The Boss Speaks About A Third Win On The Road, Substitutions And Implementing Lessons Learnt In Pre-Season…
On the performance of his team…
I am very happy with my players. I think they did a wonderful job and we had to fight for the three points. As a coach, you demand that kind of performance from your team and it was satisfying to see.
On the refereeing decisions…
I don’t have any specific opinion on the offside decision or the penalty against us. As a coach, I would want the referee to be just and not interfere much in the flow of the game.
We shouldn’t talk so much about the referees, because when we do that, we put them under pressure. I think we have to focus more on our game. All the clubs all over the world have been demanding something from the referees. You said about Bengaluru (receiving bad decisions) in the past as well. I understand the situation that Kerala is in, and I respect that. I want us to try and put all our focus into football. Because you see all over the world, that there is no intention from the referees to punish one team.
On Xisco replacing Juanan…
We have talented players on our bench who help us in certain moments of the game. We decided to bring in Xisco to give us something in midfield. We had to change a foreigner for that, and since Juanan had a knock, we decided to replace him. It was a risk but I think we defended well in the last 20 minutes. I’m happy that Xisco was involved in the move that got us the goal and the three points.
On the Blues being favourites…
Nothing is done yet. There is a long way for the play-offs. We play six games after the break in just three weeks and it is going to demand a lot from us. Of course, I am happy with the work the players have put in until now, but we are still at the start of the season. It’s true that we are in a good moment, but it might break because we will miss a few players who join the national team and won’t be training with us. Our aim is to get back into the same dynamic after the break.
On the upcoming stretch of home games…
Honestly, I think in this league, every game, home or away is tough. If you’re talking about Kerala or ATK, in comparison with last season, they have improved a lot and increased their levels. So, they are contenders for the play-offs as well.
On defensive responsibilities…
The players are working very hard because some of them are involved more in the defensive side which they were not before. Even our wingers, Udanta and Sunil, are helping us keep the result. I think the Spanish pre-season helped us as we learned to defend together as a unit against quality teams in these situations.
The game against Jamshedpur was a good lesson for us. Their last-minute goal is the reason we don’t have 15 points on the table. We have learned from these games that we have to concentrate on our defensive work till the last minute of every game.
