After a topsy turvy 2012, the upcoming season of the Malaysian Super League is set to enthrall.
So much took place throughout the course of last year, with Kelantan achieving the treble feat for the first time in their history and Malaysia failing to retain their AFF Suzuki Cup final. However, there has been a slight change in the scene and a new revolution could be set to add more excitement into the domestic football scene.
Johor Darul Takzim have been revamped during the off-season and the rebranding process has seen them acquire names like former Spanish star Dani Guiza, Simone Del Nero and of course Safee Sali.
Not to forget that the Southern Tigers also have national team skipper Safiq Rahim and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha as well.
The Crown Prince of Johor has pumped millions into the team, and will be expecting results as well. Singapore legend Fandi Ahmad has been appointed as the head coach and will be under immense pressure to deliver.
But besides them, you also have ATM and LionsXII – two sides that impressed throughout 2012 and two sides that lost several key players during the off-season.
ATM won the Premier League title last year, thus securing promotion into the Super League, before going all the way to the Malaysia Cup final in October. Names like Aidil Zafuan, Zaquan Adha and Azmi Muslim departed to join the Southern revolution and their absence will hurt ATM. However, the Forces have beefed up their squad with the likes of R. Surendran and Shukor Adan and B. Sathianathan insisted that his side is still capable of scaling bigger heights next year.
As for LionsXII, they finished second in their maiden Super League appearance last year, but things have changed though. Sundramoorthy has selected a rather youthful squad with only five major senior players. However among that five, LionsXII have Shahril Ishak, who was so often the inspiring figure in 2012. He even played a pivotal role in Singapore AFF Suzuki Cup triumph as well.