Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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Jamshedpur FC Head Coach Scott Cooper spoke to the media after a disappointing defeat at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium against Bengaluru FC.
On tonight’s result…
We probably deserve the score but Bengaluru didn’t tactically create chances. They were in scrambles and desperation. If we’d played tactically with that intensity how we played in the last 10 minutes, the result would have been different. What’s missing is probably some players with a real desire to win. It comes down to the nitty-gritty of how much you want to win and whether are you willing to do it. So far I have been part of many football clubs and even successful ones, they didn’t always have the best players but they had a real desire and a drive to win. I’m searching for those players in our football club. We’ve got some but we don’t have enough. And with the January transfer window looming, some players should be very concerned, because I’m not in it to make friends. There’ll be some hard questions to be answered. I feel sorry for some players because they play and keep us in games and then there are other players that we have to question the desire, commitment, and what they want from their career. We’ve tried to get different looks tonight but tonight we didn’t look like we were going to create much up until the last ten minutes. We could have played for another two hours and we wouldn’t have scored. Those chances come from scrambles at the end. It wasn’t a great football game, if I’m honest bengaluru surprised me because they just strike long balls. It’s like watching a tennis game. I was expecting a bit more football from them. I didn’t see any of that. I just saw the long ball and they got second chances from some of those. I didn’t see much football from either team.
On tonight’s performance…
A penalty decided tonight’s game. The chances didn’t come from crafty football, they came from second balls and long balls. It was like watching an English third-division team. So I didn’t see much football there. From our perspective, we did try to pass a bit more. We did try to do a lot of things in our philosophy but with that January window, we have to ask really hard questions about our team. We’ve got some quality but hard work will always beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard. If you don’t have a desire to work hard, you’re not going to last long in football. You’ve got the ball at your feet for no more than 40 seconds. So what do you do in those other 89 minutes? It’s about max acceleration, transitions, movements, communication, and being honest. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves with our squad who is willing to go that extra yard like Manzaro and Elsinho. They tried to do something and get the game back. Tachikawa and Imran came on and tried. We need to start thinking about January. What do we need to do fortunately there’s not much difference in the points in the league. So if we stand still, that’s exactly where we’ll stay or we can be proactive. I’m still learning the Indian league, Indian players, and culture, and still baffled by the lack of VAR. The good thing is we’ve got two games left and we can address it aggressively because our fans deserve better. Our owners are fantastic, they’re unbelievably good owners. They deserve better. The support they give after every game, even on a losing streak, it’s unprecedented from football ownership. Players can’t complain. They’ve had 10 games to do something. So the evidence is right there and we have to ask hard questions. We are going to Hyderabad next and we have to win that game. We have to be honest about the people that work for us. By that, I mean the players. If we feel that they’ve got what it takes. As a coach after five losses in six games, I’d probably be out if I was elsewhere in Asia or even in India. We’ve lost games by just a single goal but five losses in six games as a coach, I think in my last three or four seasons, I’ve lost more in two months than I’ve done in years and I’m not used to this. I understand how football works. Five losses in six games isn’t good at anybody’s standards. The responsibility falls on my shoulders. I won’t blame the players. I think we need to be ruthless with them and do something about it. You can ask yourself tonight, up to 75 minutes, did it look like we were going to create a good chance of scoring? Well, probably not tonight. So, we’ve got to step backward then. Only the intensity and the onslaught at the end of the game gave us chances from pure adrenaline, intensity, and desperation. That’s not football and you can’t play games like that. I don’t think that’s a good spectacle for fans to watch. If you’re paying your entry fees to watch a football game, I don’t think there’s much football to play there.
On his view on Bengaluru FC’s new coach…
I don’t think Bengaluru’s coach has any effect on the team, if I’m honest, he would take plaudits because some media are stupid and they’ll just give him plaudits. He just arrived last night. What’s he going to do? Give a few words of wisdom on the day of the game. Of course not, I felt a bit sorry for him. He just arrived last night and he’s on the bench which I think is good because the club needs to be seen making a change. It’s worked because he won 1-0 but I don’t think that has any effect on what would have happened if he was not present. He can’t put his brand of football in 48 hours. He can’t even do it until probably midway through the Super Cup. You probably won’t see his brand of football until that time. I’m sure he’s got more in his locker than that.
On Chima’s performance…
As a striker, you’re judged on goals. He doesn’t need to be reminded of that and he’s missed a couple of chances. He came in late to pre-season because of a visa issue. So, he had to catch up a little bit and the strain of missing the created chances has probably got to him. Steve Ambri’s been injured. Alen is more of an attacking midfield player. So, it all falls on his shoulders and he’s a good guy. He works hard. He does a lot of other things well. He’s strong. He holds the ball up but he just needs that assistance and that help with him. You can’t put everything on him. I’m sure if he was given better chances he have to end up one way. It’s kind of like half bicycle kick. I’m sure I don’t need to tell Chima that it’s disappointing. I’m sure he wants goals too but I don’t think it’s a striker issue per se. Other people have to step up too. So, for me, I’m okay with Chima because he’s an honest and hard-working player. He works hard in training. He’s a good pro. He’s strong and holds the ball up. We have to have a look at the balance and the chemistry of the starting eleven. We’re struggling to find the right balance that will keep us defensively strong, which we pretty much are but also be dangerous in terms of scoring chances and scoring goals. We’ve got to find that but the biggest question for us right now is the characters of players. You don’t lose five out of six games by a single goal by chance. You can’t be unlucky in five out of six games. At some point, there’s got to be a reason for that and it’s not footballing reasons. It’s not you’re blown away. It’s not you’re dominated. It’s just running that way. That can’t be the ref’s decisions, bad luck, or anything. It can only be one aspect. It’s simply the desire.
The attention shifts to the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad where Jamshedpur FC will play their next game away from home on December 21.
