Advanced camaraderie and Baddrol's new role leading the Kedah title challenge

PJ City FC have become the third team to lose to Kedah this season, thanks to attacks from Syahrul Azwari and Fernando Rodriguez. One of the four teams tied with seven points after four rounds of games played, Kedah's win on Friday night reinforces pressure on Johor Darul Ta'Pim, Pahang and Melaka United.

The four teams are the only ones in the division with a zero in the defeat column. Kedah is also leading the pack in terms of goals scored and goals conceded. After a pre-season of relative turmoil that saw the majority of the first team players like Syazwan Zainon, Akram Mahinan, Halim Shaari, Akhyar Rashid and Liridon Krasniqi all leave the team, a major rebuilding job was required.

The arrival of former Home United head coach Aidil Sharin marked the beginning of the change. The Kedah iteration that started with Tan Cheng Hoe, who led them back to the Super League, ends naturally and marks the beginning of a fresh start.

The evolution is not just about the staff, with Jonathan Baumann, Fernando Rodriguez, Shakir Hamzah and Renan Alves, who all come into the ranks of Kedah. but the style of play has also evolved to go beyond the traditional version of tiki-taka initiated by Cheng Hoe, especially because the pivot of the one of Krasniqi is no longer part of the team.

Yet, among all this layer of paint, one layer remained intact, albeit in a modified form. In Kedah's last match of the 2018 season, they played against Kelantan in the last game of the Malaysian Cup on September 16, and among the 11 players who started the game that day, only one won the victory against PJ City.

<img alt = "Baddrol Bakhtiar, PKNP vs. Kedah, Super League, February 2, 2019" perform: prop = "uuid: fmaxv4qvc20518oey140t4mjc; width: 1920; height: 1080" src = "https://images.performgroup.com/di /library/GOAL/9/cd/baddrol-bakhtiar-pknp-v-kedah-super-league-2-feb-2019_1kahfsv6f24ef1u2xmsf4xqhf3.jpg?t=415246913 "width =" 100%

Baddrol Bakhtiar is reinventing himself to become the new Akram, the new Amirul Hisyam, who leads the core of any team – the midfielder. Having been deployed to the right or left of the midfield or even to the center, Kedah has always considered Baddrol as an attacker, but Aidil seems to take leaves from the Malaysian book under 23 years old.

"Coach Aidil saw me playing under coach Ong (Kim Swee), so he tried me and I take this opportunity to trust him, he's a very humble coach. and the players play for him, he's motivating the team and things are really positive in the team, so maybe that's why we're doing well in the beginning. "

"The experience factor really comes into play in this position.The play of the game and the opponent, using all the pre-game information by viewing the videos and of course, the fact that the defense has been very good, it also helps me to adapt to the position.

"I'm not against the idea that this could be done with my age.The coaching style of Aidil is an offensive style and this position may suit me more to my current state." down before, I just want to prove that I can do the job well for him there too, "said Baddrol Goal.

Of course, the defensive midfielder position or the role played at the base of the midfield was a ploy used by Ong Kim Swee at the 2018 Asian Games, when Baddrol was part of the team among the outmoded players . He clearly shone in this role during the tournament in Indonesia, marked by a magnificent victory over South Korea.

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There, Baddrol brought calm and cleared the authority conferred by his status within the team compared to the juniors. Something similar is reflected in Kedah, where the influence and leadership of Baddrol have long been a pillar of the team.

Kedah fans who, over the years, have seen Baddrol rise in the opponent's third of the field to score with a precise shot that combines power and precision. They will now have to adapt their vision to see one of theirs protecting the defense and using his range of pbades goes a much deeper position on the court.

The 31-year-old was struggling to explain the new "family spirit" in the camp that may have been a little dispelled with Cheng Hoe's departure. By regaining team spirit, the team is already clearly showing that it is ahead of its supposed transition curve.

While the teams they have won so far are not considered the strongest teams in the league, they have undoubtedly been beaten in front of them. The 1-1 draw against last season's second round at Perak on enemy pitch was perhaps indicative of the strength of this new Kedah team.

Optimism is high in the camp and sitting well at the top of the table, Kedah is doing his best in a new season, a new team and a new Baddrol.

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