BEC Tero 0 Muangthong United 1 - Report

Ummm....is this the right colour?

A close game was fought at the Thepsadin Stadium, but Tero's poor finishing let them down. The game could have been very different but for a missed penalty from Dagno in the opening ten minutes.

Muangthong's lineup was: Kawin (GK), Piyachart (LB), Panupong (CB), Nattaporn (Capt, CB), Kaewprom (RB), Pitchipong (DM), Datsakorn( MD), Siaka (AM), Teerasil (LW, yes, LW) Christian (FW), Kone (FW)

We began the game in attacking style, with Christian immediately causing problems for his marker. Early on, he beat his man who seemed to pull at him a bit, Chris went down and the ref gave the penalty. Sadly, Dagno's penalty seemed predictable and under-hit. Yes, you read that right. It was criticism - albeit affectionate criticism - of the league's top scorer from the bloke who couldn't even score one of those 'beat the keeper' games outside the stadium before kick off. To the joy of the home fans.the goalie caught it with relative ease

The rest of the half was probably 60-40 to Muangthong in possession terms. It looked like Christian could break through at any moment but while this was an immense improvement on last Friday, we still weren't quite firing on all cylinders. Teerasil was way off form due to being pushed out wide. The ref was also part of the reason for the lack of flow in the game. He was a typical Thai referee - indecisive, seemingly random and clearly short on confidence. So at half time it was 0-0.

In the second half we came out attacking but the pattern of the game was the same. We'd get a bit more of the ball but not finish it, Tero would attack but their efforts seemed to be aiming for the skytrains moving across the skyline behind the stadium. But then about midway through the second half, Pitchipong curled in a free kick that Siaka popped up to slot home. 1-0. Relief.

Tero upped their game and "put us under pressure" as Jack Charlton would say, but they were remarkably wasteful in front of goal. In the very dying moments of injury time, the ref bizarrely gave Pitchipong his second yellow and, ergo, marching orders. I didn't see him put in a single bad challenge all game but this just about summed up the official. At least he was so random with his decisions that it probably balanced out for both sides.

As Tero lined up to take the free kick, the writing seemed to be on the wall.  You could feel the tension in the away end and the hope in the home stand. Tero took their time....the big Brazilian lined up a powerblaster.......up he runs........over it goes, flying towards the skytrain again. Full time. Sorry old boy, Datsakorn Thonglao you ain't!

Not our best result or performance but the sheer number of games seems to be telling on our lads and they are soldiering through like the professionals they are. As for Tero, they still have a decent sized fan base, a good sponsor and a bit of cash. If they can sign some strikers to support Leesaw (who didn't play today of course), perhaps they can become a top five team again.

I'm now off to Pattaya this week, returning for the weekend and then off to Hua Hin. I'm not sure which games I'll see and which I'll miss but in any case, updates will appear here.

Man of the match:  Pitchipong Choeichiu put in some great passes, strong tackles and a nice free kick for Dagno to score. The referee was a plonker to send him off.

Image credit: http://www.ancastersoccer.com 

BEC Tero Vs MTU tonight

Credt: newkits.blogspot.com

Muangthong's rescheduled match with BEC Tero takes place this evening. It will be interesting to see how many first-team players are restored to the squad. Kawin, Teerasil and Datsakorn all featured against Leicester but none were forced to play eh entire game. Therathep 'Leesaw' Winothai is on loan to the 'Fire Dragons' - though many media sources seem to forget it's just a loan - will almost certainly be contractually forbidden to play in this match.

Muangthong United 3 Royal Thai Army FC 3 - Report

Credit: thaileagueonline.com

 Just when I thought the flame had faded out in my affair with the ticket office, the passion came roaring back. For this game, they told us the North Stand (capacity 1,000+), was only for Army FC (who brought less than fifty fans). Naturally then I got my kid a ticket for the East Stand and my accomplice did the same. Imagine my joy when I presented my North Stand season ticket to the steward who told me: "North Stand closed today" and nothing more. On further prompting, he told me - with a deadly straight face - I should go and sit with the Army Fans. On yet more prompting, he suggested I: "try South Stand".

