The Azkals takes on Bahrain tonight in Manama.
After a decent result in Pyongyang, where we drew 0-0 with DPR Korea, we now travel to the Middle Eastern country to start the second batch of games in the group’s double round-robin format.
The Philippines last played Bahrain at home in Bocaue four months ago, last June 11, winning 2-1. Goals from Misagh Bahadoran and Javier Patino doing the damage for the Azkals before Abdulwahab Al Malood pulled back a consolation for Bahrain.
Bahrain’s last game was a 0-4 loss at home to Uzbekistan, meaning that they now have a Win-Loss-Draw record of 1-3-0 and are fourth in the group, a place but four points behind us.
We must beat Bahrain, if we still want a chance at stealing second place.
The game will be hard, not only because of the hot desert climate, but also that Bahrain are at home. The Philippines played a friendly against Bahrain in late March this year and lost 1-2.
Dooley’s tactical tinkering continued against DPR Korea, keeping faith in Neil Etheridge, pushing Luke Woodland to the left back slot, inserting Jerry Lucena into the defence, putting Daisuke Sato into a more attacking left wing role, and replacing the injured Javier Patino with Patrick Reichelt.
Stephan Palla, who had missed the start of the match, was substituted on for Sato, and will probably start tomorrow in Manama.
Here’s my predicted starting XI:
(NOTE: These are players’ starting positions. Phil Younghusband plays a bit more infield, combining with Ott, who is more of an attacking midfielder, while Lucena drops back a bit more to shield the defence and control the game, and Palla plays a bit more centrally.)
Dooley said he will start Stephan Schrock in the striker role, another example of his tactical tinkering. I suspect, though, that Schrock will play, not as Javier Patino’s traditional “number 9” centre forward role, but in a drifting “false 9” position, dropping back into midfield to get more of the ball and allowing Bahadoran and/or Steuble to drift inside.
Iain Ramsay, who had a relatively quiet game against North Korea, is relegated to the bench as a potential impact substitute. Instead, the man who came on for him against North Korea, Misagh Bahadoran, will start, but will switch to the opposite wing, with Martin Steuble filling in on the right.
Daisuke Sato, who played well on the left wing last Thursday, is expected to resume the same role, while Luke Woodland sits behind him.
Amani Aguinaldo sits in the heart of the defence, with Stephan Palla flanking him.
Neil Etheridge, who was solid in Pyongyang, starts in goal.
The Philippines should be a bit more clinical with their chances. Last game in Pyongyang, the Azkals had several chances but failed to convert. That’s where we missed Javier Patino, who is very clinical in front of goal.
Long range shooting should also be used. The Philippines took several long range efforts against DPR Korea, but most of them were off target. As mentioned in a previous article, ranged shooting can be useful if the defence is too compact to attack from close range.
This will be a tough match. We will need to play at our best, and hopefully, leave Bahrain with three points.
Philippines vs Bahrain will show tonight, October 13, 2015, LIVE, on ABS-CBN Sports+Action, from 10:45 PM.
Credit to Cedelf Tupas and his Inquirer posts. I got a lot of information for this article from his posts on Inquirer Sports.
Read his Philippines vs. North Korea post match article here: http://sports.inquirer.net/196042/match-ratings-philippines-vs-north-korea
Read his article on Schrock being deployed by Dooley as striker here: http://sports.inquirer.net/196186/schrock-thrives-in-shock-troop-role
The Flying Winger 