Spate of wins gives coach Zainal pleasant selection problem
After three friendly match wins, Melaka coach Zainal Abidin Hassan is unsure about his starting XI ahead of the Super League resumption on Aug 28 – but he’s happy about it. He is spoilt for choice.
The Mousedeer thrashed Felda United 4-0 with goals from Sony Norde (eighth minute and 17th), Uche Agba (11th) and Romel Morales (penalty, 13th) at the Hang Jebat Stadium on Wednesday.
The team had previously beaten Police 3-0 and UiTM 1-0 and Zainal believes the team are ready for the seven matches in the Super League, starting with Perak.
The 59-year-old coach said the quality and performance of his players were giving him a pleasant headache.
“What’s good about this is that every player knows he will have to fight for his starting position.
“This will definitely help them raise their performance levels and they will be more determined to remain in the starting 11,” said the former international.
“In the game against Felda, we played well in the opening 45 minutes and the players showed great understanding but I still see some flaws in the game and we need to fix them.”
“The good thing is that the players’ performance is getting better with every game. I hope we will be ready for the Perak game. We have 12 to 15 players who can start the game.”
Melaka have their work cut out for them as they are facing relegation after being docked three points by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in March for failing to settle their players’ salaries.
The docking saw them slide from third to 11th in the 12-team standings with just three points after four matches.
Zainal said his players’ fighting spirit would be the key to getting the team out of the relegation zone.
“Everyone is fighting for a spot in the team and I want more players to have this attitude. It will also make the players better as they are looking over the shoulders to keep their spot in the team,” he said.
“We will be ready for Perak as we have around a week to fix any mistakes.”