Chennaiyin coach Vivek Nagul insists "the better team lost today"

Vivek Nagul at the interaction with the media (Image courtesy ISL)

For the second straight day, Marco Materazzi decided to evade the media here at the capital. This even as the gaffer returned to the touchline after having to sit in the stands during their Chennaiyin’s loss on opening day to Atletico de Kolkata. Perhaps he is dejected with the results, perhaps he just doesn’t want to talk!

Regardless, assistant coach Vivek Nagul was sent in for a customary post match session and he dissected the loss and briefed us about what where the franchisee went wrong in his opinion.

Here are excerpts:

Coach, this was your second loss within a week. What went wrong again?

Delhi played really well in the first 10 minutes. By the time we settled down, they were already ahead. I’m sure you would acknowledge its tough to bounce back after giving the lead so early.

Your side looked a lot different after half time though, what changed? Was there some deliberate tinkering around done which led to the much improved show?

I don’t think we changed much tactically. Marco gave a pep talk in the half-time and that perhaps spurred the boys to be how good they were in the second half. In fact, I would maintain that if we didn’t miss easy chances, we would have won the game.

Defensively Chennaiyin struggled again today, what’s going wrong?

Today, our defence played really well. Also the only goal they scored was off a dubious penalty. This after the Atletico match, I have all the reason in the world to be happy!

The better team lost today

Why did you take off Elano in the second half?

We wanted some fresh legs out there. We thought Bruno could change the game and he was really good. What we planned worked, but we didn’t get a goal.

As expected Fikru didn’t start? Is his fitness a cause for concern?

We are taking it one match at a time with him. If his body allows him to play 30 minutes. Having him on bench might have been a forced decision but we also thought Mendoza was more effective with his speed. So maybe that acted as a blessing in disguise for us!