Talking Points from
Round Four of the CPL
Army March On
Defying pre-season
expectations the Military’s campaign achieves another victory on the
battlefield of the Olympic Stadium. Plaudits to the North Korean star Choe Myong-ho
but Defence’s Cambodian foot soldiers have also been impressive. Pom Tola and Khek
Khemrin may be the best attacking full-backs in the league whilst Reung
Bunheing and club captain Phoung Soksana combine well with Pyongyang’s Ronaldo up-front. National team stalwart
Chinn Chhouen, rested, during this weeks impressive victory over Boueng Ket
Angkor, provides additional attacking menace. A well constructed team, with no
African players, leading the league. Next up Phnom Penh Crown.
What is wrong with the
champions?
Two more points dropped
by Phnom Penh Crown – this time against league bottom-feeders Western Phnom
Penh at their eponymous stadium. It appears that with Shane Booysen and Keo
Sokpeng on the injury treatment table the squad does not have sufficient
quality to compete. The fact that only one Crown player was selected by Lee
Tae-Hoon for the latest national team defeat versus Syria is telling.
The
foreign contingent, so critical for a team’s success in the C League, is also
sub-optimal. George Bisan (24 goals last season) and the serene defensive
presence of Odion Obadin are sorely missed. Centre back Anthony Aymard,
credited with an own-goal this week and whose two previous clubs in Singapore’s
S-League have ominously folded, has not filed the Nigerian boots sufficiently
whilst George Kelechi, who opened his season goal-scoring account at the
weekend, has also struggled and is lacking service. Two South Koreans with
suitable eclectic footballing experience (including spells in Brazil, Myanmar,
Vietnam, Australia, Spain) have arrived and their influence will be interestingly
followed. The club continues to, creditably, blood youngsters with two academy
graduates debuting against Western and one suspects the future could be
perfect. But the presence is tense.
Svay Rieng benefit from
fixture inequality
Svay Rieng remain second
in the table – a win against Naga thanks to a brace from Rwanda’s Atuheire
Kipson in a week Khmer Goal reported that Prak Mony Udom had turned down a move
to Thailand. However Svay Rieng have benefited from the particular quirks of
the C-League fixture list having played all four of their opening matches at
home and avoided the league’s stronger teams. The table below gives schedule
difficulty of the 10 teams across the opening four weekends accounting for
matches being played at home or away (or Olymipian neutral) and strength of
opponent. The league average is represented by 100%.
National Police
|
116%
|
Naga World
|
116%
|
CMAC Utd
|
110%
|
Cambodian Tiger
|
110%
|
Western Phnom Penh
|
104%
|
Ministry of Defence
|
104%
|
Asia Europe
|
98%
|
Phnom Penh Crown
|
91%
|
Boeung Ket Angkor
|
85%
|
Svay Rieng
|
67%
|
As can be seen National
Police and Naga World have had the most difficult fixtures thus far with Svay
Rieng enjoying a significantly easy start. The provincials make their first trip
to the capital this weekend but will be expecting three points from their visit
to the Western Stadium.
Cambodian Tiger show
bouncebackability
Coined by one of the
Ia(i)n’s – Holloway or Dowie bouncebackability appears to be a trait that
Japanese Cambodian Tiger possess. The predators are the only team this term to
come from behind to win a C-League match having done so, now, on two occasions
at the Olympic Stadium versus Asia Europe and CMAC. This season the team to
score first has won 72% of matches (13 out of 18) in the league and only Tiger
have pulled a victory from a losing position. However, unlike the leagues’
preponderance for goals, this statistic seems fairly standard for global
football. This dated EPL analysis suggests just over 70% of home teams, and 60%
of away ones, win having scored the first goal with a mathematical suggestion
that 66% would be normal.
Match of Round Five
Army vs Phnom Penh Crown
Saturday 9th
April 15h30, Old Stadium
The league leaders
versus the fallen champions as Army play their first real ‘home’ match of the season
besides the Monivong roundabout. A battle of capitalism, casinos and South Korea versus state-control, the military and
North Korea as Choe Myong-ho may face Crown’s new recruits from the south of
the peninsula.
State
of the League
|
Sorry, what do you mean Army will play their first real ''home"" match of the season? Army WILL be playing their first home game(in the league) real or otherwise. You can clearly see RCAF written above the entrance to our stadium and the same letters are nowhere to be seen at the olympic dump , therefore meaning when we play their it is an away game.
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