This year has seen the most no. of foreign teams participating in the S-League since Sinchi first
"invaded" the Sleague in 2003. Lets take a look at how these 3 teams have performed after playing their 10th game in the league this season.
Albirex Niigatta - This squad draws its players from the Japanese feeder squad of Albirex Niigatta, Japan. They created waves when they made an explosive start in their debut season but their "real" talent was unearthed as the season wore on where they finished 5th in the 2004 season. Incidentally, that has been their best ever finish in the Sleague as they ended up in 5th and 6th position in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
For the 1st 3 seasons, the japs have played 84 games, won 36, drew 25 and lost the remaining 23 games. This leads to a point per game of 1.583. I have to admit that I used to admired the class of 2004 and 2005 where they had the likes of
Hidetoshi Wakui, Kenji Arai and IsseyNakajima, who was voted the SLeague young player of the year in 2005 and was actually considered for the Foreign Talent Scheme. Albriex has since be missing players of their calibre since the trio left albirex in 2005. Those players that came in subsequently have not left an impression on me and most of them are young kids still beginning to ply their trade in this professional league.
So far this season, Albirex has attained 3 victories against -> Woodlands, Young Lions and korean. The japs got their 1st victory against the depleted RAMs with a last min winner. The victory over the YL must be credited to their GK, Norio Takahashi, who was credited with man of the match award and when a GK is awarded MOM, it just goes to show the amt of chances the opponent has created. I would label it as a "lucky" win as well. They got their 3rd win of the season when they
bullied the koreans 5-0 last week. No big deal beating a club tat loses 80% of the games that they played in.
Just like
liverpool, Albriex is living on past reputation or achievements. Their squad of 2007 hasnt got skill and techniques to survive in the Sleague. Yes, they might occasionally sniff out a victory or two, but its obvious that if the JAPS do not improve the quality of their players, they will not improve beyond their best ever finish of 5th place.
Liaoning - This team from China is actually Sinchi "Senior" with no more than 5 players from the ex Sinchi regime. Liaoning has impressed in their opening 2 games although they lost by a single goals in both outings. However, their performance since then has gone from bad to worse. Their defending was atrocious against SAF, Tampines n Gombak United. Their over realiance on their defender, Chen Bo is too heavy a burden for the ex-china player to bear.
Liaoning has achieved 2 victories to date, and both were gained by beating their foreign counterparts, Korean and Albirex. They have been using the Singapore climate for their poor performance, but how many more months or years do u need to get accustomised to the local weather after playing in Singapore for the past 4-5 months?! I am positive tat losing 8 out of 10 games is certainly not the type of standard the Sleague is looking for when they allowed the re-entry of a chinese club into sleague after a one year absence.
Korean Super Reds - Do not be fooled by their name, they are neither super nor do they play like typical koreans! They are simply a disgrace to Korean Soccer, i realli hope they can rename the club asap! Yes, they beaten Geylang 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Sengkang. They lost 8 out of 10 games and the being thrashed is as common as But are they here to fight it out with our Sleague no-hopers or to give the top guns a run for their money?
Their coach, Hong In Woong, has boasted of a top 3 finish in the league during the pre-season press conference. I doubt they can even achieve 3 wins in the entire season! How much a challenge can 2 to 3 over the hill K-League players pose together with a bunch of University students? Arent they taking the Sleague too lightly? So far, this korean team has the worst disciplinary record in the Sleague, garnering 7 red cards and 28 yellow cards in the process. This works out to a player being sent of in 70% of their games. I suppose their immediate task is to keep 11 players on the pitch and avoid losing by double digit scoreline in the league.
Going into the 11th week of the season, I wonder why is the SLeague willing to accept such sub standard teams playing in our league? Albirex Niigata itself is not one of the big guns in J-League! Is the standard of Singapore soccer tat low to the extend tat a feeder squad of a mediocre J-League club is capable of challenging for top honours in the Sleague? Yes, the japanese has been qualifying for the world cup on a regular basis, but that does not imply that ALL JAPs can play soccer! The same can be said of Korea and Liaoning.
I urge the Sleague not to judge a team based on their business models or their country of origin but rather the standard of players in these foreign teams Look at Chonburi FC who stormed into the finals of the Singapore Cup last year and Bangkok Unversity who is one of the favourites to lift the title this season. Although they both do not have the same "reputation" of the Japs, Koreans or the Chinese, these 2 thai teams certainly pose more challenge to our local clubs. Only with competition and challenges will a club progress and improve. No point pitting our skills against clubs where results are a mere formality.In the clash of the "rubbishES", the koreans has lost both their games with huge margin. I doubt anyone will object if I were to give them the nickname of "Rubbish of the Rubbish"!
