FAN REVIEW OF THE SEASON: 26th November, 2014
Chonburi season ticket holder Brian Enever reviews the 2014 season.
What is your overall assessment of the season?
Exceeded expectations, even if the end was extremely disappointing. If I'd been offered 2nd place in the TPL and an FA Cup final spot pre-season I'd have grabbed it.
Who is your player of the season?
Dos Santos. For me, he has been head and shoulders above everybody else all season. Whether playing in defence, midfield or even up front when we've been chasing the game, he's been outstanding and, week after week, our most consistent player.
What is the biggest improvement this season?
No first half tactical substitutions!
Every good team has to have a strong spine to the side. In my opinion we have improved, especially in the second half of this season, because our spine has played much better and more consistently than in recent seasons.
There's no doubting Sinthaweechai's ability and this season he's pulled off some outstanding saves for us at vital times.
Whether Sutinun has partnered Dos Santos or Jackie our central defensive pairing have played to a consistently high level all season and (almost) always looked in full control.
In midfield, Adul's return to form coincided with our long unbeaten run while Kushida is much better when he's played a bit further forward. And Dos Santos has been outstanding when he's played in the holding midfield role.
Mineiro came in during the transfer window, settled in quickly and provided the missing link, between our defence/midfield and front/wide players. A quality player.
And Thiago up front. His movement and goals are second to none in the TPL. He was sorely missed when he was out with an injured shoulder and, like Adul, his return coincided with our exceptionally good second half to the season.
Wada's tactics have obviously contributed greatly to this. We've defended higher up the pitch and denied space to the opposition. Plus we've kept a better shape, played a passing game, but with more determination, and moved the ball more sharply.
What are the major disappointments this season?
Both full backs, plus the wide players.
Wada leaving.
Replacing both Leandro and Quero with Jaime.
What was your favourite and least favourite home match?
Favourite: For me the home wins against Buriram Utd, Muang Thong Utd and BEC Tero can't be separated.
Least favourite: TOT, the league had (virtually) gone, it was the last game of the season and everybody seemed depressed at how the last two games had panned out.
What was your favourite and least favourite away match?
Favourite: Bangkok Glass (including our webmaster's interview with their chairman)
Least favourite: Bangkok Utd away was the worst I've seen us play. The game at Chainat proves you will never beat corruption under the present system.
The FA Cup final. Both the team selection and the tactics were (and still are) a complete mystery to me.
What type of new players would you like to see coming to the club?
A new right back and right sided midfield player. A left sided midfield player (with Nattaphong moving to left back, he's much too negative at left midfield), or a left full back and a left sided midfield player, plus a quality ball playing central midfielder to provide extra competition in that area.
Which players are surplus to requirements?
Chonlatit (at least at full back), Korakot (ditto), Bamba (he's had to play in so many different roles he can't impose himself on any. Plus a victim of the new foreigner rule) and, unfortunately, Pibob's age has caught up with him. He's at least a yard slower and could only be effective for short periods as an impact player now.
What was the funniest incident?
Watching Jaime trying to do an impression of a footballer.
How would you assess the head coach’s achievements?
We all wondered how he would do with a squad inherited from Heng and no chance of bringing in his own players. We starting the season indifferently but Wada gradually started imposing his ideas which gave us a better balance and shape to the side of last season. By the middle of June we had started imposing ourselves on the opposition and taking control of matches. From this point our confidence grew and we starting our long eighteen game unbeaten run.
Our improvement on last season and Wada's influence was now apparent and we had a real chance of doing the double. Although towards the end of the season, and especially against 'weaker' opposition, some of the team selection and tactics seemed very strange, so much so that we started to question whether Wada actually had full control over those areas.
Over all I think Wada had a successful first season and, had he continued, I think we would have been serious contenders for honours next season. Sadly we will never know. I think we have lost a good coach.
Winning manager of the year in his first season also bears this out.
Given the chance what would you say to the club management?
The team manager and coaches are the (football) experts. The manager is there to take control of the training, pick the team AND the tactics. KEEP AWAY!
Give marks out of ten for:
The Team.......................8
The Coach/Manager.......8
The Fans........................6 (at home. Too many stayed away) 9 (away)
The Club Management...4
What are your hopes for next season?
I hope Jadet can build on what Wada started this season. He will almost certainly get the backing of the supporters, I just hope he's not there as a puppet for the owners.
Is there anything else you'd like to add.
A really disappointing end to a season that promised so much.
Losing our momentum due to the enforced shutdown didn't help. The corrupt farce at Chainat was probably the most blatant I have seen and effectively took the title from us but there were other reasons.
We lost the league by three points BUT: defeats at Army and Bangkok Utd , along with draws at Songkhla, PTT Rayong, Sisaket, Chai Nat and against TOT twice meant we dropped a total of EIGHTEEN points against teams from the bottom half of the TPL.
I think most of those dropped points can be put down to strange team selection and tactics, as can the FA Cup final defeat to Bangkok Glass, a team we'd already done the double over this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment