Bangkok Glass Pathum United faced Melbourne City in their first game of Group G in the Asian Champions League. Both teams came into the match in good form in their respective domestic leagues. BG Pathum defended in a 4-4-2 formation, while they build-up in a 3-4-3, seldom times 3-3-4. Melbourne City pressed in a 3–3-4 and 4-3-3, to counter BG Pathum’s 3-4-3 build up. It wasn’t a high performing game as both sides struggled to progress and retain possession, as both teams wasted it unnecessarily. There were not many major threats at goal from both teams as the final ball was poor and both teams defended well.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Ikhsan Fandi
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Singaporean
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 09/04/1999
- Current club: BG Pathum United FC
- Career: Catolica U19, Home United FC (Now known as Lion City Sailors FC), Young Lions FC, Raufoss IL, FK Jerv, BG Pathum United.
- Position: Centre-Forward
- Secondary Position: Left Winger, Right Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
Ikhsan played as the left centre-forward in BG Pathum’s 4-4-2 formation. Ikhsan performed a decent job against Melbourne City. He played a role between a mixture of a target man and runner. Due to his tall and built stature, his teammates would look for him and pass a long ball. He has good pace to run in behind the defensive line to the available space for him to exploit. Ikhsan would position himself in between two defenders and run in the defender’s blindside. With his back to goal, he likes to link-up with his teammates and lay the ball so he could position himself higher up the pitch. He has a trait of beating and dominating players in the air, with some of his goals in the Thai League 1 were headers.
Ikhsan’s ability to recognise space allows him to drop a bit deeper and attack the available channels. He got fortunate when the ball deflected away from the defender, stayed on his feet and was really unlucky not to get an assist as he drilled a low cross across the 6-yard box which his teammate could not finish. Ikhsan was also involved in BG Pathum’s goal, when he received the ball back to his goal, and lay it out to teammate, which was then crossed in for Teerasil’s header.
In this match, Ikhsan was poor on some occasions as he misplaced his passes and was unable to control the ball well. He was caught offside twice as he did not manage to timed his run well with the last defender. BG Pathum did not press too much but Ikhsan pressed the RCB and LCB of the Melbourne players unnecessarily, wasting his energy. It was a bit unfortunate that Ikhsan did not register a shot in this match and it is not entirely his fault, as he did not get any service from his teammates due to the lack of final product.
Rating – B1
Ikhsan was subbed out in the 78th minute and was unable to have any offensive impact in the game. However he played a part in two great chances in the game. He moved to BG Pathum with a decent record in Norway for FK Jerv, but came into life when joined BG Pathum, with one of the recent games he scored 5.
Irfan Fandi
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Singaporean
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 13/08/1997
- Current club: BG Pathum United FC
- Career: Barnechea U19, Catolica U19, Home United FC (Now known as Lion City Sailors FC), Young Lions FC, BG Pathum United
- Position: Centre-Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Irfan played as the RCB in the 4 man defence, sometimes as the CB or RCB in a back 3. Irfan performed averagely in this game. He was not troubled too much but in a few situations he was. Irfan has a strong physique and with him being at 6’1, he won many loose balls as he was not contested often. He has a great leap, and does not shy from any 50-50 aerial duel. His passing is good but inconsistent. He tends to look up at his teammates in between the lines and successfully pass it through the attacking and midfield line, which shows that he takes risks instead of passing the ball sideways. Irfan is able to play long balls with good technique, but he may need to make better decisions on whether to pass it long or short. Irfan does also take risk by carrying the ball forward with confidence into the attacking third.
In this match, Irfan was beaten easily in two occasions. His body shape when facing the attacker in a 1v1 is suspect, as he would commit a leg, missed the ball and lost balance. He misjudged the flight of the ball when there was a corner swung in and the player he was marking had a clear chance to head the ball, fortunately he head it over. His passing was inconsistent as some of the balls were not accurate or there was too much weight in the pass.
Rating – B2
Irfan has the tools to become a good modern centre-back, and may venture into top Asean leagues or Europe. However with games like this, he needs to focus on improving the weaknesses in his 1v1s, defensive decisions and passing technique.
Target Scouting 