Coach Roca Credits The Team’s Performance To Improved Finishing, Young Players And A New System. Excerpts…

On his assessment of the season and the game against DSK Shivajians…

It’s always going to be difficult to implement a new idea in a short period of time. We have been unlucky this season with a few injuries in our squad, especially in defence. But as a manager I have to ensure we do our best with the players who are available to me. I think my team has learnt a lot and is growing, but there is still room to do better and we will keep improving every day.

While it might not be possible to score seven goals every game, what should be possible is to create as many chances and finish them as well as ensure we do not concede any. DSK Shivajians are a good side and play really good football, we have a lot of respect for them and their manager. I think my team won because they played well together and got everything right on the pitch.

 On whether the team has now learnt to play as per his philosophy…

I don’t think we can say the team has learnt the philosophy completely just because of a single result. I am indeed very happy with the way my team has shown constant improvement in the last five games. However, improvement isn’t just doing well in a handful of games, but sustaining our performance over the long run. We cannot expect a seven-goal performance every single game, we need more time to play that level of football. But I can definitely say that the team has reached a level where they give good performances as well as earn results every week with a little more improvement.

 On whether the shift to a back three is the major reason for the victories…

Initially, when we began the season with four in the back, we realised we were defending well but were not as efficient while attacking. So, shifting to a back three gives us the same efficiency in defence but allowed us to attack with more men in the midfield. This however, does not mean Bengaluru will only use this system. Football is a game where things change rapidly. We will have to change our formations according to the people we have available, the teams we are playing against and so on. Credit should be given to our young players like Nishu, Udanta, Daniel and Malsawmzuala. They have come into the squad and done their best when given the opportunity to showcase their talent and will only improve in the years to come.

 On whether the team began to play well once the pressure of the league title was over…

Bengaluru is a team that has won two I-League titles in three years and isn’t one to be troubled by pressure. We have been performing well throughout the season, except for maybe one or two games. We have been a bit unlucky with our finishing this season but otherwise, there was no doubt that we have performed well every week. This game shows how important finishing our chances are, as I am sure we would have scored many more goals in the games where it ended 0-0 or 1-1 had we had we finished what we created. But now we have important goals ahead and it’s our duty to keep working like this.