"We still have a chance" - Bozidar Bandovic on Chennaiyin FC's chances of making it into the top four
Chennaiyin FC suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss against defending champions Mumbai City FC in their previous ISL game. The loss came on the back of a 2-2 draw against SC East Bengal where they conceded a late goal to squander the win.
Ahead of their next match against FC Goa, head coach Bozidar Bandovic gave a press conference. He was asked by Sportskeeda if such minute moments of lapses and fine margins could eventually decide their season and cost them a top-four spot. The Chennaiyin FC boss said:
"They cost us points, this is for sure. I don't want to give excuses but before SC East Bengal scored the goal it was a handball. In the Bengaluru FC game, the first goal was given as a penalty. I don't know if it was a penalty. Against Bengaluru in the reverse fixture, we were 1-0 up and playing very nicely. But then they gave a penalty. Again, I don't know if that was a penalty. These are not excuses."
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However, Bandovic didn't shy away from admitting that Chennaiyin FC have had their share of flaws. They cannot be conceding goals the way they did against SC East Bengal in the second-half.
He said:
"Of course, there are some games where we did very well. There were some games where we didn't play good, the way I want. But we still have a chance. In the SC East Bengal game, the way we conceded the goal, this cannot happen. Especially with a team who want to do more."
The Chennaiyin FC coach added:
"We lacked concentration during the second goal and I spoke with the players. We didn't like the way we reacted in the second half. If we concede goals like this, then it's going to be difficult [to make it to the top four]."
Following Chennaiyin FC's recent string of disappointing results, there has been an uproar amongst the club's fanbase regarding their style of football. Speaking about the same, Bandovic said:
"I know the fans are not happy for sure. And they're right to do that. Even personally, I want the team to play better. I want the team to be a champion. But this needs patience. This means building the team. We need to start now to be ready for March and April. So to make the team better for the next year. Especially, focus on the domestic players."
He added:
"I didn't win championships with other clubs by not scoring goals and just defending. My teams were champions because we scored the goals and we conceded the least amount of goals."
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"We made so many mistakes with the ball in our feet" - Bozidar Bandovic on Chennaiyin FC's performance against Mumbai City FC
Their attack has been a problem for Chennaiyin FC right from the start of the season. They've scored the least number of goals (14) in the league so far this season.
In the previous game, the ISL team failed to register even a single shot on target against Mumbai City FC. Asked how the coach plans to resolve these problems, Bandovic affirmed:
"I think sometimes when we play well, we had chances, but we didn't score the goals. But now we have this team and we need to try our best. I think tactically, last game we did some things very well, but we made so many mistakes with the ball in our feet when we were not under the pressure. And this was the one thing that we need to fix for the future, but the boys made a very good effort and they gave everything on the field for this game."
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The Marina Machans next play FC Goa, who have themselves been struggling in the league. But the Gaurs have managed to dominate possession irrespective of the results. About the match, Bandovic said:
"(FC Goa are a) technical team, they like to play from the back. They had some problems when they were pressed hard. We see the moments, what we can do. We tried it in the Mumbai City FC game, but they didn't try to build that from the back, they played long balls."
He further added:
"So, the second thing is, they have very technical players, they want to keep the ball. They want to press high. But we are preparing and the midfield needs to be very strong, now that we don't have (Vladimir) Koman and I will probably move up Ariel (Borysiuk) in the middle."
Finally, Bandovic was questioned about his footballing philosophy during the pre-match press conference. Asked if he would put proficiency ahead of entertainment, the Chennaiyin FC head coach said:
"You have to have a balance between attacking and defending. There's somebody saying that we are playing defensive. If you look at the statistics, most of the clubs are close when it comes to creating chances, even us. So the system is not the problem."