photo from FAS Facebook
What separates a Winner from a loser?
The final score on the scoreboard at Jurong West Stadium read 2-0. Unfortunately, Singapore was on the losing end; losing 0-2 to visitor, Philippines. If you were one of the fans watching Singapore vs Philippines game, you would agree Philippines’ victory was not a lucky one. 5 shots on target for Singapore while Philippines had 4. Yet, Philippines converted 2 of them to sink Singapore in front of their own home fans.
I couldn’t remember when was the last time Singapore lost to Philippines but this lost was a great knock to the head, reminding us that football around this ASEAN region is improving extremely fast while we fail to do so.
Vietnam and Philippines used to be second teams behind Singapore but this has changed in recent years. All these teams, including Malaysia and Thailand have improved tremendously and achieved remarkable results at the International scene. So isn’t it obvious Singapore has to do something to catch up with the rest? Did I just use “catch-up”?
Coach Raddy’s name will always be on the headline especially after a defeat. This time no exception too. So will there be any difference should Coach Raddy be replaced? With all due respect to one of my favorite football coaches, I guess there might be a positive impact.
His potential departure from Singapore NT is not because of his incapability to lead, but more like we need a new and bigger engine to move further than what we are having now. I compared Coach Raddy to Arsene Wenger – both of them have been given sufficient time to prove themselves but their knowledge, experience and management of the team have reached a peak where they should give their respective team which they are leading, a chance to move-on in search of new success. Side track, I am not a Premiership follower but I do know Arsenal will not achieve anything with Arsene Wenger.
One example, when the coach is too familiar to the players, he knows exactly how much are the (fitness) threshold of his players. If a new coach comes onboard, he will push the players to their maximum or beyond as obviously he does not know their previous level. On the other hand, players want to impress their new coach, and they would put in more effort which could surpass their usual capability!
So will we see any changes? Or will we see changes coming only after crashing out of AFF Suzuki Cup at the end of this year (again)? So, what separates a winner from a loser? It’s result.
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