Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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After closing the year on a positive note with a point in hand and in the top 4 position in the league table, Jamshedpur FC now look forward to the new challenges that the year 2022 and the league has to offer. Ahead of the first game of the year against Chennaiyin FC, the Head Coach Owen Coyle talks about the team’s performance in the league so far, current injury updates in the squad and his approach to face his former team in the upcoming game.
Any updates on the injuries in the squad after the intense clash against the Tuskers?
One or two of the lads have started stepping up to the training. We mentioned earlier that Mobashir is back with the lads to train and has almost recovered, so what he needs is some minutes on the field at some point and some more training which is great news for us. Len Doungel has done some light training with the group as well and so has Pronay Halder, so those are the players that we’re starting to look at with a view of possibly being involved in the upcoming games. We’ve not made the final decision yet, but they’re moving in the right direction and the others will take a little bit more time to recover back to full health.
Your thoughts on Mobashir completing his 50th appearance for us in his next game he plays?
Everybody knows about the opinion I have on Mobashir. I have so many expectations from him. He’s working very hard at his game. He was an integral part of our team last year and he will be the same this year again as soon as he’s at full health which he is very close to now. He would already have surpassed that milestone, had he not picked up an injury in the pre-season, but Mobashir has got a big role to play at this club, particularly in the second half of the season and we look forward to getting him back on the field. It’s obviously a tremendous achievement for him but I’ve told him that he has so much more to offer. All he has to do is to continue to focus and keep working hard, listen to his coaches and if he does, then he’s surely going to have a very good career ahead.
Your thoughts on Ritwik Das’ performance in the last game. What are his chances of featuring in the starting XI moving forward?
I was delighted with Ritwik as I was with Boris because the two lads have been on the bench prior to that. Then the injuries to Komal and Len gave the boys the opportunity to prove themselves and they’ve shown that they are ready which is something I’ve known for a period of time. They both come in to work very hard and bring a lot of quality to the team. So I was delighted with Boris and Ritwik. Ritwik was making his first start against Kerala Blasters but Boris had started for the team before, so it was very pleasing that Ritwik showed his quality on the pitch which I knew he had from seeing him every day in training. I keep driving their desire to get better and I thought Ritwik gave a terrific performance against Kerala. So that stands out as a good stead and also gives us food for thought, moving into the Chennaiyin game
With the top spot of the league being just 3 points away from us, how do you analyse this situation for the club?
I think Jamshedpur has done well through their season and have been very good in the games so far. I think everybody would accept that we probably should have had a few more points given the performances we displayed. We have lost one game and even in that game, we found ourselves 3 to nothing down. After 15 or 20 minutes we rallied to make a comeback and we could have taken something from the game. So I think the league has shown us that there’ll be a lot of draws in the league. Jamshedpur is a club that has never been in the play-off positions at the moment. We find ourselves in this position because we have earned the right to be there and possibly could have been higher. What we have to do now is focus on the remaining games now and make sure that we keep ourselves in those top positions in the standings. When we do that, we have to continue to work hard, continue to improve and stick together, which is really important as a team. With that togetherness, the spirit that we’ve built, we have to keep on bringing these qualities to our games to win more games. Everybody is working hard and are talented individuals. But only as a group will we achieve any success and a lot of success is on its way and when we do achieve that it will be together as one group. So we need to keep striving for that, keep looking to improve on that because you know, there are some very strong teams in the league. There are teams in the league that have spent huge amounts of money, certainly far more than ourselves. So in terms of budget wise and a few other aspects, we have been terrific. We need to make sure that we keep doing the same moving forward. It’s not what’s behind you but it’s about what’s to come and that’s what’s exciting about it.
How would you rate the mind-blowing free-kick that Greg scored in his last game which has been trending all over the world?
I think the goal was an outstanding moment in football and Greg has the natural ability to score such goals. I scored nearly 600 goals in my career but certainly nowhere as good as that goal. It was a wonderful strike and that’s the quality he brings to the club. That’s why I brought him to Jamshedpur FC and he continues to show his brilliance. But he also does it with the team and that’s what I love about him. Greg Stewart is very talented and is all about the team as he works hard against the ball and makes amazing chances with the ball. That’s why he’s a shining example of what we’re trying to build and implement at Jamshedpur FC.
Is it an advantage for Jamshedpur FC over Chennaiyin FC as they played their last fixture just 2 days ago?
We have been in the same position before as well when we had to play ATK Mohun Bagan three days after a game and then Mumbai City FC just two days later. But that’s what happens in the league as new fixtures keep coming about on close dates. But ultimately, everybody plays the same number of games and in the same period of time over the course of the entire season. Chennaiyin FC have good players and have a wonderful coach who is somebody who I know well. I like it when the sport is played very well and I know that club is doing that perfectly. I was at Chennaiyin FC as a Coach and was very successful in my time there. So I know they have high quality players which make them a very good team. Even in their game against Bengaluru FC, they were very unfortunate as they could have easily been 3 or 4 goals in the lead after just 15-20 minutes. They were totally dominant for the first 20 minutes and they also know how to score on wonderful chances. So, we certainly know how dangerous our opponents are and I know they’re fantastic players with an outstanding coach. As always, we’ll be very respectful to them and we’re very aware of the threat that they are. What we have to do is make sure that we are bringing our best game to the pitch because we’ve shown we can stand toe-to-toe with anybody in this league and win games when we are at our very best which is what we have to look to do.
With the game being played at the Bambolim stadium, does it relax the players a bit more as the travelling reduces?
I think what’s good about that is that Bambolim is not far from our hotel. We saw in terms of travelling last year, we had huge travel issues, particularly with some of the bridges that make it difficult for the buses to commute through along with some other issues as well. So we purposely designed it this way for our home games at the Bambolim stadium which we will also provide us with local access. The bottom line is where we play and where we travel to, make a difference in our performance on the pitch. All these little bits help with what we do on the field. So we have to make sure we are taking it all into account to stay fresh and be ready to give a good performance because that’s what we need while starting our game against Chennaiyin and hopefully kick off 2022 with the 3 winning points.
