FAVOURITES! CONTENDERS!! DARK HORSES!!! By Ball2feet Star Ratings: Favourites ***** Contenders **** Dark horses *** As we enter the knockout stages of the 2013 Safa KL West Cup Tournament, Ball2feet takes a brief look at the eight clubs that made it into the knockout stages and their chances of going all the way to the final. At this level, to win a cup tournament you need some luck and the following four key ingredients. (1) A good goalkeeper. (2) A strong defence. (3) A creative midfield and (4) Goal scorers. When you have all four added with some luck, you stand a better chance of lifting the trophy. PARKCITY FC: Favourites ***** Parkcity represents: The good! The bad!! And the Ugly!!! But they are still one of the two favourites. The good thing is that they are an attacking team that score goals for fun, the bad thing is that they crack when they are under intense pressure, and the ugly part could be that they might get kicked out of the cup tournament earlier than we all thought. The reason why they are considered as cup favourites is not because they won the league but because they have all the four key ingredients that are needed to win any tournament especially at this level. They have got a good goalkeeper, their defence is quite stable, they have a strong and creative midfield and they have got two very good goal scorers in their attack. Adam and Rusdin have been on top form during the group stages and they will have to continue doing what they like doing by scoring goals. Everyone knows how good Parkcity are, they play through their midfield maestro Faruiz and Zaidi. While Adam and Rusdin provides pace and threat in their attack but it’s one thing knowing about it and it’s another thing stopping them. With luck on their side and if they have their full strength team throughout the knockout stages they can go all the way. MEFITO FC: Favourites ***** They were the only invited team that kept 100% record during the group stages. They kept clean sheets in all their group matches and they were a joy to watch. Mefito rightly deserves to be considered as favourites as they have shown that they are an attacking side full of pace, power and precision. It is difficult to pick holes in Mefito’s system. It’s easy to consider them as one of the favourites because they topped Group 2 with three wins from three but when you take a close look at Mefito, you will find out that they have all four key ingredients that I mentioned earlier. First of all they have a good goalkeeper who made some impressive saves during the group stages. Secondly they possess a strong defence as their centre backs Karl and Nan have remained solid in the heart of their defence. Thirdly they have a creative midfield as their Skipper Hana created most of their goals. And finally they have pacy strikers who are skilful, mobile, and technically good. Even though their strikers Syukri and Bicik have only scored three goals altogether so far, they are the type of players that scores important goals and both of them have proved to be a real menace on the counter attack. It’s one thing knowing about it and it’s another thing stopping them. With some added luck, if they carry on like this, they can go all the way. SOUTHLAKE FC: Contenders **** Cup winners in 2011, Cup runners-up in 2012… you never know what’s coming with SouthLake. The team full of veterans deserves to be in the knock out stages after finishing top of Group 4 with maximum 9 points. They are real contenders as they have the experience of finding their way into the final stages of the cup competition either by hook or by crook. Their experience might once again take them to the later stages of the tournament. After watching Southlake closely during the group stages, I found out that they have some of the four key ingredients. Goalkeeping department: I found out that they haven’t got the best goalkeeper but they have got a goalkeeper that does a good job most times. Defence line: Even though their defence isn’t the strongest, SouthLake are so clever in getting enough men behind the ball when they are defending and that’s why they don’t seem to give away cheap goals. Midfield: SouthLake employs a direct approach and I think that is why their midfielders create chances easily for their forward players. Attack: In attack they don’t have a top goal scorer but they can score goals through Pang Wai Luen and Simon. It’s very difficult to pick out who does the best job in SouthLake’s team as they all play together as a team and they are always hungry to get a positive result. They are going to be very difficult to beat during the knockout stages as they play as team with the right spirit and the right tempo. DPC FC: Contenders**** DPC are also considered as genuine contenders in this year cup tournament and they will have to fight all the way to defend the trophy that they won last year as this is their only chance to win silverware this year. Defending cup winners DPC qualified for the knock out stages as the highest scoring team during the group stages. They always employ an attacking approach and those attacking instincts reaped dividends as they scored a total number of 11 goals during the group stages. DPC have a good goalkeeper, a good back four, a good midfield and a decent attack with no recognised goal scorers but that shouldn’t take anything away from DPC as anyone of them could score. Having watched them during the group stages, they played with courage and power