Tuesday, January 20, 2026
JDT - Money Doesn't Buy Quality, It Buys Brutal Efficiency
On the back of Johor Darul Ta’zim’s 10-1 win over PDRM in what was supposed to be the away leg of a round of 16 match in the 2026 Malaysia Cup – but was actually played in Johor - it is very, very easy to be cynical about Malaysian domestic football, and to ask, “Why bother?”
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) are the 11-time in-a-row Champions of Malaysia, are a perfect 15 wins from 15 in the current Malaysia Super League season; have already won the Malaysian FA Cup for a 4th straight time (with a 5-0 victory in the Final); and with a 9 goal advantage to take into the second leg, are slight favourites to progress to the Quarter finals as they bid to retain the ‘prestigious’ Malaysia Cup for a 4th straight season.
They’re Malaysia’s ‘Man United’ (of old). Plus-plus. They’re the big-spending Man City of the current day. Very few football fans outside of Johor really like them, and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that many in Malaysia even hope they fail in their AFC Champions Elite campaign.
But, there’s a grudging respect mixed in with massive envy and frustration that no one can get close to them on the domestic stage.
The envy / dislike stems predominantly from the money poured into the club over the club’s (accurately) self-described “Decade of Domination”, and the idea their success has been “bought”. There’s also a reaction to the “in-your-face” approach of the Tunku Makhota of Johor (TMJ) – the man who has driven and financed the development of JDT - in challenging the rest of Malaysia’s football leaders to come to JDT’s levels, rather than complain about JDT’s spending.
The finance has, over the years, helped buy most of the best players Malaysia has to offer, plus a veritable bevvy of (mainly) Spanish, Argentine and Brazilian foreign signings to ensure success on the field of play. Current Coach Xisco Munoz has Watford, Sheffield Wednesday and Dynamo Tbilisi on his Coaching CV and was brought in despite Johor’s treble win last year. For TMJ, success isn’t judged on domestic success, but on progress in (especially) the Asian Champions league Elite.
On top of that, Johor boast a first-class made-for-football stadium, state-of-the-art training facilities, and top care and salaries (which are always paid promptly) for their playing and club personnel. They even hire the best Ground staff in the world to look after all of their playing pitches at all of their venues. There’s plenty to be envious about.
Domestically, there’s not much left for Johor to achieve. They’re hoping for a 4th consecutive Treble (Super League, FA Cup, Malaysia Cup); are unbeaten (domestically) at their 40,000 capacity Sultan Ibrahim Stadium since April 2021; and their last three League titles were all achieved without a single defeat.
What Johor haven’t done is:
- Progress to the Quarter Finals in the AFC Champions League Elite competition
- Had involvement in the ASEAN Club Championship (Shopee Cup)
- Domestically, posted a PERFECT season.
Turning focus on the last of these:
While it is easy to say that JDT are bound to win because of the money invested in players, there’s no doubting that Johor Darul Ta’zim play the game in great style, are a LOT of fun to watch, and have an indefatigable spirit.
Take their last 3 League games, which, arguably, were the most difficult fixtures JDT will face in the rest of the 24-match league season. All three offered a real challenge but, spoiler alert, JDT came through all three with their perfect record intact.
4th Jan 2026: Selangor 0-2 JDT:
Selangor, after a shaky spell in mid-season changed Coach with Christophe Gamel (now succeeded by Kim Pan-Gon) steadying the ship to the extent that the team had gone seven unbeaten in the League. Selangor’s Brazilian-striker, Chrigor Moraes, was in great goal-scoring form and Mamadou Diarra’s introduction at centre back had helped tighten things defensively. The Red Giants of Selangor were quietly confident of denting JDT’s perfect record, or at least giving them a proper game.
It wasn’t to be.
Despite a healthy 8,000++ crowd in Petaling Jaya, JDT produced a professional taking apart of Selangor. An early goal from Spanish-born and soon to be Malaysia-eligible Nacho Mendez (officially an own-goal deflected in by Richard Ankrah), followed by almost complete control of the game until a late volley from Bergson da Silva secured win number 13 of the season.
The key? Professional Control.
9th Jan 2026: Negeri Sembilan 0-1 JDT:
Negeri Sembilan’s fortunes have improved immeasurably since the nadir of their twelfth-placed finish in the 2024-25 season. Finance was secured for the new campaign, and highly-rated Coach Nidzam Jamil had used his resources well in a season that included a statement home win against Selangor in front of a 40,000 crowd.
Negeri’s Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi is one of the more atmospheric stadia in Malaysia when there’s a decent crowd. Some 16,000++ were present for the visit of JDT. And what a contest they saw.
A controversial non-decision by referee Logeswaran (one of my favourite Malaysian refs, btw) at the end of the first half saw JDT’s normally impeccable Eddy Israfilov escape punishment for a high-arm that stopped Negeri Sembilan’s Joseph Esso in full stride. The home team, parading Palestinian midfielder Oday Kharroub for an impressive debut, had gone toe-to-toe with JDT. This was a proper game.
Second half, JDT turned the screw. Azri Ghani in “The Deers” goal made a series of excellent stops, including one astonishing save from his own defender Khuzaimee Piee. He blocked one-on-one from Johor’s Spanish-born Teto Martin, and was relieved when Feroz Baharuddin headed over from inside the 6-yard box. The Southern Tigers’ pressure was relentless with Oscar Arribas operating as a regular crossing source from the right, but it looked as though Negeri were going to frustrate JDT.
