Fighters get real, with quick-fire matches

PETALING JAYA: Felda United coach Nidzam Jamil is ready to ditch philosophy for pragmatism when the M-League resumes.

The Super League will see seven rounds of quick-fire matches, with teams playing a match every four days – a tough call for teams with small squads.

The Fighters are currently placed fifth in the 12-team standings with five points from four matches and Nidzam said they needed to be smarter when their campaign resumes against UiTM on Aug 26.

He has also planned a number of friendlies in a tight schedule to simulate the Super League fixtures.

The club side will take on Premier League sides KL at the Cheras Football Stadium today and Negri Sembilan at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi on Saturday (Aug 15) and fellow Super League side Melaka at the Hang Jebat Stadium on Aug 19.

“We need to be smart and be strategic instead of focusing on football philosophy in the seven league matches. We need to weigh the risks and rewards carefully because it’s like playing in a short tournament ... any slip-ups can drop you down the standings,” said the former international.

“We want to get a feel of playing through tight fixtures. Once the season starts, I don’t think we will have time to train, we could only do recovery or maintenance training because of the short period between matches.”

The 40-year-old coach said his players are raring to play after months of just training.

The team lived up to their Fighters’ nickname after avoiding relegation by finishing 10th despite being plagued by injuries to key players last season. This season, though, they are eyeing a top five finish.

“Our objective is to get back the touches, the feel of playing against competitive opponents. I don’t think we will have fitness issue as we been having sparring matches internally,” said Nidzam.

“Everyone is showing drive and desire in training, we went through a lot last season. We are more experienced and a bit more ambitious this time.”