Submitted by: Confaderal | 17th Jan 2025

Happy new year! Hope all our fandom is well rested after the AFF cup break and ready to go again!
At the Bishan stadium on August 2024, we fell flat to the tigers of Balestier as we were defeated 3-1.
Eversince then, we've had a bad run of form under coach Marko that the poor coach is now not even the head coach of our Hougang United anymore.
We only managed to win one out of 7 games after this Balestier game. The only win was against Tanjong Pagar. We simply need to do better.
This will be a short and sweet article. Let's delve into the talking points of: BALESTIER KHALSA VS HOUGANG UTD - SPL 24/25 round 3 here we go! š„š„

Before that ā The updates after the AFF break
Oh boy where do I begin? Our last game was a defeat to Geylang International which ended as 3-2 at the tail end of November 2024. Eversince then we've had a tumultuous and eventful mid-season break. In case you missed it(ICYMI) here are some of the news:
Departure of Ensar Bruncevic, Faris Hasic, and Petar Banovic.
The farewell (possibly retirement) of our talisman Kristijan Kracjek
Marko Kraljevic has vacated the Head Coach role but in another staff capacity at the club.
Robert Eziakor will take over as interim Head Coach
The arrival of Jovan Mugosa ,Daniel Alemao & Tajeli
The BGPU Football Carnival which our U-15s participated in in Thailand
We were invited to the BGPU Elite Football Carnival where our U-15s had the chance to compete with the boys from the asian region. Although we didn't fare well in the carnival at least now our boys take back the lessons in how much more we can improve to succeed on the international level. Speaking of international level...
Speaking of international level, our cheetahs managed to earn call-ups to the National side for the AFF ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup where they all had some minutes on the field. Singapore NT got past the group stages with a win against Cambodia and Timor Leste ā a heartbreaking loss to Thailand ā and a draw with Malaysia. Unfortunately, we lost in the semi finals against Vietnam under dubious circumstances. Let's hope our boys take the lessons they've learnt from this regional tournament to make their individual tactics better. Outside of BG Tampines and Lion City Sailors, Geylang and us were the only teams with 3 players selected for the NT call up. Kudos!
balestier updates after the AFF break
Running in tandem to the influx of new changes with Hougang, Balestier themselves had a tumultuous AFF break. The highlight of their change is the letting go of one of their key players: Tajeli Selamat.
The talented right-wingback has been on the headlines recently. It is alleged that Tajeli's contract has been terminated with immediate effect due to him committing several offences. Some of the offences breached his pro contract agreement. While I think it would be better for the club to keep it within the organization, I can understand the termination. Honestly, it's a waste of talent.
But another man's waste is another man's gain. Tajeli has changed to the hougang colours this time.
To be honest, his arrival has led to mixed reactions from the fans. While he's a great talent, sometimes getting cards(accumulated or not) on the field can lead to the downfall of the team. And disciplinary issues off-field could lead to disharmony in the dressing room. While we fans might not know the whole truth behind the scenes, let's hope Tajeli treats his contract at Hougang with utmost professionalism and respect for the badge. šWho knows, if all's well, he might even get back in the starting XI.
Moving on, we also saw the departure of players such as Jordan Emaviwe, Mukundan Maran and Amer Hakeem among many. There's even rumors floating around of the departure of Ismail Sassi!
That said, their foreign contingent remains intact. So our takeaway is that their attack will be strong but their defence is now weakened further by the departure of Tajeli and Jordan. Can't help but wonder: Who will line up in the Balestier defence?
Hougang must take advantage of this and here's why....
Jordan leaves Balestier. šøBKFC instagram
The Sweeper keeper Playstyle of hafiz
When Balestier started their transformation last year by way of attacking football, they often left their defensive side in tatters. Despite being fourth last year, they conceded a hefty 71 goals. Only Young Lions conceded more at 76 goals (and YL ended bottom last year). It doesn't help that Balestier has a slow backline.
This year, Peter de Roo sought to solve this issue by employing a sweeper keeper in the form of Hafiz Ahmad. The lad is very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Most importantly, Hafiz defends the empty space vacated by his backline when they push forward to box-in their opponents in their own half.

Fortunately, this also represents a silver lining. If we somehow can catch Hafiz off his line, we could shoot from range. In the previous game against Geylang, players like Doi capitalised when Hafiz is off his line. There are countless other times where this playstyle has backfired. Luckily for Balestier, they have recently secured the services of a Viet goalkeeper from Da Nang FC; Ho Tung Han. It remains to be seen if he will start to replace Hafiz though.
Some stats
Let's talk about Balestier's stats at the moment. Balestier seems to score more in the second half of matches. It could very well be that Head Coach Peter de Roo likes to figure out his opponent first before executing his strategy.
Another thing we've observed is that in the previous game where Balestier defeated Hougang 3-1, the bulk of their attack came from the left flank. It seemed to be their main source of attack against us.
The main perpetrators were a combination of Fudhil, Jordan Emaviwe and Sugita running havoc on their left flank against Hazzuwan, Ismail Salihavic and Nazrul. The former two players were subbed off during the game. It seems to be that they're trying to keep the ball away from the flank dominated by our Stjepan Plazonja. See below for the heatmaps of the balestier players who dominated us from their left flank.
If Balestier players exploits our right flank again and send in crosses like they did in that previous match then I will be very worried on the outcome of the game. Let's hope our right flank can be knit tightly together this time.
in summary
This is (once again) the dawn of a new era for Hougang United Football Club to achieve the results that they are capable of achieving. For too long we have been playing below what we can do.
Let's hope together, the club and the players can set things right again. The recent friendlies against MSL teams have proven to be encouraging considering how we started, but it also shows that we still have some improvements to be made. Well ā whatever! It's time for the good guys to win! Let's usher in the new reign(interim) of Head Coach Robert Eziakor #1H1H
Balestier Khalsa vs Hougang Quick Report:
- Key misses [Balestier]: Jordan Emaviwe(left), Tajeli(terminated), Mukundan Maran(left), Ameer Hakeem, (rumor)Ismail Sassi
-New recruits [Balestier]: Ho Tung Han(GK), Abdil Qaiyyim(CB), Sheikh Faris(FW),
-Key misses [Hougang]: Ensar Bruncevic(left), Faris Hasic(left), Petar Banovic(left), Kristijan Kracjek(retired), Coach Marko Kraljevic(non-HC role)
- Dangermen: Tanaka, Ismail Sassi, Ignatius Ang
-Danger of "Madhu throw-ins" nullified by the losses of both 1.9+m Jordan Emaviwe & Amer Hakeem and that it's played in JBS
-Excited to see what Coach Robert Eziakor can bring to Hougang as interim coach.
ā Tune in to the "Upcoming" section of our homepage after the matchday to see the latest scores. Or follow our 'hougang_hools' instagram pageĀ or 'Hougang United FC Supporters Club'Ā to see snippets or updates on latest scores. All images used are stocks or from the hougang united instagram page unless otherwise stated.
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