Blog Posts by Damon Yeo

Sundram's decision to field Sufian Anuar pays off handsomely. (FAS photo)

COMMENT

Last week, this very blog ran a report urging LionsXII coach V Sundramoorthy to be bold and change his approach to the game in terms of personnel and tactics.

On Saturday, he heeded the advice and it paid huge dividends.

Against defending Malaysian Cup champions Negeri Sembilan no less, Sundram made his biggest gamble yet as a LionsXII coach. He dropped the experienced Agu Casmir in favour of the relatively unknown Sufian Anur — and the latter repaid his coach with significant contributions to LionsXII's most empathic win of the season thus far.

Sufian gave more than 100 per cent in the game, chasing down every lost cause in the game and was a constant thorn in the opposition defence for 85 minutes, until he was substituted.

More importantly, he played a key role in two of LionsXII's goals, splitting the opposition defence to set up two crucial goals for his teammates.

His energetic display upfront was also the catalyst for a fluid and entertaining display by LionsXII — a

96 were killed and at least 200 injured in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 (AFP photo)

While the world is still reeling from shocking footages of the Wednesday's football disaster in Port Said, Egypt, allow us to take a moment to revisit some of the worst football-related disasters in history.

10)       Heysel Football Stadium disaster

Date                 : May 1985

City                  : Brussels, Belgium

Death Toll        : 39

Reason            : Riot / Structural Collapse

At the height of British football hooliganism, Liverpool took on Juventus in the 1985 European Cup (now re-branded as Champions League) Final. Just before the kick-off, trouble was brewing between two set of fans, who were separated by a temporary chain link fence.

Once the game kicked-off, violence escalated. Liverpool fans charged towards the section of Juventus fans and caused a collapse of a perimeter wall. The wall crushed many hapless fans, taking the death toll to 39.

In the aftermath, the FA imposed an indefinite ban on English clubs in European competitions. English teams eventually

LionsXII must start getting out of their caves (AFP photo)

COMMENT

Five games into the 2012 Malaysian Super League season, LionsXII sit at seventh place, two places outside of the pre-season target of a top-five finish.

So how would I rate them after these handful of games? "Average" and "met expectations" are my buzzwords.

Games involving LionsXII have seen eight goals in all so far (four scored, four conceded), at an average of a paltry 1.6 goals per game. This average is incidentally the lowest in the league — on the other end of the equation games involving Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan have seen an average of 2.8 goals per game.

This statistic alone sums up coach V. Sundramoorthy's approach to the opening five matches -- overly cautious.

Upon analyzing his tactics and team selection, there will be more evidence to support this argument.

Tactics

Sundram prefers to deploy a 4-5-1 formation, with a lone striker upfront. Agu Casmir was his natural first-choice striker before his injury. Captain Shahril Ishak has since   deputised in a

LionsXII player Isa Halim (C) kicks the ball past Kuala Lumpur FA players during their Malaysia Super League football …

COMMENT

LionsXII may have won their first match of the season, but looking back, coach V Sundramoorthy must have wished he could turn back time.

Because frankly, the home team badly needed someone like Sundram in his glorious heydays to inject a creative spark and convert the home domination into goals.

LionsXII found the net twice but it is evident that the team is lacking a natural front man -- a goalpoacher of Sundram's abilities during his heyday.

It says a lot when they needed an own goal in the first half to take the lead despite the domination and constant supply of crosses into the box.

Even Shahdan Sulaiman's goal in the second half was a gift from the visitors, after their goalkeeper fluffed a cross.

Other than that, LionsXII struggled to create any meaningful chance of note. Suffice to say, against more solid sides in the Malaysian Super League, the result would have been very different given the same performance.

The poor goal return of the team needs to be addressed but

Football Association of Singapore unveil sponsorship plans for Lions XII in the Malaysian Super League. (Goal. …

In an interview with Yahoo! Singapore in early December, FAS President Zainudin Nordin insisted that the S-league would not become a "poorer cousin" once the LionsXII start their Malaysia Cup campaign.

I wondered then what Mr Zainudin had up his sleeve when he said that. But with S-League 2.0 just weeks away  from kick-off, I am quite certain now that he probably was simply paying lip service.

In my opinion, everything that has happened since Mr Zainudin's interview has suggested that the LionsXII's participation in the 2012 Malaysia Super League (MSL) will take priority over the upcoming S-League season.

First and foremost, just look at the LionsXII squad selection. 29 players form the roster for the 2012 season and many will agree that it is a very strong selection in terms of personnel. With a few notable exceptions (Mustafic Fahrudin and Daniel Bennett), there is little doubt that the next Singapore National Team selection will mainly consist of LionsXII players.

There were

Lions XII player Agu Kasmir (C) dribbles past Kelantan FA players Subramaniam Sooryapparad (L) and Shakir Shaari …

COMMENT

This week, an MP reminded us that we should call a spade a spade. So here goes:

An utterly disappointing result, but an electrifying atmosphere to mark our return.

When the full-time whistle went at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday night, my guess is there were very few LIONSXII fans among the capacity crowd that didn't feel like the team deserved better than a 2-1 defeat in their debut MSL game.

Given the team's energetic display in the first half, there was expectation in the ground that perhaps the team could go on to seal a fairytale return — much like that of Arsenal's Thierry Henry less than 24 hours ago.

There were also many out there who felt that the late penalty decision was at best soft, at worst, a miscarriage of justice.

Vice-captain Hariss Harun admitted as much when he said a 1-1 draw would have been a fairer reflection of the proceedings.

Disappointing result aside, there were few negatives to mark the opening match in the 2012 Malaysian Super League season