The Boss Spoke About The Big Win; Tactics Against Odisha; Suresh’s Debut And Much More…
On the plan behind handing Suresh his first start in a crucial game…
We were paying close attention to Xisco, because we know he’s a talented player. The connection between Xisco and Aridane is what has been getting Odisha the goals this season, and we used Suresh keeping that in mind. He has been training well and has been patient waiting for his moment. With young talent, we have to be careful and give them the opportunity at the right moment. He was very good with the ball, and more importantly, calm. He was helping the defence a lot, along with marking Xisco as well. It worked out very well today and I’m very happy for him.
On scoring all three goals via set-pieces…
You see that I didn’t lie in the pre-match press conference. I said that set-pieces and transitions could be key for us and it worked well for us last night. They started the game well with a lot of possession and confidence. But when we got the first chance with the set-piece, we scored and it was 1-0, and it was a different game thereafter. Football is like this, a game with a lot of little margins. This week we scored the first and it was a different situation and worked for us.
On Erik’s impact on the game…
Erik is doing very well and having a great season. He is helping us in games, and in set-piece situations is very dangerous. I think this was one of his best games of the season.
On Brown’s impressive performance…
He understood very quickly, the way we play. I think he is a clever player. He was helping us a lot, and at the moment is not physically ready to play a lot of minutes. I think he will definitely improve in that aspect in the coming days and he has been a very good signing for us.
On Udanta’s return to the Starting XI…
I told Udanta that this is what the team needs from you. He had a great game, and even in defence, Udanta and Sunil helped the team a lot in the 2 vs 2 situations. My demands from him in attack are to just push ahead to the action, take on defenders, and put in some good crosses. He had a great chance to score that goal with a brilliant cross from Ashique. The Indian national team forwards would’ve had one more goal and assist, but the goalkeeper pulled off an unbelievable save. So I’m very happy with the job that he has done.
On rotating the squad with the AFC Cup coming up…
When it begins, we will think about that because things change very fast in football. I was preparing Eugene and Rino for those kinds of games, but maybe they won’t be available because of their injuries. Let’s see, because in football, a lot can change in a week.
