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Too soon to call - Soccer - New Straits Times

Posted: 26 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

27 March 2014| last updated at 11:27PM

ABDUL Rahman Ibrahim believes a clearer picture of the Super League title battle will only emerge in the second half of the season as presently there are too many teams clustered at the top of the table.

Rahman's Terengganu currently lead the standings with 16 points after a comprehensive 3-0 win over Armed Forces in Selayang on Tuesday but they are only ahead of Pahang and Selangor on goal difference.

Pahang have played a game more while Darul Ta'zim and LionsXII are two points behind the top three.

With most teams having played nine matches, even 10th placed Sime Darby might fancy their chances seeing that they are only six points off the top.

"What we are seeing this season is that no team have been able to put a string of victories together to pull away at the top," said Rahman after watching Manaf Mamat, Norfarhan Muhammad and Faiz Subri score in the win over Forces.

"There are three teams sharing the lead and only if one team win three matches in a row will they be able to breakaway. This probably won't happen until later."

Even Terengganu have been plagued with inconsistency as their win over Forces came after a surprising 3-2 defeat against Sime Darby last Saturday, also in Selayang.

Rahman said he is pleased with the response of his team to that defeat after he dropped Marcio Da Silva, Norhakim Hassan and Nasril Izzat Jalil to the bench and restored Manaf, Faiz and Zairo Anuar Zailani to the starting line-up.

"Today I saw the fighting spirit which for some reason was missing against Sime Darby," said the former national coach. "It is good to see the team have regained their tactical understanding.

"After we scored the first goal, Forces put us under pressure but we were able to get through that and keep our shape. In the last 15 minutes our organisational discipline brought another two goals."

Terengganu will attempt to stay top of the league on Saturday when they host Kelantan in a mouth-watering East Coast derby while Forces look set to be involved in a relegation scrap when they face Sime Darby, who are the nominal hosts at the Selayang ground they share.

This latest defeat extended Forces' winless run to six matches and led coach B. Sathianathan to bemoan the lack of goals from his strikers and the injury crisis afflicting his defence.

The absence of defenders Amiridzwan Taj Tajudin and K. Reuben through injury and Norfazly Alias from suspension forced Sathianathan to even play Hairuddin Omar as an emergency centre-back.

"I have no choice but to look for some new (foreign) players. We have to look for a striker to put away the chances," he said after Christie Jayaseelan and Juan Manuel Arostegui missed glittering chances to score.

"I will speak with the management and if in the next two weeks of the transfer window we do not regain our form, we will have to drop them," added Sathianathan who is also without injured striker Marlon Alex James.

Jumaat, 28 Mac 2014

Manaf Mamat - Google Blog Search

Manaf Mamat - Google Blog Search

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