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Jorg: The results will come
W.Ng
info@sleague.com
Two matches in to the 2008 S.League season and still winless, Woodlands Wellington coach Jorg Steinebrunner
refuses to accept that his players are culpable for having picked up only a point in their opening two games.
“As a club we’re happy with the performances. It’s important to differentiate between results and performances.
“In the last two games, we’ve played well, but have not got the results. Hopefully we can play the same kind of football, and the results will come round.
“We still have to improve; any team has room to improve, but performance-wise, we’ve reached a good level.”
Late goals in both the Rams’ matches have conspired to deny them a better position in the standings, with Kim
Jae Hong’s 87th minute winner consigning them to an opening day loss to the Super Reds and a Khairul Amri
penalty with 10 minutes remaining in the encounter with Young Lions depriving them of maximum points.
Steinebrunner, however, is adamant that the points will come.
“I thought there were some unfortunate decisions made against us in the last game.
“Unfortunately we’ve only got one point, but it’s encouraging to have had two good performances. If we had put in bad performances, we would be concerned about it.
“If we played badly and won, I would take the points, but I would be critical of my team. But if we play well, I think we create our own luck, and that is more stable in the long run.”
Hasrin Jailani, who missed the Young Lions match with a swollen eye sustained against the Super Reds, is a doubt for the tie, even as Steinebrunner is optimistic.
“He’s getting better. He had a blood clot behind his eye and we sent him to a specialist, but we’ll see how. He may even play a part in the match at some stage.”
Dalian, meanwhile, are one of few teams that have fared worse than the Rams, but Steinebrunner is adopting a cautious stance.
“We had a friendly game against them three to four weeks back because we knew we had to play them in our third match. So we have a rough idea of how they play, and we saw the game against the Super Reds.
“It’s a young team, but they are good players. We have to make sure that tomorrow, our players play as they did in the last two games, try to put in good performances, then it’ll be a good chance to get all three points on board.”
The Chinese side has found the going tough in Singapore, with successive 2-1 losses, albeit to perennial powerhouses Home United and the impressive Super Reds, leaving them without a point.
Compounding their misery is the fact that they have had a man sent off in each of those two games.
Quan Heng will be serving the second of his two-match suspension at the Woodlands stadium on Thursday night, while fellow midfielder Chi Jinyu, who was unlucky to have been shown the red on a slippery pitch against the Super Reds, will join him on the sidelines.
With this in mind, the team has been busy strengthening, with Zheng De Peng joining the ranks at Queenstown and more additions in the offing.
“The new player should be ready for the match,” said the club's spokesperson Aloysius Wee.
“The window here closes on 14 March, and there is one that ends at the end of March for the first team (in
China), so we this narrow window will be an adjustment period.”
Like Steinebrunner, Wee was happy with his side’s performances.
“We’re trying to assess these games, and we’ll see how things go. In terms of getting used to the playing style, things are okay, but we’ll have to deal with the red cards, although we have no injuries.”
Dalian’s desire to show their mettle must get increasingly pressing with each game, and with Woodlands similarly hungry for a win, Thursday night’s tie takes on added importance.
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