FC Tokyo 9-0 Chonburi - Match Report: 2016

AFC Champions League qualifier

9th February, 2016

FC Tokyo 9-0 Chonburi

Match report by Brian Enever

Having been in Japan just twelve months ago we knew what to expect. We'd come up against a confident team that was technically superior, physically stronger and with more experience at that level. To compete we knew we would have to defend for long periods, so correct team selection was vital, our shape and balance would need to be spot on and our discipline, workrate and attitude needed to be second to none.

But just about every decision we made was wrong. We started with poor team selection and went downhill from there.  We needed a tight defensive set up that, without defending too deep, effectively puts plenty of bodies behind the ball with very little space for the opposition to exploit.

We had to get our team selection right. We could expect to have long periods without the ball so needed a central midfield that would protect the back four, close people down quickly and deny them any space. Our wide midfield players needed to be competent defensively and capable of protecting our fullbacks (allowing them to tuck in and deny any space at the back) and putting their their wide players under constant pressure.

So what do we do? We play Nurul on the right side of midfield with Leandro on the left.

Now Nurul is technically quite good with the ball at his feet, his strengths being his ability to run at, and beating, defenders in the last third of the pitch. In this type of game, he's an impact player that can come on for the last twenty minutes if we're chasing a game. The word 'defend' is quite simply a foreign word to him. Both positionally and technically he is totally incapable of doing a defensive job to minimise the space to protect his fullback.

And on the left we need someone equally competent. But instead we play a striker. Now he might have a lot of pace but a defensive (wide) midfielder he most definitely is not. Leandro wants to attack, he simply can't defend effectively. The gaps down the left hand side are there for everyone to see in every game when Leandro plays wide left and in front of Korakot.  Kreokrit would have been more competent and reliable on either in those positions but we choose to play him in central midfield instead, leaving Prakit Deeprom on the bench.

I don't know whether it's due to tactics or ability but fullback is probably our weakest position in the team yet we chose to leave both of them totally exposed from the start.

With last year's first choice no longer available, central midfield is going to take time to gel anyway which is why, tactically, they must sure of their jobs. But, positionally, they were all over the place. At times there were so many gaps between midfield and the back four I thought we were playing with about eight players.

Once again it was impossible to see what formation we were trying to use defensively. Instead of a compact back four our fullbacks were so out of position there were massive gaps appearing at the back. And with a midfield that protected nobody we didn't have a cat in hell's chance of containing what was a technically superior side.

And so after our 0-9 thrashing, what can we hope for and what can we expect?

We can hope that both management and players have had a long, hard and honest look at what went wrong.

We can hope that a quality defensive coach has been brought in to organise us from the back and find a system that works.

We can hope that somebody has instilled some discipline into the players in order  that will keep our shape and balance all over the pitch and play as a unit, not a bunch of individuals.

We can hope that our team selection and formation is chosen to play to our strengths and not chosen because of favouritism.

We can hope the players show some desire, commitment and fight, something sadly lacking in Japan.

We can hope we find a leader on the pitch to organise, encourage and even bollock players when necessary. We used to complain at Thiago's petulance at times but he was always on hand to gee players up ... and give them grief if he thought they deserved it. And not just the players. If the crowd went quiet he even had time to encourage them to cheer again.  That's what we need now!

WE CAN HOPE THE HUMILIATION OF THAT 0-9 THRASHING IS EMBEDDED INTO BOTH THE PLAYERS AND COACHES MEMORIES PERMANENTLY AND NEVER EVER FORGOTTEN.

We can expect excuses to vary from 'the cold', 'long distance travel, 'tiredness', 'a big change in playing personnel'. In fact any excuse they can think of instead of blaming the real culprits.

We can expect Anop to conveniently forget his quote that Therdsak was chosen as head coach because he was the best person to prepare the team for the AFC matches and what was our biggest ever thrashing.

We can expect to have a disjointed defence that's still full of holes.

We can expect Chonlatit to do his usual jaunts up the right wing and slow walks back to his defensive position, leaving our back 'three' to struggle again.

We can expect our central midfield three (with something to prove) to work hard, be creative and show us there is hope for this season.

We can expect Rodrigo to work his socks off trying to create space and hopefully open his account with a much deserved goal.

We can expect our loyal fans to turn up in numbers to support the team. They'll put Japan down to a 'one off' and be full of optimism for the coming campaign.