PETALING JAYA: Penang may have the best gameplay and chances, but if they can’t turn them into goals, it is pointless.
Since taking over the team three months ago, coach Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail said the performance graph of the team in terms of tactics has been upwards but it is the finishing that has deserted his team from points and wins.
In the recent Super League and Challenge Cup matches, they have only scored one goal in three games and that is something Wan Rohaimi wants to work on before their next league encounter.
The Panthers will next take on Kelantan at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium tomorrow and he reminded his charges to do their homework on finishing.
“I am satisfied with the commitment and willingness of my players but there is a difference in quality. For example, Selangor have star players, while we do not have that.
“Alvin (Fortes) gets a chance, he converts. Whereas our boys get numerous chances but can’t bury them. We are a team that fight till the end, which I am proud of, it must continue in the league.
“To close the gaps against the big teams, we only encourage our boys to balance the game. We have done that and created chances, but we are not finishing them.
“There are some chances, where the possibility of scoring is 90 per cent but it doesn’t go in.”
Wan Rohaimi urged his strikers especially Brazilian Rodrigo Dias to buck up in the upcoming league matches as they look to improve their ranking in the league.
Penang are currently 11th in the league with 16 points from 18 matches.
“Dias is not at his usual level but this is what we have at the moment. I hope he can improve his individual performance to help the team to do well in the Super League.
“Every game is like a final for us now. We face Kelantan away and we have to take advantage of their off-field situation.
“They were thrashed 0-7 by Perak but we won’t go in with a lax mindset. We want to win and go up the standings.”
Wan Rohaimi did say that he has a young squad and recently he has been playing many players from the Under-23 team in the league and cup games.
“Quality and experience, we can’t buy it, they must go through it. I have strikers who are only 21, so they are still reaching their maturity in the game, so we must give them the space to learn.
“Three months with the team, the graph is positive game to game. We just do not have a goal machine to finish the chances. In some games, we will have three to four clear chances, but we do not score and we do not win the game.
“That is the homework we have to do now. Work on finishing.”
