Coach Albert Roca Spoke To The Club Website About His Side’s Performance Against Mohun Bagan. Excerpts…
On the performance of the team and the result…
I think it was a fair result. Mohun Bagan are a good side and gave us a good fight. Our players played very well and created a lot of chances, but we lacked a little bit of quality in the final third which is why we couldn’t score. However, I am proud of the way my players performed.
On Nishu Kumar’s performance at left back and substitution…
Nishu Kumar has been very good in the last two games, and his performance deserves a start. He’s a young player (19 years old), just like Udanta and Daniel and needs to experience difficult games. I think he did a very good job defensively, he picked up a yellow card in the first half and that is why he had to play carefully in the second half. He is a growing to be a very good and will be an important player for the future.
On being unable to score with a man advantage…
We have tried everything; shifted to three defenders, changed to two wingers and even two people in attacking positions. I cannot put twenty players, but we have tried everything and we did create a lot of chances, it’s just that we couldn’t finish them. You should also understand that it would be difficult to score when the other team has four or five defenders and sits back refusing to attack.
On the performance of ’keeper Arindam Bhattacharya…
Arindam is a very good keeper. He had a clean sheet in the game against Minerva and even in the game against Chennai, except for the unfortunate own goal, he was rock solid. If you do not count the goal in Chennai he has not conceded in three games and that is what you expect of your ’keepers. We have three very talented goalkeepers and they are working very hard, I am very happy with them.
On Eugeneson starting and his performance…
Eugeneson is a very good footballer, in the last few games he hasn’t however been performing in the same level as he did at the beginning of the season. So we have to try and get him back to form as he is an important player. I still think he isn’t in his best form yet, but with the break now, he can get some more exposure with the national team. It is a question of mentality, there is so much competition and he has to fight to come back to form to earn his starting position. But I am sure that he will soon return to his old self and will be very important for us in the rest of the season.
