Young Lions Yet To Find Their Teeth

Taken from: http://www.gombakunited.com

They may yet be the stars of tomorrow, but the Young Lions will have to wait a while longer before they find their shine as they prepare to visit Jurong West this Thursday.

For we can expect our Bulls to show no mercy to Terry Pathmanathan's side, as the chance to maintain the early pressure on defending champions SAFFC continues to present itself in the coming weeks.

Our opponents for this week have yet to get themselves into gear after four games, having registered three consecutive draws before falling 1-2 on their own turf to the Warriors.

While there will be those who will prefer to read positively into the results - they have held their own in a goalless draw with the Super Reds and were denied a win in injury time by Bruneian side DPMM FC - the truth is they look sorely lacking in bite up front.

Two goals in four games puts them among the worst attacks in the league, despite all the hype over their new chief striker Khairul Nizam, incidentally the half-brother of national team starlet Amri.

The fact that Nizam himself is not a true poacher in the traditional mould means his teammates have to provide the necessary support for the goals to come, and that is where our heroes' defensive strengths will give us the advantage.

Coach Darren Stewart would of course do well to keep an eye on their threats on the wing, where Gabriel Quak Jun Yi and new face Faritz Abdul Hameed would be active.

But we have our own threats on the flank, and the overlapping Jaslee Hatta and Jeremy Chiang should give adequate support to OJ Obatola and Ruhaizad Ismail on the left and right sides of the field respectively.

The midfield could be the key area of interest as far as our options are concerned, for Ridhwan Jamaludin and Shafuan Sutohmoh have both done well whenever they have come on.

Having both on the field at the same time is, however, an unlikely prospect, such is the effectiveness shown by the unassuming Goran Subara in the way he patrols the area.

Goran could be up for a heavy battle with Young Lions captain Isa Halim, who has had to play guiding light to a squad that now includes a generous peppering of teenagers.

Isa's first visit to Jurong West as Young Lions captain ended in a 1-2 loss for his side. If our brave fighters perform to their standards, a repeat appears the likely outcome.

GFC