Slowing the game down, The Deers held the ball deep in JDT territory at the corner flag for a good 4 minutes of seven added on. The crowd were celebrating; the “Sehati Sejiwa” chant echoed; the phone lights were being waved and the atmosphere was buoyant. An stoppage for an injury meant that we would go beyond the “minimum of seven minutes” time added on.
One last attack for JDT and you can guess what happened next. Of course you can.
98 minutes had been played when Arribas got the ball on the right and crossed for one last time. Eight yards from goal, Manuel Hidalgo – literally the smallest man on the pitch – escaped from the fatigued Kharroub and stretched to his full height to loop a header up and over Azri’s despairing dive. Azri got a touch, but the ball found the side of the net.
Bloody Johor. The visitors bench exploded with joy. Negeri Sembilan’s players slumped to the floor. It was a deserved win for JDT, but so, so, cruel on Negeri Sembilan.
The key words? Relentless, Indefatigable. 14 from 14.
9th Jan 2026: JDT 2-1 Kuching City:
Kuching City have quietly gone about their business since the Kuching FA decided to properly support football a decade ago. What started as the FA supporting an Amateur league in the Kuching region of Sarawak has now grown to include a tightly run professional team who have worked their way through the (now-defunct) FAM League, into M3 (now the AFL), and thence into the (now-defunct) Malaysia Premier League until they won promotion to the Super League for the 2023 season.
Under the organised, sensible coaching of Singaporean Aidil Shahrin (an FA Cup winner with Kedah in 2019), Kuching City survived a torrid debut season at the top level before securing a respectable 4th place in 2024-25. They are a club who don’t overspend, who pay their bills on time, who put football people in charge of football matters, and who work within their means (While that is, globally, a low bar, in the Malaysian context, it’s worthy of note).
Aidil has put together a neat and tidy side. Malaysia International Haziq Nadzli – a success story from the (now-defunct) Frenz Academy - in goal; defensive solidity from Nigerian James Okwuosa and Japanese Yuki Tanagawa; internationally capped Scott Woods and Jimmy Raymond as attacking full-backs; The lovely to watch Petrus Shitembi in midfield alongside Bahrain International Moses Atede, with width provided by Ramadhan Saifullah and Danial Asri, and recent signing Ronald Ngah up front already into double digit goals scored for his new employers.
This season, Kuching City had pushed JDT close in a couple of games. In August, only a goal by Brazilian import Jairo scored after Kuching had been reduced to 10-men earned JDT a 1-0 League win in Sarawak. And when the teams met in the FA Cup semi-final first leg, Kuching stretched JDT again – the Southern Tigers winning 2-1 with Bergson da Silva on target with a brace. JDT won the 2nd leg comfortably at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium 2-0, but they knew that Kuching would not be a “push-over”.
In this game, Jairo thought he had scored inside 10-minutes for JDT only for VAR to confirm referee Razlan Jofri Ali’s decision of a foul in the build-up. Late in the first half, left-back, Scott Woods, turned up at centre forward to turn home a Ramadhan cross. Ramadhan – a former Johor player - looked offside but VAR showed a narrow (and correct) onside verdict in favour of Kuching. 1-0 at half time with Goalkeeper Haziq (another former JDT recruit) looking secure and impressive.
Second half; Bergson da Silva went down after a challenge in the Kuching penalty area and referee Jofri was advised to go to the VAR monitor. He saw contact, but minimal, and not enough to award a foul and so a third VAR decision went (correctly, according to this correspondent) against JDT.
And a fourth would follow. Natxo Insa squared up to a Kuching player and Jofri was again “advised” by VAR to view a possible red card offence. He decided that this very 2025 confrontation was worthy of a red card and so JDT were down to 10. A goal-down and down to 10 men.
Surely, THIS time, Johor couldn’t “Up” their game? You know, by now, what the answer was.
The 10-men responded. Nacho Mendez scored a peach from 25 yards to equalise within three minutes of JDT going down to 10-men. Five minutes after that, Hidalgo set up Bergson for a stunning volley for 2-1. JDT’s 10-men then had the majority of the ball and regularly strung together 30-40 passes without Kuching laying a foot on the ball.
The keyword: Resilient,
They may not be liked, but games involving JDT invariably get you emotionally involved either for or against them. And they can play. They can also rough it if needed. They’re fabulous and horrible at the same time; they are merciless as showcased by two 10-goal wins over PDRM this season; they thrill and annoy with equal measure; and a little bit of genuine sporting invincibility is in their grasp – and it’s not JUST about money.
There aren’t too many teams that have won ALL their League matches in a season.
In the 19th Century, Preston North End and Glasgow Rangers (twice) were 100%;
Last century, Ferencvaros in Hungary, Racing Club in Argentina and Penarol of Uruguay were ‘perfect’.
This century, only the Guam league’s Quality Distributors and Turkmenistan’s Arkadag (with an asterisk) have won every game.
JDT’s remaining fixtures:
February: Imigresen (h), Sabah (a), Penang (a),
March: DPMM Brunei (a), PDRM Police (h),
April: Terengganu (h), Melaka (a)
May: Kuala Lumpur City (h), Kelantan The Real Warriors (a)
In 2025-26, Johor Darul Ta’zim have a chance of joining an elite club.
GUEST ARTICLE - Dez Corkhill
# posted by Me @ 6:03 PM 
