SINGAPORE – The title favourites for the new Singapore Premier League (SPL) season may be the usual suspects Lion City Sailors, Albirex Niigata and Brunei DPMM, but the clubs are all embarking on their own comeback journeys this campaign.
The Sailors, owned by tech giant Sea, made waves in 2021 with marquee local and foreign signings, and duly won the league. But 2022 was far choppier due to issues both on and off the pitch, as they failed to retain their title and had to tighten purse strings and release several players and backroom staff.
Sailors skipper Hariss Harun said: “We want to right the wrongs of how we finished last season. We had a good first half of the season and a good first AFC Champions League campaign. But losing four straight SPL matches and 12 points in September and October was unacceptable and we got what we deserved.
“Like you can see from this state-of-the-art training centre we have now, this club is established to set high standards... and we learnt the hard way that we cannot take success for granted.”
Former South Korea captain Kim Shin-wook has left the club, along with Singapore internationals Hassan Sunny, Shahdan Sulaiman, Gabriel Quak and Faris Ramli. But there is still quality in their ranks, which include Belgian winger Maxime Lestienne and Brazilian playmaker Diego Lopes.
New coach Risto Vidakovic, winner of league championships in the Philippines and the Maldives, has promised “attacking, possession-based and high-pressing football”.
The Bosnian has recruited goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad, who will stand in for the injured Izwan Mahbud in Friday’s season opener against Tanjong Pagar United at Bishan Stadium, and attackers like Kodai Tanaka from Albirex and Shawal Anuar from Hougang United, while Hariss will switch from defence to his preferred central midfield role.
Vidakovic, 54, said: “We have a good atmosphere and energy in the team, a structure ready and we are working well together. But we cannot stop working because there is always something to improve. We are going to give everything to get the title back.”
Defending champions Albirex will no doubt put up a fight. No other club in world football does it like the Japanese club though – revamp their squad and still come back to win the league five times in seven seasons with a predominantly Under-23 side.
This season is no different. After releasing key players like right-back Masaya Idetsu and Tanaka, they engaged an agency to curate replacements who are from Japanese universities or youth teams of J-League clubs. They have also signed Hassan to replace the erratic Takahiro Koga in goal.
As their 3-0 Community Shield win over Singapore Cup champions Hougang showed, the successors are more than capable of filling their predecessors’ boots. New skipper Asahi Yokokawa looked superb in the engine room with his tenacity and passing abilities, while forward Riku Fukashiro was direct and clinical after coming off the bench.
Former Japan international Tadanari Lee, one of the few White Swans back for a second season, said: “To build this team from nothing each year is extraordinary and a great achievement.
“Players come in with a lot of ambition, with the goal of extending their professional career, which is the key reason for Albirex’s success.
“Overall, everyone has better basic football skills than last year. Our main strength is in our passing and I think we will have far more passes than last year. We will be able to play football that is fun to watch.”
On the other hand, DPMM coach Adrian Pennock is more keen to downplay his team’s chances of recapturing the title they won in 2019 before they withdrew for the next three seasons due to the pandemic.
Besides picking the best Bruneian players, they have recruited former Spain youth international defender Angel Martinez, Uzbek goalkeeper Akmal Tursunbaev, Croatian midfielder Josip Balic and re-signed 2019 SPL topscorer Andrey Varankow.
Pennock said: “Aside from winning the 2022 Brunei FA Cup, DPMM have not played competitively for three years, while the rest of the SPL has gotten stronger while we were out.
“To help the national team, we made the team younger than before, although Andrey (at 34) is not as young as he was.
“Also, we are traditionally very strong at home with thousands of fans behind us, but our stadium will not be ready until May, so we will not have that advantage until then.
“We are far from being title contenders. We will give 100 per cent to close the gap but we have so many obstacles to overcome.”
