Aidy Boothroyd: It is really important to finish well in the Hero Super Cup

The Jamshedpur FC head coach was in good spirits ahead of the semi-final clash against Bengaluru FC.

A resurgent Jamshedpur FC take on Bengaluru FC in the first semi-final of the 2023 Hero Super Cup. After ending the Indian Super League season with a four-match unbeaten run, Aidy Boothroyd's men began the Super Cup with a renewed purpose and blitzed through a tough group to finish on top. They beat FC Goa 5-3, ATK Mohun Bagan 3-0 and Gokulam Kerala 3-2.

The Red Miners are in hot form, and the players look settled into their roles. The impressive Ritwik Das has been given a contract extension. They'll be up against a tough opponent but will look to continue their streak and play with confidence. Aidy Boothroyd was present in the pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final. This is what the head coach said.

Attacking prowess

JFC have been rampant in front of goal this super cup, scoring 11 times and have looked a constant threat. Boothroyd was pleased with the attacking mindset, “I’m very pleased with the group stages. But it’s finished now it means nothing. We’ve been working as hard as we could, scored 11 goals, pleased with our attacking play, and overall I’ve really enjoyed the tournament and looking forward to the next game.”

Squaring off against an old rival

Aidy Boothroyd shares a long rivalry with Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson and credited the Blues' head coach for their successful season, "Very much so (looking forward to the semifinal). I’ve known Simon (Grayson) for a very long time. We’ve competed in England many times. Bengaluru are a good team with a good manager.

"They won the Durand Cup and got to two semifinals so they must be respected which our opponents always are but we have to come up with a plan to nullify their strengths and exploit their weaknesses so we’ll be working hard to do that.”

“Neither of us have managed in India before so it’s brand new to us coaching here but everything about the country is fantastic so it’s another football match in a different continent. I’m in t-shirt and shorts whereas in England I’d be wearing a big coat and freezing! So I’m happy to be here and enjoying the weather.”

Finishing on a high

After a disappointing start to the ISL, Jamshedpur FC have a more positive feel among their ranks after turning things around towards the end of the season. Boothroyd wants his team to finish on a high, “It’s really important to finish well in the Super Cup because we want to win every single game we play and quite rightly so we didn’t have a good start in the Hero ISL.

"I think we’ve picked up and been very good, scored a lot of goals, won a lot of games and really we don’t want the season to end it’s really important for us to finish on a high.” The lads that are playing have scored 11 goals so we’re very happy with our attacking output. Few more clean sheets would be nice.”

Beating the heat

Aidy Boothroyd points out that dealing with the summer heat is an important factor for success in the Hero Super Cup “It’s a good question (about the heat in Kerala) and it’s a new experience for me as a coach. I think the referees and officials manage the game very well with the water breaks and it’s about tactically trying to overcome the weather and climate before you even think about the opponent and that’s what we try and do all along is to maximize the breaks and if there’s any coaching to be done that’s great but main thing is to keep rehydrated and making sure we put on a performance for the people watching.”

“We’ve got nothing but good things to say about that (the pitches and facilities). The training grounds and match pitches are the same for everybody, we’ve had no problems at all, we've just got on with it and really we don’t have any excuses, we're just enjoying playing.”