"Sunil Chhetri will get his time to play and score goals" - Bengaluru FC head coach ahead of Jamshedpur clash
Bengaluru FC played out an enthralling 3-3 draw against ATK Mohun Bagan in their previous 2021-22 ISL match, but it was the benching of India skipper Sunil Chhetri that sent shockwaves across the Indian footballing fraternity.
But ahead of Monday's clash against Jamshedpur FC, Bengaluru FC boss Marco Pezzaiuoli assured Chhetri will get his time to play and will be pivotal for the team going forward.
Chhetri has been goalless since the start of the season. However, Pezzaiuoli believes the league's all-time Indian top scorer will regain his touch. The German talked about his ISL team selection for the ATK Mohun Bagan clash and what led to Chhetri being benched in response to a Sportskeeda query at the pre-match conference.
"I wanted to have two left-footed players in the frontline. Prince Ibarra did well in the previous game and Cleition Silva is also doing well. So one player needed to sit out, and in this case it was Sunil [Chhetri]. But when he came on, Sunil was working very hard. On defense, he was very good and in the offense he was making it difficult for the opponent to build up. And the other thing about him scoring goals, it will come back," Pezzaiuoli said.
Pezzaiuoli was also asked about Ashique Kuruniyan, who had been limited to a full-back role this season, but did well playing up the field against ATK Mohun Bagan. The 53-year-old said his decisions are made based on the options available and while others could consider the player's previous role as that of a defender, Pezzaiuoli believed he deployed Ashique more as an offensive-minded defender.
Danish Farooq was on the scoresheet against the Mariners earlier this week, and will look to build on his good form when the Blues face Jamshedpur FC on Monday. 💥
#WeAreBFC #JFCBFC #ComeTogether https://t.co/aoICjFrLLu
Greg Stewart starred for Jamshedpur FC with a hat-trick in their previous encounter against Odisha FC. The Scotsman flaunted his ability on the ball and the movement off it. Blues boss Marco Pezzaiuoli lauded the former Rangers forward and said it would be impossible to man-mark Stewart.
"We will not man-mark [Greg] Stewart as he keeps changing his position. Sometimes he plays as a second striker, sometimes he drops deep to play as a No 10 or as a right offensive midfielder. Which player do you mark? We need to be aggressive when we defend him, not wait for him to take the ball. As a team we need to stay compact, and when he has the ball we need to cut the line of passing," Pezzaiuoli said in response to a Sportskeeda query.
Only hat-trick this season ✅
2️⃣nd in the table ✅
Greg Stewart is a man on a mission at @JamshedpurFC!⚡
#HeroISL #LetsFootball https://t.co/eyW0RR6KUF
The coach also talked about the difficulty of preparing for games in a span of three days.
"Three days is obviously not enough to work on the training field, but we work a lot on video analyzing. That's the key work we do to prepare for games. We do individual and group video sessions to improve the positioning," he said.
Pezzaiuoli also provided injury updates. While Roshan Singh has collected four yellow cards and is suspended for the upcoming game, two players are sick and doubtful for the game. Meanwhile, Yrondu Musavu-King, Leon Augustine and third-choice goalkeeper Sharon are still out with injuries.
Catch the latest ISL live score 2021 here on Sportskeeda!