Pressure on Geylang to deliver

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Geylang United head to Toa Payoh Stadium on Monday evening for their Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League match with Balestier Khalsa burdened by the knowledge they desperately need the three points to revive their campaign.

The Eagles had opened the 2009 season positively with a 3-1 victory over Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore), but have since gone four matches without a win.

To say the results have not been satisfactory would be an understatement. After all, this is the same club who are targeting what they describe as a return to the S.League’s elite ranks.

Yet losses to SAFFC and, most recently, Tampines Rovers indicate that there remains some distance between themselves and the best sides in the nation.

Eagles coach Lim Tong Hai admitted to disappointment over his team’s current position, and has vowed to sort his charges out in order to get their season back on track.

“Yes, there is that bit of pressure on us, and it is frustrating to see teams pulling away,” he told sleague.com.

“But we cannot just sit back and not do anything for ourselves. We have to sit down and analyze where the problems are, and determine what we can work on.

“We’ve had problems getting goals, for example, but it is not as if we are not creating chances. We created decent chances in our first few games, but we have not been scoring from them.

“The coming game is a chance to address that problem, but the papers have already written that Balestier want the three points. So we have to go out there, work hard and earn the points.”

One player who will find himself in the spotlight is Canadian striker Rickey Harris, who was signed for his goals but has yet to produce any in his five outings so far.

While Ashrin Shariff has plundered three and even Prime League midfielder Yasir Hanapi has had one to his name, the lack of deliverables from Harris has left his coach and teammates concerned.

“Rickey’s had problems scoring goals, among other things,” conceded Lim.

“But then that’s a striker’s life. Strikers sometimes go through barren spells, although of course I hope that his barren spell does not last that long!

“We’ve had a good talk with him over it, but he is not the only one. There are other players who also play integral roles in the team, and we need to work on getting the best out of each of them.”

If the Eagles are feeling the heat, the contrast could not be greater than at Balestier, who prop up the league table but are just three points adrift of their opponents.

In fact, some may think it surprising that they have had any points to show for their work so far, having been put through a tough opening run of games that saw them face SAFFC, Home United, Tampines and then two foreign sides in the Super Reds and DPMM FC.

While they were predictably swept aside by the two uniformed teams, late goals meant they were able to rescue a point apiece in their encounters against the Stags and the Bears, before succumbing to Oh Ddog Yi’s strike in their last match.

Victory over Geylang would thus lift them to tenth place or even higher, depending on the margin, but Tigers coach Nasaruddin Jalil has suggested winning is not the first priority for his young side.

“We’ve already survived the four toughest tests, so it will be good if we start picking up points,” said the former Singapore international.

“Apart from the top four teams who are beginning to run away, the rest of the table is very close. A win for us, for example, would put us level with Geylang, but while I would like to win, the situation is not all about winning, more about performing.

“Against Tampines and the Super Reds, we were able to get draws. And against DPMM, even though we were killed by one mistake we made, we were competitive and put up a good performance.

“It will be good if we can convert these performances into points for the league table, but you must understand that there are many factors that affect a game, like the weather and match officials. So we can only focus on what we can control.”

Nasaruddin did share his sympathies over Geylang’s stuttering start, noting that he did not find anything intrinsically wrong with the goal they had set for themselves.

Claiming that having pressure to perform may not in itself be a bad thing, he was however careful to point out that any expectations had to be balanced by realism – which he believed has not been ignored by his opponents.

“With the kind of players Geylang have, their target of finishing in the top four sounds realistic,” he said.

“They have several former and current national team players, and they have good foreigners. If I were given that kind of squad, I would probably set a similar target myself.

“The pressure is on them, but I wouldn’t say we have no pressure. We have, after all, set ourselves a goal of trying to finish in mid-table.

“Rather, I would say it is better not to put undue pressure on my players. But we know what our players are capable of, and the right amount of pressure will motivate them.”