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The Men of Steel are ready for their next game against Kerala Blasters after conceding a loss against Bengaluru FC in their last fixture.
Ahead of the clash with the Tuskers, Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle talked about the importance of every remaining game in the league, previous battles with the opposition and the squad’s plan moving forward in the ISL.
Thoughts on games at this stage being very crucial for every team…
I think every game now is going to be a six pointer even though the winner gets 3 points because each time, you’ll be playing a direct rival. Of course, all the games ahead are big games and we have to make sure we are ready for it to go against a good side who has a wonderful coach and some very good players which make them a tough team to play against. Last time we faced them, we had a draw even though we could have walked out victorious but that being said, we have to make sure we are ready as they possess some quality players and we have a great amount of respect for them. But equally we know we have good qualities on our side as well, so we have to make sure we are at our best and if we are, then we have shown that we can win these tough games.
On the last clash against the Tuskers being an end-to-end game…
It was an end-to-end game as it was two good teams going against each other as it will be again. It was a tight game as they are also a positive attacking side like we are. We currently have the most number of shots taken than any other team in the league and we will look to carry forward that threat again but we also have to make sure we defend very well which Kerala Blasters have managed to do a job in as they have a very good defensive record. So, I think it’s two very evenly matched teams and we have to make sure we come out of the right side of those small margins which we did not do the other night because we gave the win away to Bengaluru FC considering the goals that we conceded. Our goalkeeper never had to make any other save as Bengaluru FC did not come with much threat in their attacks towards our goal which did not force TP Rehenesh to make any save. But we conceded a goal to a long throw-in, a goal to a corner kick which was almost an own goal when Jitendra tried to clear it away but made a terrible mistake on the goal line. All-in-all, we had some really good chances, made some wonderful saves, and Greg and Chima created some close chances. So, we have to make sure we are good with our attacking side but equally defend even better against a very good Kerala Blasters’ side.
On the team being unlucky in scoring against Bengaluru FC…
I think we have to credit Parag who made an unbelievable goal-line clearance to Greg’s attempt at goal and we have to say that it was great defending from him. But it was a wonderful play between Greg and Chima as he passed it to Greg who made a good run, beat a couple of defenders and a wonderful skill to beat Gurpreet Singh but Parag was there to defend it well for his club. So, all credits to him for that save but it was a wonderful move which we saw again towards the end with Greg and Chima’s shot to which Gurpreet made an unbelievable save with one hand using his reflexes. That is why he is a top goalkeeper. So, we created some good goal scoring opportunities but what we have to do apart from creating such chances is to be more clinical against Kerala Blasters as they are a very good side.
On what the team needs to do moving forward to ensure play-off qualification…
The way forward for us in simplistic terms is to gather enough points and the only way to do that is by playing well in each and every game ahead. It might be a really cliche strategy to focus and win one game at a time but right now, we are really focusing only on Kerala Blasters FC and nothing else because this sport has always shown that when you look too far ahead then it comes back to bite you in the back. So, we have to make sure we are focused and we concentrate against Kerala Blasters FC and do our very best. If we do that, then we certainly feel we are capable of winning a very tough game.
On the team’s possibility of having more goals considering the attacking statistics…
I think one of things that we want to improve in our game is to be clinical. But we have a young group of players at Jamshedpur FC and when you look at the players we have, they are the ones that did not get a chance to play in other teams. TP Rehenesh who has been outstanding for us was released by Kerala Blasters FC, Dinliana was not in the team when I took over the charge of Chennaiyin FC, Ricky was not included in the squad at ATK Mohun Bagan, Jitendra, Narender and Mobashir were young local lads who came to the league through Jamshedpur FC, then we have Boris Singh and Komal Thatal who did not get to play in ATK Mohun Bagan, Ritwik Das who became a free agent from being in Kerala Blasters in the summer and we roped him in and finally, Len Doungel who was not included in the FC Goa squad. So, I have brought in these quality players from clubs who did not get the deserved game time and we brought them to the club to make a great team here. Again, we don’t have to remarkably spend huge amounts of money as other clubs who have a vast budget for transfers. We concentrate on things that we can do and we will continue to keep our radar on for such talents. Of course, every club wants to produce young talents which is great for the league and the national team. We also have wonderful players at our club and we will continue to work hard for our club to keep on trying to gather enough points to take Jamshedpur FC where they have never been before and it’s those play-off places which we will fight for to win the championship. So, that’s what we focus , concentrate on and what we do is work really hard together because regardless of win, loss or draw, we stick together and get ready to go again. That is what we will look to do for the game against Kerala Blasters and every game after. But we focus on the Tuskers first and then we will go on from there.
On Komal Thatal’s injury update…
Komal suffered a set-back while trying to recover from his hamstring injury which is a travesty for Komal because he will have to miss more periods of time on the pitch which is a blow for him first and then the team. Everyone knows the opinion I have of him and he was a regular to start games for the team because he is a bright young Indian talent. When he comes back, he will continue with his career full of big potentials. Unfortunately, I cannot say that it will take him 1-2 weeks, it would be longer than that to get back on the pitch, so we will have to make sure we get him the best treatment possible. At the same time, Peter Hartley is back and available to play as he is a tremendous influence on the team being a proper leader and hopefully he is in full health to come back into the line-up and we will go on from there.
