I mean, seriously guys? No wonder that poor guy never played well. Oh no, I was supposed to battered him but now I feel sorry for him.
Alright..alright, actually not all of our players were bad. I mean, even though most of the goals that we produced in previous games were kind of lucky factors, but we do have some potential players to be proud of. Just because of they were not superstars didn't mean that they are not exist. Octovianus Maniani for example, he is the guy to be watch for every coach out there. He is young, fast, and doesn't really mind the spotlight. The fact that he is a midfielder, doesn't stop him running around all over the place to chase the ball and help the striker to score or even score himself and sometime becomes a defender by making a brilliant safe for the clumsy calamity Markus. Just a typical good player. Between him and other defender Arif Suyono, who plays in the same club with him, are definitely the players to watched.
So if you ask me if I have a doubt for our team in the next game, the answer is no, I don't. Am pretty sure that we will win the second leg game tomorrow, considering the two players I mentioned above and the twelfth player who will definitely help the boys building their confidence back up, but will we score enough goals to win the title? That is, honestly, am not so sure. Unless if Riedl read my blog and decided to go with my opinion then it will be a different story. Ha!
^_^
