Selangor coach K. Devan is racing against time to come up with a winning combination in attack to make a serious claim for the coveted trophy which the Red Giants last won in 2005.
“We need a fresh breath in our forward line and especially players with paces such as Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal and Azidan Saruddin,” said Devan after watching his boys go down to Kelantan 0-1 in a friendly game played at the Shah Alam Stadium on Wednesday.
He said that he would be experimenting with the two national midfielders in the forward position to inject more bite up front. Devan looked frustrated with his boys’ poor finishing against Kelantan despite having had good possession in the opponents’ box.
“I have no other options but to experiment with a new combination of players up front because we will be fully tested when the going gets tough in the knock-out stages,” said Devan.
Selangor have been far from impressive this season and are now left with a serious problem in attack following the departure of national striker Mohd Safee Sali to Indonesian club Pelita Jaya FC in February. Skipper Mohd Amri Yahyah, Rudie Ramli, Mohd Fadzli Saari and R. Sreetharan are the other forwards in the squad.
Devan started off with a bang in his debut season with Selangor by winning the treble – Charity Shield, FA Cup and Super League titles – in 2009.
The following year, Selangor managed to retain the Charity Shield and the Super League crown but their fortune seems to have deserted them this year as they have nothing to show in the trophy cabinet so far.
“Defensively we are getting stronger with the return of Mohd Nasriq Baharom from injury. He has combined well with Yosri Derma Raju in the centreback position while P. Gunalan and Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar are quite stable in the right and left back positions respectively.
“All we need is that extra push in the forward line. I am sure the boys don’t want to repeat the same mistakes in the Malaysia Cup in the last two seasons when we were eliminated in the knock-out stages,” said Devan, who is optimistic they have a fighting chance to bid for their record 33rd Malaysia Cup title this year.
Selangor are drawn in Group D with Kuala Lumpur, T-Team and Police. In four warm-up matches played thus far, Selangor drew with Felda United (0-0), beat Armed Forces (1-0), beat Malaysia (1-0) and lost to defending Malaysia Cup champions Kelantan (0-1).
“We need a fresh breath in our forward line and especially players with paces such as Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal and Azidan Saruddin,” said Devan after watching his boys go down to Kelantan 0-1 in a friendly game played at the Shah Alam Stadium on Wednesday.
He said that he would be experimenting with the two national midfielders in the forward position to inject more bite up front. Devan looked frustrated with his boys’ poor finishing against Kelantan despite having had good possession in the opponents’ box.
“I have no other options but to experiment with a new combination of players up front because we will be fully tested when the going gets tough in the knock-out stages,” said Devan.
Selangor have been far from impressive this season and are now left with a serious problem in attack following the departure of national striker Mohd Safee Sali to Indonesian club Pelita Jaya FC in February. Skipper Mohd Amri Yahyah, Rudie Ramli, Mohd Fadzli Saari and R. Sreetharan are the other forwards in the squad.
Devan started off with a bang in his debut season with Selangor by winning the treble – Charity Shield, FA Cup and Super League titles – in 2009.
The following year, Selangor managed to retain the Charity Shield and the Super League crown but their fortune seems to have deserted them this year as they have nothing to show in the trophy cabinet so far.
“Defensively we are getting stronger with the return of Mohd Nasriq Baharom from injury. He has combined well with Yosri Derma Raju in the centreback position while P. Gunalan and Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar are quite stable in the right and left back positions respectively.
“All we need is that extra push in the forward line. I am sure the boys don’t want to repeat the same mistakes in the Malaysia Cup in the last two seasons when we were eliminated in the knock-out stages,” said Devan, who is optimistic they have a fighting chance to bid for their record 33rd Malaysia Cup title this year.
Selangor are drawn in Group D with Kuala Lumpur, T-Team and Police. In four warm-up matches played thus far, Selangor drew with Felda United (0-0), beat Armed Forces (1-0), beat Malaysia (1-0) and lost to defending Malaysia Cup champions Kelantan (0-1).
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