Felda United need to overcome lack of goals

Felda United need to buck-up and sort out their attacking woes if they are to progress out of the group stages in the upcoming Malaysia Cup.

That is the message from skipper Khaironnisam Sahabudin Hussain to his teammates.
"The honeymoon period is over. We must start performing or else we will be lagging behind other teams," he said.

Felda, in their maiden appearance in the Super League, finished 11th scoring only 22 goals in 26 matches.

"If you look at the table, we could have finished higher if our attack was more lethal.

"Coach E. Elavarasan noticed this weakness. We are trying several new tactical approaches to remedy this problem.

"Hopefully, one of it will serve us good," said Khaironnisam.

The Kedah-born skipper is the most experienced player in the Felda squad and is no surprise when he was given the captain's armband after the departure of previous captain Nazrulerwan Makmor to Pahang.

Khaironnisam skippered the national team until 2007 and later went on to lead the MyTeam in 2009.

"It is nothing new to me. I enjoy the responsibility of leading the team on and off the field," said the 31-year-old.

Khaironnisam believes the experience some of the younger players benefited from the Super League season can only benefit the team in the long run.

"No doubt we didn’t perform in the league but we must put that behind us. The younger players have shown potential.

"Hopefully, they understand the history of the Malaysia Cup and that alone can be a motivating factor," he said.

Felda were formed only in 2009 and took just two seasons to climb up the ranks from the lower tier FAM Cup to Super League.

They have been grouped in Group C with Super League champions Kelantan, Johor FC and Premier League runners-up Sarawak.

"Kelantan are no doubt the favourites but anything can happen in football," he said.