TPL
Chonburi 0-3 Muang Thong Utd
Chonburi Stadium
Attendance: 8,463
Saturday 30th July, 2016
Match report
by Peter Reeves
I think I mentioned in my very first match report for Chonburi that a team’s performance on the field is often a manifestation of the ambition, competency and attitudes of the management of the club off it. I think tonight was a good representation of that comment.
It is said in football circles that “you don’t win a game in the first 15 minutes”. Very true. But you can lose it. This was an important game for the club. Not for challenging at the top, just to prove that they can compete with the perceived better teams, to impress new or returning, for one match, fans. To give them something to mentally build on for the rest of this and next season. And so the beleaguered Therdsak might get a good night’s sleep for once. It was therefore important they started well and got straight after the visitors. Give them no time, no space and a few early ‘introductory welcome’ tackles. It was Therdak’s job to make sure that happened. 100% commitment to the cause from start to finish.
A 4-2-3-1 line up was promising. A packed house. “Ok”, I thought, “let’s do this!” 2 minutes in and MUFC virtually walked through a non-existent Sharks midfield and defence. 0-1. Where was the shape, and formation? Where was the discipline, desire and commitment to at least put in a tackle? Not the start you wanted. Having seen his side concede so early you would have thought Dos Santos would have marshalled his troops, instilled some discipline at the back, kicked a few backsides, but no. A minute later he was up the field giving away a free kick in open play on the edge of their box. Why exactly was he up there?
It got worse. On 16 minutes MTUFC left winger easily beat the defender, put in a cross that found its way to a team mate on the right of and inside the box. The defender backed off like a rabbit caught in a car’s headlights and then as the attacker, allowed so much time and space, made his move just stuck out a leg schoolboy style. Shot across the stand-in keeper. 0-2. I winced at the potential outcome of this one.
The chaos continued. Dos Santos still charging up the field. Look, you are a defender. How about being a defender first! I know why he’s doing it. Because he can see no other bugger is trying and he feels he has to. High balls up to Nurul on the right wing he was never going to win. Was he the smallest player on the pitch? High balls? These ‘professional’ footballers cannot be that stupid can they? Clearly they are.
30 minutes a cross into the MTUFC box. Dos Santos jumps with the keeper and the rebound is knocked in. Nothing wrong with that! Far less contact than Van Persie made on Spain’s Casillas at the last World Cup for the 3rd Dutch goal. But then there was a referee that knew what he was doing. Dear Mr Referee, you are allowed to challenge a keeper in the air. There will be contact. You need to decide if there was unreasonable contact. Dear Mr keeper, stop acting like some pathetic little baby rolling all over the floor because you dropped it, feel like an idiot and they scored. You make yourself look like what you actually are- “huilebalk” (not a rude word-just a fact).
For no apparent reason Nurul was substituted in the 30th minute to make way for Prince. He seemed less than pleased as he made his way off. He had been doing no worse than the others except for the high balls.
On 35 minutes, Adul, one player who was giving it a go, won the ball and seeing the keeper having his nappy changed on the edge of the box, tried a ‘Pele’ from 60 yards. Only just over. It was a brief moment in an otherwise poor team performance thus far.
It was about to get worse as a silly Prince pass allowed MTUFC possession and another walk through the Sharks non-existent defence and midfield. 0-3 and game over before half time. Where was Therdsak? Nowhere I could see. Where was the defence? Likewise. Poor Adul. Given everything for the team in that half and must be wondering what on earth he’s walked into.
In the second period MTUFC considered they’d done the job, sat back and just hit the occasional counter attack. A Dos Santos header was disallowed, correctly for once, for offside. On 52, an attacker clean through tried to chip it over the keeper but fluffed it and it was caught. Should’ve been 4. On 53 another break through the middle. Dos Santos, the last man, hauls him down. Should’ve been sent off. I seem to write that every week these days.
On 72 a chance for the now arrived Leandro but he was too slow in getting it under control. 75 another counter attack saw 4, yes 4, MTUFC attackers against one Sharks defender who fell over. They made a mess off it and it was cleared off the line. Should’ve been 5.
80 minutes another counter 3 against 2, missed again. 82 minutes and Prince darted into the area, I’d forgotten he was out there he had been that ineffective, and dived. Embarrassing. Yellow card. And so it ended. Where was Therdask? Still glued in his dugout.
A quick assessment- Chonburi, very poor. All the usual formation and discipline problems, apart from Adul and Rodrigo (allowing for his limitations), no effort at all. No courage. No desire. No ambition.
MTUFC- it was easy for them. They are not the best team in Thailand. As a footballing team Bangkok United are superior. And with their own share of misplaced passes and poor control looked quite ordinary at times but then they had little to beat tonight.
The officials- very poor. Don’t understand offside. Don’t allow the advantage rule. Don’t know when it’s a yellow or a red. Make basic errors regarding players coming into contact. I counted 11 foul throws tonight. No doubt I will read the ‘Thai football activists’ going on about how the standards are improving. We all want them to improve. They just aren’t. I think most of us whose credibility does not rely on saying nice things about certain people and organisations know why.
So where do Chonburi go from here? Good question. I’m afraid the answer is a medicine that is too difficult for most at the club to swallow. Therefore the only answer would be a complete clear-out. Players? Get rid of most of them. They would go on quite happily to give 30% effort and 10% skill levels elsewhere. Therdsak? He looks a really nice guy. People say a good player, but not up for this I’m afraid. Is probably an asset to the club, but not in this role. Probably too nice, though Nurul might not agree.
Owners? Well here is the story isn’t it. I am sure they have ploughed a fortune into the club. Probably still are, having to pay expensive players who give you nothing and all on usual gates of 4000. You do the maths. But now they feel like the club owes them. Financially it probably does but that’s the risk you take as an owner. You can’t use that as an excuse. They’d probably walk away if the price was right.
Someone estimated to me they might want 200-250,000 million baht. For what? Don’t own the ground. Don’t own a training ground. No real estate, no securities, a poorly performing team and a financial loss every week. And that investment does not include the monthly financial support that would have to be provided while the new people sorted it all out. In Financial terms it might be considered insolvent. Who will pay that money for an insolvent business (that’s what Chonburi FC is by the way- a business) that is continuing to accumulate debts at an alarming rate? No one in their right mind.
Yes, there is a name to the club, reflecting past glories but that counts for nothing today. The reality is they are getting about 500,000 baht every two weeks from gate receipts-when they are playing- and probably a little from merchandising. No doubt any sponsorship funding is long gone. How much are some of these ‘players’ on? As I said, you do the maths. I do feel a little sorry for the owners to an extent. I am sure they want it to work. I have seen too often exactly these scenarios at work in the UK. It is a bitter pill to swallow to have to admit it’s not working and in Thailand with its culture of abhorrence to perceived failure, a pill that will choke the life out of you. Unacceptable to them. I understand that.
The difference is though that in the UK the two clubs I think of did something proactive about it. But the reality here is that they don’t know what they are doing. Have surrounded themselves with others that don’t know either, even though they pretend they do, and are ignoring the basic principles of football management. So where do they go? It’s a good job there are so many poor teams and clubs in Thailand, run along similar lines. Chonburi are not the only ones. So the answer- nowhere. The once proud Sharks reduced to what we saw tonight.
A team often reflects on the pitch the ambition and competency of the management off it. That’s where they are and where it looks like they will remain.
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