"Foreign players shouldn’t take ISL lightly" says Gianluca Zambrotta
Delhi Dynamos are the only side (apart from Atletico de Kolkata) in the ISL left unbeaten, and that record is going to be under serious examination from a high flying NorthEast side who have so far lit up the League with their clever movement and entertaining style of football.
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A lot has changed at the Delhi since Gianluca Zambrotta took over as the manager, and inevitably has the style of football, “Each coach has a different style, Roberto Carlos was different. I take eleven players and play with them. The attackers don’t just attack, neither do the defenders just defend, everyone does both things”.
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The World Cup winner who has played in La Liga and the Serie A was asked about the level of difficulty of the League, to which he promptly replied, “This league is difficult, we have only two months to play a host of games, and each match is different.”
“We try to do best, it's quite tough to keep a high tempo all throughout the game due to the temperature and the number of games we play” he added.
When asked about the dangerous attacking trio (of Velez, Alfaro and Yusa) that NorthEast United possess, who despite going down to ten men got all three points against Pune City FC in their last game, Zambrotta replied in typical fashion “NorthEast United play defensive, but they counter attack really well, we’ll try to stop that.” “Their strikers are very good” he added.
When pressed on the best Indian players in his squad, he resorted to some authentic Italian diplomacy, he said “I am very happy with all Indians, but can't name any specific player. They are improving on a daily basis”.
But what about the foreign players who are used to playing in much bigger Leagues, “Foreign players shouldn’t take ISL lightly, they shouldn’t treat it as a holiday, it is another chance to play at the top level”, the World Cup winner said.
For Delhi Dynamos, who have just played two fixtures so far this season, the least among all the sides in the League, will be a chance to go to second in the League by securing all three points. This will also be the first time Delhi play at their home ground, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Gianluca Zambrotta will be hoping his home fans can roar his players to a win.
Inputs from Vikram Mahendra.
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