Ten tactical points on the Philippines - Malaysia match:

a MARK DIMALANTA photo courtesy of AKTV and UFL

I thought of writing a "wikings take" about player performances, stats and other things about the recently concluded FIFA friendly this Feb 29th against Malaysia until I came upon a friends "take" at my favorite watering hole, usapangfootball.proboards.com. He calls himself "buddha" he is a youth coach unlike some of us who pretend to know, or would like to think we know(me) about football, he lives and breaths the stuff. So without further ado:

 Ten tactical points on the Philippines - Malaysia match:

1. Classic tactical battle: 442 vs 433, direct play vs slow build-ups... the stuff of mindgasms.
 
2. Superb defensive shape and discipline: Philippines defended with two banks of four, quickly retreating into their zones the moment possession was lost. Wolf's defensive role was crucial; he would track down to nip at the heels of the ball carriers to force them into hurried passes while Phil YH stayed up high. Nothing fancy just solid defensive plan and an efficient way of getting the ball forward. Well done, Weiss & staff! Best thing I've seen so far.
 
3. Angel Guirado's movement changes the shape: I was very surprised to see Angel on the left wing! To his credit (or maybe to the coach's credit), he didn't attempt traditional wingplay by dragging the ball to the byline and peppering the penalty box with crosses. Instead he would cut in towards the center of the pitch to link the midfield and the forward line. Angel's movement created a lopsided/asymmetrical 442 when in possession and a standard 442 when defending without the ball.
 
4. Midfield battle royale: a 442 going out against a 433 is bound to have troubles in midfield because your two centermids will be outnumbered by your opponents centermids. Coach Weiss solved this problem by having Angel and Wolf dovetail into the midfield turning it into a 4 vs 3 slugfest. If Angel stayed out wide on the wings and tried to play like Caligdong we would have lost the midfield battle. Nice one there, Weiss.
 
5. Smile for the camera, Luis Guirado: I see how much he grins and enjoys himself on the pitch without sacrificing effort which is a refreshing change from the dourness of Gier and the scowls of Borromeo and Sabio. I like this guy!
 
6. Lack of movement from the Younghusbands - a tactical ploy?: Given Wolf's fantastic workrate, it would have been logical for Phil YH to be instructed to stay up and provide an attacking outlet instead while Wolf did the dirty work. James YH on the right flank was also very conservative in moving up the pitch. I suppose that this too was a tactical ploy to keep that amazing Malaysian livewire winger from terrorizing our right flank too often. While James was excellent in covering the movement of that Malaysian winger the result was that James wasn't able to push up and contribute to the attack the way he normally does. On the other hand, because James stayed deep it allowed Carli to make overlapping runs on the right which I though would have been a real threat if Carli had a good engine.
 
7. Ray Jonsson solid on the left: we didn't have much threat on our left flank because Jonsson played his role efficiently and without fuss. His overlapping runs late in the game were brilliant and dangerous to the Malaysians though it came a little bit too late in the match.
 
8. Lexton Moy: strode through the pitch like Napoleon... didn't give the Malaysians time and space to be cute and he took stick from no one. My man of the match. Take a bow, lad.
 
9. Stupid fouls: step up De Jong and Bahadoran! Yes, tactical fouling is a way to break up an opponents attack so your own team can get back to its defensive shape but Jason foul was vicious and uncalled for while Misagh's was provocative. I doubt if referees in the Challenge Cup will be this lenient so watch out!
 
10. Sabio throws up: eat your heart out, Rory Delap. We've got Jason Sabio! But I felt that the way Jason threw himself into his tackles was an accident waiting to happen... and he did. Jason over-committed and the Malaysian striker showed amazing composure. Top class finish.

You may follow "buddha" at his blog:  http://socculturation.blogspot.com/

*and yes I asked buddha for permission  

pic from http://malaysiasaya.my/philippines-vs-malaysia

Philippine NT rosters and stats:

# 7 James Yh

#25 Lexton Moy

# 1 Neil Etheridge

# 5 Juan Luis Guirado

#12 Angel Guirado

#17 Jason de Jong

#27 Ray Jonsson

#14 Carli de Murga

#20 Denis Wolf

# 3 Jason Sabio

#10 Phil Yh

Yellow card:

Juani 47' 

Jason de Jong 60'

Subs:

# 6 R Gener for Carli 59'

# 9 M Bahadoran for Angel 71'

#24 Marwin Angeles for JdJ 76'

#23 Ian Araneta for Denis Wolf 86'

Goal: Denis Wolf 34'

* Info from me watching the game over and over, so not "official"

Full roster as shown on the broadcast was not updated as it included players that were STILL in Brunei at the HBT, so I did not include. NOTE TO PFF: Fans care about these things...