Once a focal point in Persija Jakarta’s attack, Croatian striker Marko Simic found himself in an unfamiliar position of being at the periphery of the Macan Kemayoran squad. In Persija’s last four matches, Simic has failed to make his mark on the pitch, with three of those matches seeing him warming the bench, and the last one, Persija’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Madura United in mid-week, saw him spectating the match from the stands instead.
Having scored 12 times in the first half of the season, Simic’s form went off the rails in the second half of the season, with the Croat having scored only twice in 13 games. Simic’s downturn in form also saw him being frequently subbed off during a match, having seen out all 90 minutes in only one of Persija’s 13 matches in the season’s second half.
As a result of his loss of form, Simic was benched in Persija’s last four matches, a run that started with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bali United in March 6th, followed up by another 2-1 defeat on March 10th, this time at the hands of Borneo FC. Simic also could only make the bench in Persija’s resounding 4-0 win over Persikabo 1973 on March 13th, before failing to make the squad altogether in mid-week’s defeat at the hands of Madura United.
According to Persija interim head coach Sudirman, Simic’s absence in the Madura United game was down to a problem in his hip during training in the buildup for the match.
“Simic has complained about a pain in his hip during recent training sessions,” said Sudirman, as quoted from Bola.com, “On the day of the Madura United match, he consulted a doctor about his hip pain and consequently he missed out on the match.”
According to Bola.com, Simic’s character as a predator in the box had become a double-edged sword for the Croat. Having played in Indonesia since 2017, opponents would surely know how to isolate Simic from his teammates as well as Persija’s dependency in sending the ball forward towards him. With this in mind, opponents would surely target Simic from the get-go and mark him tightly, effectively sealing him out of the match. Without Simic, Persija played as if they were only playing with 10 men, such was Macan Kemayoran‘s dependency towards him.
Simic’s deadly instinct in front of goal earned him a contract that lasts until 2023, however, should his loss of form continues, his time with Persija may come to a premature end.