Loyola
Meralco Sparks: The stand
by rick olivares
The Loyola Meralco Sparks sat in
silence. The boom box was playing Fun’s “Some Nights” as every player reflected
on the lyrics of the New York indie outfit’s paean to war weariness.
New head coach Vincent Santos asked
the Sparks to reflect on one particular line from the song: “What do I stand
for?”
In the season and a half long of the
version two of Loyola, the squad has come so tantalizingly close to bringing
home some silverware. There’s been a first runner-up finish, a pair of third
placers, and a fourth-spot run.
The team has looked mighty at the
start, an offensive juggernaut smashing goal scoring records, but has limped
home, curtailed by injuries and suspensions as they’ve fell as fast as a one-hit
wonder. It has been perplexing, given the star-studded line-up they bring to
fore.
“What do you stand for – as a player?
And what do we stand for as a club?” asked Santos who has stepped into the head
coaching slot in place of Kim Chul So who remains team consultant.
Following their recent third-place
finish in the ULC Cup, Loyola made only one change in its lineup – the addition
of former Pachanga and national striker Freddy Gonzalez in place of midfielder
Anton Gonzales who returned to Pachanga-Diliman after a year-long loan to the
Sparks.
“We wanted to build with the line-up
we have,” explained club president Randy Roxas. “It’s too early to be making
changes when we should try to grow with what we have; to give chances to the
other players to make their mark. That also improves chemistry and we hope that
everything we’ve been through in the past year and a half will serve as
motivation for the league.”
The lineup of Loyola brings together
the last three national strikers in Gonzalez, Chad Gould, and Phil
Younghusband. Gonzalez never played with both and the latter two, who have
heard stories about his scoring feats, are eager to play with him.
“That’s a fact now?” remarked Gould
who of late has returned to his more natural position up front as opposed to
the back line that he anchored during the 2012 Singapore and UFL Cups for
Loyola. “It would be great to see what we can all do especially with Mark
(Hartmann) there as well.”
While Gonzalez’ addition my seem like
a perplexing move given Loyola’s frailty on defense, it gives the Sparks more
flexibility. The team unveiled some of those changes in their UFL Cup swan song
when they convincingly whipped Green Archers United, 4-1, with Younghusband
playing in the more familiar confines of attacking midfielder behind Hartmann.
Multi-purpose player Jang Jowon is
also back. The Korean, who is based in Singapore, hoped to return to the S.
League where he has suited up in the past but instead resigned with Loyola.
Cameroonian Rodrigue Nembot has
quietly slipped into the starting eleven. Acquired on a transfer fee from Union
International, Nembot has gotten better with every game. “I’m excited to be
playing for Loyola. Very professional. And it gives me a chance to win.”
“Keeping the team intact is good because
it gives us a sense of continuity,” explained Santos. “We cannot keep adding
people all the time because we have to make this one work. It improves
chemistry and it promotes togetherness.”
There have been talks of two different
groups – the locals and the Fil-Britons who form a chunk of the team (there are
only five of them to be exact) – and how the cultural divide can be a
hindrance. But Phil Younghusband disputes that: “I think that it’s only natural
because of the differences in upbringing. Chemistry is something that you work
on and it doesn’t happen overnight. The Singapore Cup experience helped us grow
as a club.”
As the Sparks filed out of the
dressing room for warm-ups in their match Smart Club Championship match against
the Cavite-based Flame United, the team collectively spoke about two things:
“defense” and “team”.
We are about to find out what they
stand for.
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