especially in their second group match against a well drilled Gembira team that almost held them to a goalless draw. They will come up against better opponents in the knockout stages and they will need to step up their game to go far in the cup tournament. Yap and Wan have been brilliant for them in the midfield and they would have to be on top form as they will be going toe to toe with good players in the knockout stages. DPC will definitely need massive amount of luck to retain the cup they won last year. LIGHTSPEED FC: Contenders **** After finishing as runners-up in Group 3 ahead of Gembira, they have shown that they can be a tough nut to crack and that is one of the reasons why they could also be seen as one of the contenders. Lightspeed are a team that grind out results, they have a good defence, solid in the midfield and very dangerous in attack especially on set pieces. So what have they got? Their back four is quite good; they only conceded one goal during the group stages keeping two clean sheets. Lightspeed are solid in the midfield and their captain Kenny does the dirty job in the middle of the park closing down opposition and also initiating counter attacks. And finally in attack, they have got Dan and Van who are very dangerous. Dan can score goals at anytime while 6 ft 4 Van gives them pace and power in attack, Van is very dangerous in the air and on set pieces. Both of them can shoot from all angles and can score goals. They have almost all of the four ingredients and they can go all the way with their present form. Obviously they would need some luck to get into the final stages of the competition but they have proven so far with they are genuine contenders. Don’t expect an easy game when you play Lightspeed in the knockout stages, be warned!!! LAZYLEG FT: Dark horses*** When playing against Lazyleg, you are guaranteed to be given a run for your money. Even though they are seen as dark horses in this cup tournament, they are always a tough nut to crack. Why are they considered as dark horses? They have only got two out of the four ingredients that I mentioned earlier. Lazyleg have a creative midfield and a very good attack. They have Cyril in midfield that works his socks off and creates scoring chances for his team and in attack we all know that their captain Lenard is a top goal scorer who scores for fun. Their weakness lies in their defence as they don’t really know how to keep clean sheets. “Obviously if you don’t have a strong defence in front of the goalkeeper, the goalkeeper will always struggle.” May be it’s their drive forward that always leaves them vulnerable at the back, but I think if they tighten up at the back the will pose a real threat in the knock out stages. I won’t be surprised if they create an upset during the knockout stages. KFS FC: Dark horses*** Clearly KFS are one of the dark horses left in the tournament, but the beauty of cup tournament is that when a team referred to as underdogs they do come up with a surprise. KFS are technically good and tactically astute. The Japanese team are like chameleon in the way they play as they always changes their tactics very often when they are playing. They normally go out to attack when they are playing an average or a weaker side but they do favour a counter attacking approach against stronger teams at this level. Even though they don’t have the four key ingredients, their strength has been based on tactics and formation and it does looks like everyone in their team knows exactly what they are doing when they are on the pitch. Although Yoshitoshi have been a tower in the heart of their team while Yuchi Honjo their skipper have pulling been pulling the strings in the middle of the park. Sugiyama and Kenzy provide attacking threats to opposition defence as they can score goals, but overall they will come up against better teams in the knockout stages and get knocked out. It won’t be a disaster even if they get knocked out at the quarter-final stages as getting to the quarter-final itself is an achievement considering the fact that they qualified from a tough group. BOLLOCKS: Dark horses *** Bollocks cup run feels like a fairy tale but it is true, their qualification for the knockout stages has taken more twists and turns than most. The odds of qualifying from the group 4 were definitely stacked against them during the group stages, but they surprisingly upset the odds. Bollocks qualified for the quarter-finals as runners-up in Group 4 ahead of Orifera Casuals on goals scored. They were tied with Casuals on points and on goal difference but they edged it on goals scored. Are they considered as one of the dark horses? Absolutely yes. They are considered as dark horses after collecting 2 points during the group stages. They are a team that lack most of the four ingredients that I mentioned earlier but their power lies in their attack as they have got two goal scorers Aaron and Ian Brosnan. Both are threat on counter attacks and they can score goals when given chances at this level. Bollocks were considered lucky to have qualified for the knockout stages with 2 points, but I guess they will come up against better sides in the knockout stages and get knocked out. However, the beauty of cup competition is that it’s always full of surprises so I wouldn’t be surprised if the dark horses create an upset.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 04:45:18 +0000
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