Kuala lumpur: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) head coach Xisco Munoz wants his players to keep improving despite a 9-0 victory last night. Munoz said the big scoreline was not the main focus as JDT still needed to have greater control in certain phases of the game while maintaining the high standards expected of the Southern Tigers.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Munoz emphasized the importance of maintaining high standards and pushing for improvement. "It is true we scored nine goals and had many chances, but the result is not important. What we are trying to do right now is push ourselves. We know our behaviour and our standards, and we need to maintain a high level of these standards and keep pushing ourselves," he said at the post-match press conference at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium here.
Speaking about Shahab Zahedi, who scored four goals in last night's match, Munoz said he was more pleased with the Iranian striker's defensive contribution and pressing. "Everybody needs to push themselves in offensive and defensive situations. The striker needs to defend and the centre-backs need to attack. This is what we demand from them," he said.
Meanwhile, on captain Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi, Munoz described him as a special player who could offer something different to the team. Munoz said Arif's role as captain and JDT's number 10 came with greater responsibility, requiring the youngster to show more maturity, character, and personality while helping his teammates. "This season is an important season for him, and I am sure he will come back with more responsibility, more character, and more personality. When you are a big player, you cannot think only about yourself. You need to try to help those who are close to you," he said.
Regarding Saturday's match against Star City FC, Munoz said the team would focus on studying their opponents' style of play, movement, and players during the short preparation period. He also said JDT had been working on ways to break down a low-block defence, which could be deployed by Star City.
Meanwhile, Kelantan's The Real Warriors (TRW) head coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim has described his team's 9-0 defeat yesterday as difficult to accept but unavoidable, saying the side is currently not at the level required to compete in the Super League due to constraints caused by FIFA's player registration ban. He said Kelantan currently has only 20 players in the squad, with two sidelined by injury, leaving just 18 available for selection.
Most of those recalled, he added, were players who had previously fallen out of the team's plans. Irfan said the situation had made it difficult for Kelantan to field a competitive squad, particularly as most of the current players lack Super League experience. "These are the only players we have. We have 20 players, with two out injured, leaving 18. We had actually released more than half of the players in this squad, but due to the FIFA ban, we were forced to recall them and cannot sign new players. They are not quite at the level needed to compete in the Super League yet. If I had new players, the result might have been slightly different. However, that is no excuse, and we will keep fighting," he said.
Irfan said he would draw on his extensive experience coaching teams such as Terengganu and Felda United to help develop the young and new players in the squad. However, he acknowledged that experience alone was insufficient to overcome the team's current problems with squad quality. "It would not be fair for me to be overly critical of these new players, as their standard is not actually at the Super League level. When we earned promotion to the Super League on merit, I had intended to bring in players of higher quality, but due to this FIFA restriction, we have been forced to retain the existing squad," he said.
Commenting on the upcoming match against Kuching City FC at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi, Negeri Sembilan, Irfan said the game would present another challenge for Kelantan as they are unable to play on their home turf, while Kuching City arrives brimming with confidence following a massive victory in their previous match.