Opening Day: 2019

TPL

Buriram Utd 2-2 Chonburi 

 Chang Arena, Buriram

Saturday 23rd February, 2019

KO 6:00pm

Attendance 15,491

Match Preview

There seems to be a wave of optimism sweeping through the club just now. Some promising new signings, a surge in season ticket sales, reduced price replica shirts and the goodwill generated by Pipob’s testimonial have all contributed to what can only be described as the feelgood factor. And it’s rather pleasant.

Even pundits and fans of other clubs have picked up on it and many are proclaiming that we will enjoy our best season since the “Nearly Double” of 2014. Exciting times indeed. However, I would advise that we exercise a certain amount of caution here and don’t get too carried away.

Other than the match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, I feel our pre season preparation has been rather poor. Apart from the aforementioned JLeague Challenge match, the games I saw amounted to little more than glorified training sessions. The players weren’t really tested and only Lukian and Park Hyun-Beom looked like they were using the opportunity to ready themselves for the big kick off.

It was also difficult to form an impression of how we will line up in the forthcoming campaign. Even last weekend’s final warm up was extremely low key; so much so that I spent the best part of the ninety minutes discussing urban redevelopment, with the bloke sitting next to me. Yes, it was that bad!

Another thing that concerns me, as we head into the toughest opening fixture we could have been given, is that what I consider to be our strongest starting XI hasn’t yet played together and that is purely down to bad management. I only hope we aren’t regretting it at 9:00pm today.

As for our opponents, well, they’ve been going through something of a transition over the past couple of months. They were far from convincing during their recent Champions Cup win against Chiang Rai Utd and, even though their owner has been spouting his usual bluster, it does appear to be more from habit than with any real conviction.

They’ve also lost a couple of their best players and, by all accounts, their departures weren’t exactly amicable. Would it be uncharitable of me to hope that these defections point at some underlying problems at the Thunder Castle and that we can take confidence from that? No. Of course not. I hope the cracks are there and we can exploit them this evening. Would that be luvverly!

Match Report

by Peter Reeves

So a new season. A chance to have a conjectured look at new signings, what work the coach has done and generally sit back and enjoy a bit of football. We’d also discover how Buriram Utd would be without Diogo.

Chonburi’s first half was ok. Plenty of spirit and all but one of the new players looking like they may contribute. No tactics of course. The coach seems to think making two or three passes at the back constitutes control. Then you get a big hump forward and lose possession. The midfield might as well go home. Worrying to see that not much has changed in that respect.

Worachit had a decent chance early on, but poor technique let him down and he screwed his shot wide. However, as we got to half time, The Sharks had looked better, and the champions – who have signed an inferior player to replace the only Brazilian I’ve had any time for – looked weak. As the second started thoughts turned to nicking a point.

Then ten minutes after the restart, things were to get better. Tunez gave everyone a lesson in how not to defend, when he lost the ball to Cruz and was then turned inside out. The striker played a pass to Worachit, who held his nerve to slot home. 0-1 and a deserved lead. But then Lewis Carroll took over and took us all to Crazy Town.

Just after the hour mark, the referee, who had been flashing cards around all match, some justified, some not, handed out a second booking to Nattapong, which resulted in the youngster being sent off. Down to 10.

Buriram have this little bloke, Supachok. Decent player. On 64 minutes, he cut in from the left and it’s 1-1. Now there is a battle.

Chonburi fell apart, and 2 minutes later, it was 2-1 as the defence did their disappearing trick. I sat back and expected the flood gates to open, but Buriram Utd are poor and Chonburi, regained some composure, and fought on.

Being a man down didn’t seem to matter much, as the visitors still went forward. They were rewarded 15 minutes from time with a deserved equalizer. A precision cross evaded, Tunez, and the onrushing, Kroerkrit, connected to blast home from close range.

Finally, the highlight of the evening, as Chonburi’s Lukian was sent off. He had spent the match whining, man-handling the ref, having little kicks and elbows at people and finally he was gone. Good riddance. He should have gone in the 19th minute or the 59th minute. You can’t grab a ref, but justice was done. Eventually. Ciro was bad. This bloke a disgrace.

So, in summary: Chonburi were worth at least a draw and showed plenty of spirit. BuriramUtd?  No Diogo. No Buriram Utd.

My Observations

I think Peter’s been harsh in his match report. As I said in my preview, this was the toughest opening game we could have been given and I thought we acquitted ourselves really well. I was extremely impressed with how we approached the task and we always tried to play football.

I had my reservations when I saw the starting XI, but felt more confident as the match wore on. They all stuck to the jobs they’d been assigned and no-one was hiding. We also made life difficult for the reigning champions, who were probably expecting us to just roll over. This spirit bodes well for the coming months. We have to make sure that it can be reproduced every week and not only in the “big” matches. I was proud of my team on Saturday night and was encouraged by the performance. I want to feel that way after each ninety minutes.

The referee was poor (That’s me being charitable!) and seemed determined to send off anyone who was wearing a white shirt. He must have been delighted that he managed to do it twice! Strangely, similar offences to the ones that earned our players yellow cards went unpunished when committed by those in blue. How odd? Initially, I felt that this might be the usual football supporter bias, but was relieved to see many neutrals on social media saying the same thing.

I was impressed by the new signings. The strikers – Lukian and substitute, Patrick Cruz – look like they’ll be a real handful for defences this season and bring a bit of guile to the team. Something that has been missing of late. Let’s hope they are paired together and we get to see the best of them on a regular basis.

Finally, I take issues with Peter’s comments about the aforementioned Lukian. I do agree that man-handling the ref, whining and moaning aren’t particularly pleasant, but to criticise him for it while praising Diogo (“The only Brazilian I’ve had any time for”)seems unfair and a little odd. The ex-Buriram Utd striker’s entire time in the Thai league was blighted by such behaviour – plus diving, rolling on the floor and waving imaginary cards at every opportunity. Or has that all been conveniently overlooked in order to make a point and run down our new forward and potential terrace hero?

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