Chennaiyin FC brought on board Bozidar Bandovic as their new head coach earlier this month to turn their fortunes around.
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Newly appointed Chennaiyin FC head coach Bozidar Bandovic has expressed a desire to deliver the results at any cost, rather than looking to play attractive football. The Chennai-based franchise finished eighth in the standings in the previous edition of the Indian Super League (ISL). Bandovic will be eager to spearhead the turnaround, having developed a reputation for being a man who holds the ability to deliver results.
“If you play offensively and you lose the game, you win nothing. Most important thing is to help improve the player. Result is important of course. I like to control the game, create chances to score. But let me tell you something, in most of the leagues in the world every team that wins the league concedes fewer goals. It’s not just the offence. There has to be a balance. You have to defend very well. You can win a game with one quality player but you can’t win the league. If you want to win the league, for me as a coach, the team will win it, not one player,” he said on the latest episode of Football United.
Bandovic stated that he did not feel nervous about the pressure to deliver results considering the poor performance of the two-time champions last season.
“I don’t have any problems with pressure. I have been working so many years, I was twice assistant coach, twice head coach. It’s big, big pressure. If you believe in yourself, you know what you are doing [pressure can be dealt with]. Of course, sometimes there is pressure but this is our work. If I can’t handle pressure, then I have to change the job. I can’t be a coach,” he said.
Bandovic further had an important message in store for players of the team, before adding that the team won’t have the scoring issues they had last season. The Chennai-based franchise scored just 17 goals in 20 games which was the lowest across all 11 teams.
“Confidence is something you get during the work every day. If a player is afraid of making mistakes, he can’t play; he doesn’t have confidence. I want to them play freely and I want them to do things that I ask them. I will put them in a situation to show their quality and I want them to try. If you don’t try, you don’t know what you will get. We will have players to score goals this season and we have Rafael Crivellaro coming back [who missed the most of the 2020-21 season through injury], so I am hoping the team will be much better,” he said.
“I have seen their matches from last season and the quality of domestic players is good. But that’s not enough. There is a lot of room for improvement. I believe I can make them better. But I will need their help. I need them to understand [his ideas], work every day, give their best if they want to get better. When I was a player, I wanted my coach to support me, help make me better and to be fair with me. I haven’t forgotten that,” concluded the Chennaiyin FC head coach.