A few raised voices, scrambling and helpful translation from my 'n-zone' friends later, they allowed us in the East Stand, only to tell my accomplice he couldn't "sit" with me because they have now stuck numbers on the terracing and allocate people to "sit" in specific spots. We smiled and "sat" together anyway.

The team today was as makeshift as expected: Phanphiphat (GK), Pakasit (RB), Kavem (LB), Nattaporn (CB), Jetsada (Capt,  CB), Narongchai (MD), Bhuntao (MD), Nontadee (LM), Siaka (AM), Christian (FW), Kone (FW). I had no worries. All the reserves in the lineup are hungry to make the first team and many of them have played well in TLC matches. But today it went wrong, the game matched the atmosphere which was wet, damp and smelly from the water-logging around the stadium.

I can't pinpoint the cause. We simply looked tired and disjointed. Passes went astray, crosses and free kicks were over-hit, Kone and Siaka spent lot of time running sideways instead of forward, good chances went begging, the ref and the linesman appeared extremely harsh on us, and Army FC played very well.

So although you may have read about the six goals in this game, it was far from a thriller. Army scored first and it was 0-1 at half time. Nattaporn equalised from a Narongchai free kick to make 1-1, Army scored again (1-2), Substitute Ammorn scored for us (2-2), Christian scored for us (3-2) Army equalised late on to make it 3-3.

Again, our reserves are a capable and hungry bunch that have proven themselves already. Apart from my usual complaint of not using Rungsiyo in a game that was crying out for a natural striker, I can offer no reasons for allowing Army to score the same number of goals against us in a home league game as every other team combined this season. Perhaps it was a mixture of tiredness, plain bad luck, poor officiating, lack of fitness, not being mentally prepared - we had hoped not to lose our players to the ridiculous Leicester friendly match -  and of course missing key players. Perhaps it was my fault for stating that Phanphiphat would: "deny access if you [Army FC] get close enough".

In any case, it is behind us and we will push on. In closing, I want to give credit to Army FC. They pegged us back in both fixtures this season. This plucky bunch that put Buriram PEA out of the FA Cup just don't know when they are supposed to lay down and die. Their small following are a great bunch and I admired the way their striker ran to them, celebrated with them and then waid them after their third goal. You could see how much it meant to everyone involved, Good luck lads, hope you stay up.

Makeshift squad for Army game

MTU will be forced to make several changes to the squad for tonight's game with Army FC. Kawin Thamasatchanan is suspended after his red card against Osotspa, some players will be rested and others will be rested today for their game with the national team tomorrow. It seems the powers that be won that battle of wills.

We can expect to see the likes of Phanphipat(GK) Narongchai (AM), Nawapol (DF/MD), Bhuntao (MD) and Rungsiyo (ST) given a chance. All of them are hungry and capable players. Wonder boy Coulibly Abdoul (DM) and Ibrahim (FW) also return to contention after being ineligible for AFC competition.

I also should mention that Datsakorn's yellow card against Al-Itthiad means he will be suspended for the next leg. This is a real blow because with the slender lead we have, Datsakorn's thunderbolt free kicks would be one of our best chances of extending that lead when our backs are against the wall in the big Syrian stadium.

Toyota League Cup draw

Unofficial reports state the draw is now seeded, so the winner of match one below will play the winner of match two, etc.

Therefore, a quick glance should throw up a very interesting possible fixture for the next round.....

