Malaysia Super League (MSL) giants Johor Darul Ta’azim (JDT) have apparently sealed the big money signing of in-form striker Mohammed Ghaddar from Kelantan earlier this morning.
According to The Southern Tigers’ Sports Director Alistair Edwards, this move would make Mohammed Ghaddar the most expensive football player in Malaysian football history.
However, head coach Benjamin Mora will now have to sacrifice one foreign player in order to allow the Lebanese international to fit into his system and it seems very likely that Argentinian attacking midfielder Brian Ferreira will leave the club this transfer window.
The reigning league winners have seriously been underperforming this season, despite being on top of the league standings and qualifying for the knockout stages of the AFC Cup.
Compare this season with last season and you will notice a huge decrease in consistency. JDT remained unbeaten throughout the entire league last year and won the Charity Shield and FA Cup, as well as advancing to the semi-final of the AFC Cup. This season, they have already lost a game in the league, barely qualified for the next round of the AFC Cup and were knocked out of the FA Cup quarter-final by a mediocre Pahang side. On top of that, the striking duo of Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Juan Martin Lucero scored a combined amount 59 goals between themselves, whereas only Gabriel Guerra has been doing the heavy lifting.
The real question is, how will Benjamin Mora fit Mohammed Ghaddar into his line-up?
1) Top man
This would be one of the most attacking line-ups that a team could deploy at any given time. The creativity and vision of Nazmi Faiz and Safiq Rahim in the middle of the park could complement the pacy forwards of Ahmad Hazwan Bakri and Gonzalo Cabrera on the flanks. Mohammed Ghaddar has scored 18 goals this season and could potentially add more goals to that list if he forms a formidable partnership with in-form Gabriel Guerra.
2) Partner up
Imagine a classic 4-4-2 formation with the two hard-working central midfield players who could rely on their pacy full-backs to overlap every now and then, and creative wingers that can either deliver the ball into the penalty box or take it down the wing and cause some chaos for the opponents’ defenders. If Benjamin Mora implemented a 4-4-2 formation with Mohammed Ghaddar and Gabriel Guerra up front, it would be extremely lethal because of the individual ability of every single player on that team. Would this be the best one?
3) Anyone up for a 3-4-3?
We all know that the 3-4-3 formation is all the rage at the moment, so would The Southern Tigers be able to capitalize on it? The foreign front three of Gonzalo Cabrera, Mohammed Ghaddar and Gabriel Guerra (rotation is encouraged) sounds like the nightmare of every defender in the Malaysia Super League. The tactical switch would allow both flankers play closer to Mohammed Ghaddar and wing-backs (Fazly and Azrif) to open up wide and constantly run up and down the wings to torment the opponents.
What do you think? Which is your preferred starting eleven? Let us know below.
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