Carlos Pena: Have to be almost perfect to match top teams

The Gaurs could not get back to winning ways as their manager called for an overall improvement.

FC Goa suffered their sixth loss of the ISL season as they were outsmarted in a 1-3 loss to Hyderabad FC at the Fatorda stadium on Thursday. Manolo Marquez’s men preyed on their susceptibility to aerial balls and counters as Ogbeche thrived amidst their approach. The Nigerian scored a decisive hattrick as the Nizams ran out winners against an otherwise industrious FC Goa side. Speaking about the various aspects of the match FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena attended to the media in the post-match press conference. 

Summary of the whole game

A good performance till the very end saw Goa concede two extra goals. Despite the goal difference looking one-sided, Goa was dominant in possession and had their fair share of chances. On being asked whether he feels the scoreline reflected how well the team played today, the tactician responded:

“ (I) Absolutely agree with you, you know? I think today football has not been fair (to us)as we tried and we created a lot of chances. According to me, I think we dominated almost every part of the game. In the last part of the first half we couldn’t cope up. Then again in the last few minutes of stoppage time, obviously it was tough with the score at 2-1, as the game was already broken for us. But we created chances which we couldn’t finish and for me it was the difference. Not the three or four times they (Hyderabad FC) arrived into our box and scored goals. They obviously have quality players, and there’s no doubt about that. I’m not upset with the performance of the team because I think it was good today.”

On evaluation of the defence as they conceded thrice

FC Goa have not conceded more than three goals anytime so far this season. However, questions were raised about a leaky defence despite an apparently solid performance from the team. Pena pointed out the exact lapses in his team’s defensive duties as Carlos Pena noted:

“We have talked before the game that it was crucial for us to not concede from easy crosses. They attempted these very same balls. So, when you give time to the wingers to cross and you are not marking players like Ogbeche in the box, they can obviously create problems for you. But we will work on that and we’ll also work on taking advantage of the chances we had. I believe we had very clear chances and we need to improve on that. If we want to be close to the top teams you have to be almost perfect in defence as well as in attack.”

On how tough it is to play well and get all three points in the end

FC Goa have had an average of 62.3% possession in the last three games alone. Although these games include one draw and two losses, there’s much more to it than meets the eye. The Spanish head coach has stressed on playing a good game time and again and remained positive about their approach as Carlos Pena said:

“When the team has been good and you’ve still lost despite having created chances, you don’t have to be worried as much. Of course we’re going to analyse our mistakes because we had scoring opportunities and we couldn’t finish them off. But in the end, if we continue to play this way, we won’t lose too many games. So, we take many positives from today. I know that it is a very tough day because everyone could see that we were extremely close to getting at least one point. But we need to move on and think about the next game against NorthEast (United). Once again, if we play in this manner we are not going to concede too many losses.”