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Jamshedpur FC’s Scott Cooper spoke to the media ahead of the clash versus Kerala Blasters FC in Kochi.
On how the rain will affect the game…
Rain is going to be a factor in the game, which could result in a wet and slick pitch or even disrupt play. We need to assess the field’s condition to ensure it remains playable, as it should be. I have experience dealing with rainy seasons in Thailand, so I’ve navigated through games in similar conditions. It’s a significant concern since it has been raining continuously since our arrival, with reports of rain over the past two days as well, and a 90% chance of rain tomorrow. Therefore, I hope the field’s drainage system is in good shape because I’d prefer a football game, not a water polo match.
On if he got the chance to have a look at the pitch…
No, I plan to do that after this. It’s essential as a coach because I need to understand the situation we’re dealing with. I’m aware that even the best fields in the world can struggle with this much rain. Therefore, it will be intriguing to gauge the effectiveness of the drainage systems here. Additionally, we need to monitor the weather throughout the night, all day tomorrow, and during the game, as it will undoubtedly have an impact. Unless there’s a roof to close, it’s bound to influence proceedings.
We’ll also have a training session later, and there are certain aspects to consider. It could probably be a disadvantage to the home team, you know, because it’s another level when you’re at home. You just want a game, confidence is up, spirits are up. And if the rain falls constantly, it can make even the widest margins, not that there is, but it can make the widest margins become very, very even very, very fast. And let’s just hope that we see common sense that the ball can bounce 3 or 4 times, that it can roll ten meters, because that’s what it should do if we’re going to play football. If it can’t do any of those things, then I’ll be left scratching my head, wondering what exactly is going on.
On if he was happy with the team’ performance versus East Bengal…
I said after the game, you can’t be disappointed when you take a point and you keep a clean sheet. But I was not best pleased with some of the attacking decisions we made and some of the decisions to pass up shooting opportunities. We overpassed in the final third a little bit, and sometimes you just have to pull the trigger, as it were. I think defensively we look good, we look solid. We looked like a threat from set pieces. This man (TP Rehenesh) kept us in the game when he had to with a double save which is the I believe it’s the only two saves he had to make in the game. But they were two big ones, particularly the second one with his foot. It kept us in the game.
And then, when I was driving home after the game thinking if there’s VAR here tonight, possibly that’s a penalty and it’s a one nil win to us instead. I’m getting used to the league. It’s a great league. It’s great support, great fan base, great players, great media. And so hopefully they can take the steps to bring in through transparency and fairness and parity with VAR because it does help. You know, in a Thai league, everything changed when VAR came in, there was less controversy. But saying that I thought the officials did a good job the other night. I really did think they had a outing. It’s a very difficult job for officials with no VAR. I try to not get in the ear too much, but they’re going to get it from people and they certainly got it from the other bench the other night, not from ours, but it would have helped. I can understand the decision at the end not being given because it was such a finite decision. And even with VAR, it might have been still subjective, but it was there. And so, as a performance, I think we can say we’re happy with that. I know we’re still a developing team. We’ve got many layers to go yet and so hopefully this is one of the building blocks to what we’re going to do in the future. We’ve got a couple of players out injured that are going to come back, one player that’s going to come into the squad. You’re just going to see this team get better and better and better and more and more confident. We just have to work as a team to being more proactive than reactive. And I think when you do that, confidence comes and results follow.
On the number of corners won versus East Bengal (nine)…
I’m a big advocate of set piece. I always have been. I’ve written a book on set piece and we had so many opportunities through set pieces. But I can’t be disappointed with it because the deliveries were so good, the runs were good, and we were just inches away from the correct connection – several times. So that wasn’t people not doing their tasks. It wasn’t because of a lack of commitment or the quality of the delivery. It’s frustrating when you have set pieces and the delivery doesn’t come because nothing else matters after that. But everything was there except that last little bit of connection or a little bit of luck. I said to the team after the game, if we keep going in with the set piece routines in that way with delivery and commitment and desire and the tasks that we’ve set them, the patterns we’ve set, we’ll do a lot of damage.
On his analysis of Kerala Blasters as an opponent…
For me, it’s I don’t have that much depth because I don’t have that much background knowledge of the club and the players in the past. It’s only from what I’ve seen, of course, on a season long analysis of last year. To the circumstances of their exit from the cup and you know, then then this season. So, I can only judge what I’m seeing now because every season is a new season, new team.
You have to say that the fans support here was fantastic, very impressive. I mean, really impressive to see that like sea of yellow out there is it’s great for home players and staff. And I think the fans pushed the team and they were on the front foot against Bengaluru. They came out and they pressed you know they looked full of running. They look confident and they and they got the win you know and that’s what that’s what they what they were supposed to do in the first game, go out there and take the three points. They did that. So, of course, when you play against any team that’s got a fan support like this club has got, you know, you have to kind of match the work rate, right? Because some stadiums you can go in and the fans can lull the home team to sleep. Not here. I mean, you’ve got a very good fan base. It’s not just numbers, it’s colors. It’s noise. And you have to understand that, you know, we say it’s just 11 v 11, but let’s be honest, it’s not you know, the fans play their part in games. You know, they do.
And so, you have to understand what that will do for the home team and understand how to match it. And that’s what you have to come in with your eyes wide open so that you’re ready for that type of circumstance. We have to walk into that game tomorrow night knowing exactly what we expect and knowing exactly what we want to do.
On injury concerns in the squad…
Well, everybody knows about Ritwik Das. You know, he’s out. But we just had some good news about him, so he’ll be returning soon. Not this game, but he’ll be returning, which is good news for us because we were unsure whether it’s going to be long term or not. Our medical staff who did some exploratory checks just to make sure that he’s okay. We don’t want to damage a player like that. He’s an important player to us, is a long-time player for us. So, we took our time with it and we’ve got the good news back. So, I think that’s good for Jamshedpur fans.
There are no other injury concerns. Everybody knew about our Croatian striker that left with a long-term knee injury. But you can expect some news on, on the replacement of that coming soon. So, we haven’t sat back and been, you know, non-active. We’ve gone out into the market and looked for a for someone else and we found somebody.
Everybody else will fit and we’re ready and we’re able and looking forward to the game.
Jamshedpur FC will face Kerala Blasters FC away in Kochi on Sunday, October 1. Catch all the action LIVE at 8pm on Sports 18 and Jio Cinema.
