Chonburi 2-1 Bangkok Glass - Match Report: 2016

TPL

Chonburi 2-1 Bangkok Glass

Chonburi Stadium

Attendance: 5,147

Saturday 14th May, 2016

 

Match report

by Peter Reeves

So the Bangkok Glass bandwagon rolled into town with its decent support and a growing reputation (amongst some). I had seen them play Ratchaburi a few weeks ago when Heberty decided to offer a bit of a wake up call after reading he was a player ‘that wasn’t much of a threat’ to them. Brian in his preview thought 1-2. I didn’t necessarily agree with that. Most of the teams in this league are there for the taking with good organization, not even good football, and I felt Glass were no different. As usual it would depend on which Chonburi turned up. Jeckyll and Hyde United.

 

As it transpired the high energy team turned up. Working hard, lots of running, ‘putting it about a bit’, the usual lying all over the pitch pretending they are hurt of course, but that is par for the course with most teams, and when you have 3 or 4 decent players, which Chonburi have, then that’s usually going to be enough in this league, even against what we are reliably informed are, the ‘bigger’ teams.

 

With the score at 0-0 Chonburi missed a simple headed chance and you could see that BG were not what they were cracked up to be. But, as usual, the Sharks defence went walk about and let Glass through on the left side, 0-1. Dos Santos seemed to be playing too far forward and he was certainly missing in the BG build up. He had already put in one very poor tackle that didn’t receive the required booking and he was needed at this point. He seemed quite intent on being Frank Rijkaard, leading the team out from the back. Bad idea for him, Rijkaard he is not, and no good for the team who are not Ajax or AC Milan.

 

It was soon 1-1. Glass showed they haven’t got much of a defence either as a ball laid back to a player on the edge of the box in so much space and having so much time he could have had a cup of tea before scoring. Not a bad finish, though in ‘real time’ it looked like it might have taken a deflection on the way through. According to the laws of the game, something referees seem totally inept at grasping here, if a player is in an offside position, and is interfering with play, note interfering, then he is deemed as offside. A Chonburi player was in an offside position and ran right across the line of sight of the goalkeeper as the ball was on its way to the net. Interfering? Of course. No goal. Chonburi, though, were now on top and a thundering drive crashed back off the bar.

 

Glass have an English born defender, Matt Smith, who clearly knows what is going on at the back. Always aware, looking around for threats, dealing with things, but when you are surrounded by others who don’t seem to know what’s going on then there is a problem. So it was for the second goal. A corner, simple to deal with, just found its way through as no one took the responsibility of putting some leather on it, or better still clearing from a near post position. 2-1. Awful defending I am afraid. I have come to the conclusion it is a ‘Thai’ thing. Perhaps the word defence is not in their consciousness. 

Maybe they should realize defending is half the game (how many times have I said that here), and that most goals you score actually start from the back, and that the link play between midfield and defence is where you actually control possession and thus the game. To win a match here all you need to do usually is look at the opposition. Thai coach? Mainly Thai defenders? Won’t have a clue. No problem. Chonburi are as bad.

 

Half time 2-1 and about right. Second half more of the same with both teams creating chances mainly through poor defensive organization, but made irrelevant by woeful finishing, or a terrible final ball. Chonburi though always looked the more threatening.

 

So, in summary, Glass? About what I was expecting having seen them at Ratchaburi, but where was Rodriguez? Was he playing? He looked a shadow of his reputation. Is he carrying an injury? With what appears the inexorable demise of Buriram, they will be in the mix at the end, not because they are that good, just because many of the others are so awful. They will see this match as 3 points lost I am sure.

 

Chonburi? Well the TV pictures of Therdsak sitting on the bench sulking at 0-1 told me a lot about his character. Only seemed animated and encouraging when they were in the lead. Wrong way round, sunshine. Or is he just another ‘where are the TV cameras, look at me, we are winning’ bloke. Seems to be plenty of those. Team effort? Most will say good but I don’t necessarily agree. When you have a player homing in on goal from an acute angle who decides to shoot instead of laying it back for one of two colleagues in the middle to score, then you know ‘team’ is not what they are all about. No ‘I’ in team as they say. Rodrigo of course.

 

Chonburi play with a kind of panic. All running around at 90mph and achieving little. No one wants to hold the ball and size up what’s going on, where the most effective pass might be. Be content to keep possession for a while. That is a manifestation mentally of poor technique. Players do not trust themselves to hold the ball or make that pass and so just get rid of it, usually just lumped hopefully forward. Avoiding responsibility. And when a decent pass is found a lack of formation and good movement usually causes the move to break down. 

When players make a pass of over 5 metres they do not follow the ball to give the receiver another option, they just carry on in a straight line or worse, stop and do nothing. Movement, sorry intelligent movement, opens up space, confuses defenders and gives options to the player with the ball. Isn’t anyone teaching them this basic principle? If anyone knows who is using the club brain cell this week have a word and tell them that if they can instill a solid, organized, disciplined defence, and improve players technique so they can keep the ball, they will be up there at the end too. Too much to ask? Probably.

 

I wonder if Gary Stevens was watching at home in Bangkok pulling his hair out. After all he knows a little about a defence, how to play out in a controlled way and how it is organised. I sometimes wonder what the ‘powers that be’ are thinking. (Actually the only thing they are probably thinking is look how important I am and aren’t I good). Here you have a guy played at the highest level, Played at top teams with great players, Ardiles et al, and even was a team mate of one of the few genius’ England has produced in Gascoigne, won a UEFA cup, played for his country, went to a World Cup and yet no one has picked up the phone and said come here and work with our coach for a few months and get this organized will you? 

If I was in charge I’d have had him in as soon as he became available. And he’d still be there. Chonburi worth their win? Yes I think so, but how much better could they be, that is the question. A question that should be asked of management if they considered themselves remotely accountable for what is going on, which they probably don’t. Assuming they were of course available to ask the question of which they probably aren’t.

 

In closing, an apology to Mr Rodrigo. I said in a previous report that he was just about the worst leader of a line in Thailand. Not the case, I apologise. After Chonburi I went over expecting to watch another ‘big name’, Bangkok United, destroy a totally out of control and in free fall Swatcat. I haven’t seen them before so was interested to see if they justify the glowing rhetoric and comment often being made about them. 

I had been at Swatcat on Wednesday night and left at half time at 0-3 not able to watch anymore punishment. I only saw the second half, by which time it was 2-0, but if that is what all the fuss is about then I think it’s a good idea that people gushing with praise about them should watch football from somewhere else for a while. In the second half they were awful and made even Swatcat look decent. In fact Swatcat might have been worth a draw at least after a stunning goal put them right back in the match.

 

If they are really championship contenders then I am right about this being little more than non-league football technically and tactically but with less organisation internally. You can see the coach knows what he is doing and has tried to set up the team but oh dear. Maybe I am being unfair and it was just a one-off 45 minutes of ineptitude but at the end they were wasting time and just hanging on against a team almost bottom and in disarray on and off the pitch. Not a championship winning performance. And where oh where did they get that Jaycee bloke from? Professional footballer? “I wish to register a complaint…” Sorry Mr Rodrigo, you’ve lost your crown.