Goa: After a poor start to 2021, former ISL Champions Bengaluru FC would be looking for a comeback against the league’s last boy Odisha FC on Sunday at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim. Odisha on the other hand would be looking to take the opportunity against a broken Bengaluru side.
“It’s true that Odisha are not in a great place right now but the same goes for us. All we have to do is maintain the positives from our previous game and build on that. It all depends on converting the opportunities we get, and how the midfielders cut down Odisha’s passes between the lines. We shouldn’t allow them to play their game, like we did against Kerala Blasters. If we maintain that, we will have a good chance on Sunday,” BFC coach Naushad Moosa said.
Incidentally, Bengaluru’s previous win of the season came against Stuart Baxter’s Odisha FC side and Moosa maintains that his side are a positive bunch ahead of Sunday’s encounter.
“Of course it was disappointing to lose to Kerala. But the next day the players and I watched the game and there were a lot of positives for us to take away. The way we played, kept the ball and stayed compact for the most part showed a very organised team. We have to build on our good work and move forward and my players are positive because they know we are getting better with each game,” he said.
With games coming in fast and all teams around the Blues in the table having mixed results, Moosa believes that making the playoffs is not an unrealistic expectation this season.
“Winning one game gets us three points and you go up the table because all the teams are very close. I don’t think the playoffs are impossible and it is just a matter of winning one game to get our confidence back and getting back into the groove. When that happens, the dynamic will change for us and we can build on it. Every game is important for us and we have to win as many of them as we can,” he added.
Odisha on the other hand are aiming to get a victory out of this. They would face a broken Bengaluru side and would be eager to beat them and kick start their campaign.
“To be very fair and honest, we have had chances to beat bigger clubs, ATK for example. But, to do that against anybody – not just Bengaluru – we got to make sure that we defend properly, we take our chances and play our own game. If we do that with quality, I think we have shown we can run everyone close,” the 67-year-old coach Baxter, mentioned in the pre-match press conference.
Speaking about the change in the coaching structure at BFC, he said, “Well I think it’s always difficult to know how a team is going to react after a coach leaves. Sometimes they become enthusiastic, sometimes they feel it’s in a little bit of chaos and sometimes there’s not a great difference. But, the coach has got a job on his hands because it’s a big club. The coach comes in now and tries to put his own spin on things. He doesn’t always want to do the same things, and that’s always a difficult task. So I think he is tackling it well at the moment but it’s always a problem.”
In the absence of Steven Taylor, South Africa international Cole Alexander was the captain in the last game against Hyderabad FC and he also scored an important goal in the 1-1 draw. Coach Baxter explained, “Cole is a leader whether he wears the captain’s armband or not. Steven has been a good captain for us and if he is fit, he will regain the armband but Cole will remain a leader if he has got the armband or not because he has such qualities, he has a very infectious energy and he leads by example. I think he shows the way.”
When asked about the expected changes ahead of the next match, the OFC head coach stated, “We have been best when we have tried to make few changes. But, we will look at the energy levels of the players and will make a decision based on that. But, we don’t want to make a lot of changes. I think the team that we have been putting together has been coming together. If we don’t have to we won’t make a lot of changes.”
Before concluding, he also highlighted the performances of Diego Mauricio – the top performer of OFC so far and Rakesh Pradhan who made his debut for the club in the previous game.
“Football is a team sport and there are individuals in that team. I want every individual of our team to feel that he has the right to be himself. Diego is best when he’s part of the team but he does best what he does well. So my job is to get Diego into a situation on the field where he’s good and to get him in a frame of mind that feels he can express himself. When we do that, Diego is a valuable player for us,” he said.
“I thought he (Pradhan) made a confident debut. He got forward a lot more and exploited that flank maybe more than Hendry (Antonay) has been doing. He’s gotta know the balances within our team but he got forward and his natural left foot helped us. So I thought it was a good one and we have to see what we do in the next game, Baxter signed off.
Diego also accompanied his coach for the virtual interaction with the media and he said, “I am very happy with my individual performance but tomorrow is a good game against Bengaluru and winning tomorrow is very important. I am very happy to be playing under Coach Baxter and he is like a father for me. This is my first time in India and in the league but I have received good help from all the players and they all have become very good friends of mine.”