TOT vs. Burirum
Srisaket vs. Muang Thong
PTT Rayong vs. Osotspa M150
Thai Honda vs. Pattaya/Chiang Rai
Sriracha vs. Navi Rayong
Nong Khai vs. Chonburi/BG
RBAC vs. Bangkok United
Samut Songkram vs. Thai Port

The pitch

Credit: คุณชายนิว ณ เมืองทอง at mtufc.net

I seem to recall that around this time last season, I commented that the Thunderdome pitch looked like it had been taken over by buffalo. Well this year, it looks like the buffalo clan have been invaded by a herd of wilderbeast and the pitch has been used for the battle. In short: it's terrible.

This is not the club's fault of course. It's politics that have allowed other teams to use the surface and I doubt anyone who knows anything about sport thought that using the pitch for a lacrosse game was sensible. And nobody can do much about the incredible amounts of rain we've had this year.

Hopefully TOT will get lost and Rajpracha will return home next season. But if not - or even if they do - this problem may keep repeating itself unless we...

a) Get a new stadium with facilities to maintain the pitch or.....


b) .....cue the Darth Vader music ......we install astroturf!

I know astroturf is unpopular and hardly an ideal option but surely it's cost effective and better than forcing ourselves to play on what is essentially a potato field towards the end of each season.

Let's remember, MTU are the best footballing side in the league. The worse the pitch, the more we deprive ourselves of our advantage in skill.

Muangthong United 1 -Al-Itthiad 0 - report

They lost the game, but they won the moonwalking contest.

So I started this article with a rant about the pitch that was so long, I've cut it into a separate article to post later.

To the game. the North  and South stands were packed, the East and West stands - at double the ticket price - were not. Nonetheless the 'n-zone' group were bigger than ever and actually fed off the Ultras opposite them, creating an excellent atmosphere. I'm sure it gave the players a boost.

Only one surprise in the starting line up; Kawin (GK), Piyachart (LB), Panupong (CB), Nattaporn (Capt, CB), Kaewprom (RB), Datsakorn  (MD), Pitchipong (MD), Ammorn (MD), Siaka (AM), Christian (FW), Teerasil (ST).

Ammorn being the surprise inclusion. You may notice I've stopped discussing Kaewprom so much. That's because the verdict is in: he's a fine right back. When I was critical of him, he was still adjusting to his new role. Now he is well-positioned, knows when to distribute the ball and is well-timed in his challenges. Good job, Kaewprom.

Muangthong started quickly and it became obvious that while Al-Itthiad may be a good side, they were looking distinctly vulnerable. Their keeper seemed to have a real problem with crosses and I was amazed how may times he seemed to panic and appear indecisive about coming off his line. That rubbed off on his defenders and MTU created plenty of chances from it.

Within ten minutes we were ahead when a short cross from someone (Datsakorn?) baffled the goalie again and Dagno slotted home. It really was hard to believe; here we were in the semi-finals of a tournament few people thought we'd even get past the first round in and we were making light work of the opposition.

It was all uphill from there, though. I had hoped we would fly at these guys because we have to budget for conceding goals in the away leg but, in hindsight, perhaps the early goal worked against us. The attacks continued but we wasted several good chances.

The second half was a similar story. Ammorn lost a particularly good opportunity by taking several touches and trying to beat two men when a simple tap would surely have put us two goals to the good. Some over-hit free kicks and a spot of bad luck also contributed to the scoreline. Al-Itthiad worked hard and put in some powerful long range efforts but as ever, Kawin was equal to it.

The celebrations at full time were moderate. There is no doubting we played well today and I'm sure every MTU fan is proud of the boys and their effort. In fact, both teams deserve credit for playing good football on a very dodgy turf.

However, the underlying fear is that those missed chances may come back to haunt us. Al-Itthiad were there for the taking in this game, that won't be the case in front of a large 30,000+ crowd of noisy Syrian fans in a desert climate. I was hoping we could build a strong lead then play a very firm defensive game for the second leg. Instead, I think we'll now have to come out attacking. We've proven our skill, now we need to prove our nerve once more.

Man of the match - Kawin Thamastchanan, for ensuring the task ahead was not even stiffer.

Photo credit: unknown (please inform)