Clubs & AIFF must cooperate to do best for the country: Carles Cuadrat

Carles Cuadrat also spoke about the calendar and how he plans to use the reserves side players.

Once a giant, now an underdog, East Bengal have a mountain to climb in the ISL 2023-24 season. A club which was a symbol of success. hasn't achieved much in the past few years. Notably, their last national cup win came back in 2012.

Carles Cuadrat, accompanied by his players, arrived at the ISL Media Day in a hotel in Kolkata. In front of him was a platter full of questions, most of them indirectly demanding the same answer - success.

Approach with East Bengal?

East Bengal made 'bottom of the table' finishes since their inception to the ISL in 2020. Carles Cuadrat was asked about his approach with the team.

He said, “We’ve been in the ISL for three seasons and things haven’t gone well for the club. We’re here to try to change the dynamics. We have a lot of supporters and a huge legacy to this club. The supporters are having bad times in the last three seasons so it's hard work for us to improve the performance and to try to get the positive results for the supporters.”

Areas to improve after Durand Cup?

Although East Bengal reached the Durand Cup finale, they were not the best team throughout the campaign and of course, were conducting their pre-season training.

The mentor spoke about the areas of improvement, “We have to improve in a lot of aspects. Football is a multi-factorial sport. We are just in the starting of a new process, and have only played six official matches. At the end of the season, after more than 25 matches, we’ll see different things. It’s a long process and we’ll need to work on that.”

Expectations?

With a runners-up trophy already in their bag, East Bengal fans have started expecting a revival from their team. Carles Cuadrat prefers to choose a different path!

He said, “I’m not going to say the positive we’ll finish because we have powerful teams in the league. All the teams have been getting great players, trying to go forward with new projects with new coaches.

He also shed light on the competition among 'champion' coaches, "It’ll be an interesting ISL because we’ll meet a lot of coaches who have been champions in India, be it the champions of the ISL, Federation Cup, Super Cup etc. They already know how to be competitive in that environment, so that’s great for ISL to have so many champion coaches in the competition.”

Jordan Elsey’s injury and plans to replace him?

Jordan Elsey suffered a knee injury in the Durand Cup finale. With the ISL just eight days away, East Bengal are in hunt of a proper replacement.

Carles Cuadrat spoke about the issue, “It’s one of the saddest thing that can happen to a team or the player to be out for a long injury. We have to try and build something to be competitive, so we’re working on a replacement. We’ll look into what the market can offer us on that. We are professionals who are trying to be as competitive as we can be.”

Indian football calendar this term

Many clashes have been going on in Indian football currently. The FSDL not deferring the ISL and the AIFF sending a second-string team to the Asian Games, has the limelight currently. But the season will surely be hectic for clubs as they'll have to release players quite often.

The East Bengal boss said in this matter, “We have the calendar and it’s very clear. I’ve worked with Saudi Arabia’s national team in the past, so I know clearly about how the calendar works for the clubs. Everything is under control, it will be organized in the football industry across the world.

"We have respect for the national team and have sent them a list of players they can use. It’s very clear that the clubs and federation (AIFF) must cooperate to do the best for the country. We have players in the U-23 and the senior team and we support the national team. There is a list of East Bengal players who can partake in the Asian Games.”

Cleiton Silva's fitness

East Bengal have two prolific strikers in Cleiton Silva and Javier Siverio with them. But Cleiton Silva arrived late and wasn't at his best in the Durand Cup. The head coach commented, “With Cleiton starting this season, we had a problem that he was the last player to arrive so he wasn’t getting fit for the top matches. Now we have more time to work with him and see different options. We play against Minerva today and Javi and Cleiton will start that game. We’re trying to bring out the best from the team.”

Plans to use reserve team players?

East Bengal fielded their reserves side in the Calcutta Football League and many youngsters made a mark through the same. A few names notably, are Bunando Singh, Avishek Kunjam, Aman CK and Jesin TK among others.

Will Cuadrat be using them in the ISL?

He said. “It’s clear that we need to try and help Indian football. The young talents need opportunity. When I was in Bengaluru, I gave opportunity to players like Suresh Singh to have more experience in the ISL and to get promoted to the national team. Even Nishu Kumar and Rahul Bheke were helped into the national team.

"I come from a root at Barcelona, that if the players have quality, they can help the team. It’s a question of training, see the talent in training and then help them get implemented into the plan of the team. I hope that the youngsters can be with us longer and improve as players. I’ve seen a lot of CFL matches and have detected some good talents. We have to learn a lot, but we’ll be supportive to create new talents for Indian football," he added.

Will rhythm be disturbed in break during Nov-Dec?

With the ISL calendar out and the national team matches coming up, it might so happen that the clubs' rhythm might be disturbed during the season. Carles Cuadrat stated, “We will adjust our plans according to the schedule and will take advantage of anything that is good for the national calendar. I think there will be some fixtures to be changed due to festivals. We will have more time to practice on some things during the break. So it doesn’t matter that much for us.”

Cleiton Silva's words

Last season, it were Cleiton Silva and Naorem Mahesh Singh who carried East Bengal throughout the league. When asked on the difference of the side's quality from last season, Cleiton said, “I think the quality of the group of players have improved a lot. We have a coach that knows the league and has coached in the league. We have improved not only in games but in training as well. I hope we’ll be better this season than the last one.”

Will Siverio take pressure off his shoulders this season? The Brazilian remarked, “Of course when you score goals someone is helping you. I have to make some changes to score more goals. We have to rise our quality. I hope to play regularly and I hope the players can help me as well.”

Nandhakumar Sekar's words

Nandhakumar Sekar's life saw a change after he ended East Bengal's drought in the Kolkata derby on 12 August. He claimed, “After the derby, my family and friends are very happy. I got a lot of messages on social media after the derby about the goal and to have won the first derby after four years. It’s a great honour and I’m so happy about it.”

Is Nandha ennjoying his stay at East Bengal or is under pressure? He mentioned, “At the start of the Durand Cup, I felt some pressure. We’ve done well in the Durand Cup, gotten good results and I think everyone is working hard in training as well. I hope we get good results in the ISL.”