Philippines vs. Yemen: Match Preview

“It’s a must-win game,” said Coach Thomas Dooley.

And no doubt about it, the Yemen game is one. A win would keep our (very slim) qualification hope alive, depending on the results of North Korea and Uzbekistan, but dropping points will almost certainly mean elimination.

The Philippines takes on Yemen on Thursday, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, on paper an easy clash for the Azkals.

Yemen have no points from five games, have scored no goals, and have a goal difference of -11, but went to Pyongyang, a highly intimidating environment, where group favourites Uzbekistan lost to DPR Korea, and battled to lose only 1-0, while also going to Uzbekistan’s home in Tashkent and also only losing 1-0.

Yemen are a very tough team to break down, something that the Azkals experienced when we played them Doha last June 16. They held the Philippines off in the first half, had a few chances throughout the game, but lost because of goals from Misagh Bahadoran and Iain Ramsay.

Simone Rota and Rob Gier, according to Bob Guerrero, are training with the team, but Thomas Dooley thinks that both still have  to recover a bit more before being fully match-fit, while another defender, Luke Woodland, was not on PFF’s 23-man call-up list for this game, so the Azkals’ have only four defenders fully fit for the match: Daisuke Sato, Amani Aguinaldo, Stephan Palla, and Juani Guirado. Gier, Rota, and Jerry Lucena can still step in at the back in a pinch, but this lack of defenders might be a bit of a worry.

Strangely, Phil Younghusband is on the PFF’s 23-man list, even though he picked up his second yellow card of the campaign in the 0-2 loss against Bahrain in Riffa and therefore suspended from playing this match. The Philippines will have trouble replacing Younghusband’s leadership and hard work, but will get a boost in the returning Henan Jianye striker Javier Patino, who was injured for the games against North Korea and Bahrain.

Predicted formation:

Walsall keeper Neil Etheridge starts in goal, with Sato, Aguinaldo, and Palla in front of him.

With Gier and Younghusband out, Jerry Lucena takes the captain’s armband*, partnered with Kevin Ingreso, while Manny Ott and the ever-dangerous Stephan Schrock should drift infield, with the fullbacks, Iain Ramsay, and Misagh Bahadoran providing the width.

Javier Patino forges into the box as our main scoring threat.

Usually, Manny Ott was partnered with Phil Younghusband at attacking midfield, but with the latter suspended, the former should instead be partnered with Stephan Schrock, who takes Younghusband’s old attacking midfield role.

The Azkals must win against Yemen, who are good at being resolute in defence.

Our inability to have a Plan B against Bahrain and Uzbekistan cost us those matches, a sad truth about our football. The Azkals should be able to form a way to play if our fast passing game does not work.

Our passing game was a bit slow against Bahrain, probably due to the heat and fatigue, and must be upped if we want a result against Yemen. The Azkals’s finishing must also be improved, as we fluffed several good chances against Bahrain, which cost us the match.

And, as I have been suggesting for the last few articles, the Azkals should learn how to score from range. Our inability to score from range has cost us points.

The Philippines has to win this match. Underdogs they may be, Yemen is a tough proposition. We shouldn’t let them think they have a chance in this game.

*According to Cedelf Tupas, Stephan Schrock was appointed captain of this match by Dooley, instead of the automatic 3rd captain Jerry Lucena.

Azkals vs Bahrain post-match analysis and Yemen match preview

Sorry for the late post. I had a busy weekend. So, I’m also adding the match preview of the Yemen game.

The Azkals have beaten the Middle Eastern men last Thursday, a match that few foreign pundits gave us little chance in.

I was there personally at the match, and I’m still hoarse. I’ve never yelled so loud in my life.

Azkals 2-1 Bahrain: Analysis:

The Azkals played a formation like this as their starting XI:

It was completely different from the formation I predicted pre-match (see previous article).

The formation seems a bit foolhardy on paper, as only Gier was a natural centerback in this formation, but it did hold up excellently against Bahrain.

When the Azkals were on the attack, the formation looked something like this:

Palla, as a sweeper, would move into midfield, while Gier pushed into centerback.

Sato would overlap on the left to give the Azkals space and numerical superiority, Phil Younghusband pulled into midfield alongside Schrock to help Lucena and Ott to retain possession, while Patino forged into the box as the striker.

Notice Phil Younghusband’s new role.

He is more like an attacking midfielder instead of his regular striker or withdrawn striker (“number 10”)  role.

When we were defending, we looked more like this:

A sort of 5-4-1 formation, with Lucena and Palla tracking back to centerback, Ott and Sato moving to wingback, Steuble and Ramsay pushing into the midfield to try and pressure Bahrain into giving back possession, and Schrock and Patino up there to exploit the counterattack, with Schrock roaming dangerously.

But the most shocking thing is: Phil Younghusband is playing defensive midfield.

Seems like Dooley is experimenting with PYH playing in Wayne Rooney’s position under Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United.

A player that does his share of defending and attacking, a position that Phil excelled at last Thursday.

Bahrain were unable to track his runs, as he marauded all over the pitch, sending dangerous balls to both flanks.

But the Azkals took a severe blow a half-hour into the game: our danger man, Stephan Schrock, took an injury.

Dooley replaced him with Misagh Bahadoran, who is a completely different type of player than Schrock.

But Dooley played Bahadoran in Schrock’s role, and “Lord” Misagh played so unlike himself just a year ago.

The old Misagh Bahadoran was a ball-hogger who couldn’t pass and couldn’t shoot.

Misagh 2.0 still had his old skills on the ball, but he played well, playing for the team.

And he made that dangerous run that PYH picked out.

Phil crossed, and Bahadoran lunged at the ball to score his first goal in four years with the Azkals.

Javier Patino was another player who made a difference.

The Henan Jianye striker showed what the Azkals had missed during the last year, with his runs that the playmakers liked to pick out.

He should’ve scored early on when he broke free, but his shot was saved by Jaffer, the Bahrain stopper.

Patino managed to score, though, finishing clinically from Manny Ott’s set-piece.

We had some worries though, after Palla came off with cramps.

In his place came Juani Guirado.

Bahrain piled some late pressure, and got a goal back, when Abdulwahab Al Malood shook off Juani Guirado quite easily, rounded Neil Etheridge, and =slotted home, but this proved to be nothing but a consolation, as we scored a historic win.

Azkals vs Yemen: Match Preview:

The Azkals take on Yemen tomorrow night.

Kickoff is live on ABS-CBN Sports+Action at 11:55 PM Philippine time, so whatever your commitments on Wednesday are, I hope you’ll watch this game anyway.

And if any Pinoys in Doha are reading this article, please come out and watch them at the Qatar Sports Club.

Down to business, then.

The Azkals lined up in a 3-5-2 against Bahrain (see above), but I think Dooley will have to tinker with his tactics again, after we lost Schrock, who will be out for at least two weeks.

I think we’ll line up like this:

With no Schrock, Steuble can be moved into the middle, meaning Bahadoran moves into Steuble’s old position on the right,

and Phil plays behind Patino, occasionally dropping deep to reinforce the midfield.

Yemen, though, will be hard to break down, though they are the lowest-ranked team in the group.

DPR Korea played them and only won 1-0.

They’ve nothing to lose, with a civil war being fought in their country.

We should NEVER underestimate them.

That’s how we revived as a football nation.

Good luck Philippines, and SUGOD AZKALS!