Carles Cuadrat: We took advantage of NEUFC missing their No.6

The East Bengal boss asserted that his team is not scared of pressure.

Carles Cuadrat was more than 10 minutes late for the post-match press conference. The media personnel were worried since it was getting late for them. But perhaps, the celebrations were on inside the East Bengal dressing room.

For the first time in the ISL, East Bengal earned a 5-0 victory. They had scored five goals earlier as well, but it came in a match where the team succumbed to a defeat rather than a victory.

Change in tactics

East Bengal defeated NorthEast United and showed aggression and different mentality throughout the game. When asked if there was a change in strategy, Carles Cuadrat said, “We changed the tactics because we had some players we didn’t have last week. For example, Borja (Herrera). Today’s gameplan was completely different from that to the Chennaiyin FC game. I’m happy to see that players are understanding (the gameplan).

“It was a good tactical game against Chennaiyin and today also it was the same. For the last four months, the players have worked different plans in training and I’m happy to see they are understanding the system,” he added.

Inclusion of Borja Herrera and NEUFC missing Bemmamer

The inclusion of Borja Herrera injected a somewhat different energy to East Bengal’s firepower against NorthEast. The Spaniard even scored a brilliant long-ranger to give his side the lead in the 14th minute. Cuadrat spoke about his midfielder, “Borja is a creative player. But we have to take advantage of the players we have at our disposal and try to create the difference in the game.”

He added that NorthEast United missing their defensive midfielder Mohammed Ali Bemmamer worked wonders for his side. “We were fortunate that they were missing their No. 6. We took advantage of that. But NorthEast is a very difficult team. They were creating chances in the initial moments of the game. Today fortunately, things were in our favour.”

Will this win add pressure to the side?

A 5-0 win is a positive result for sure, but will it add pressure upon the players? The expectations will surely be high as East Bengal will next take on Punjab FC on Saturday. The tactician refuted the claim, “Pressure is always there in football. We are not scared about that. You have to feel the pressure in a positive way. Today from the start of the game, there were good tackles from our side. It is the right way to manage the pressure. When you are making the physical action, fans think that you’re giving your everything for the crest.”

Team-talk at half time

There have been moments this season where East Bengal were ahead but conceded and lost or drew the game. When asked, what was the team-talk at half time, Carles Cuadrat mentioned, “Stay focused! We were creating chances in counter-attack and we were doing well in the first half. When you’re winning, opponent is going to push you and then you have to play on counter-attacks. For example, Nandha got a chance just after coming on. Another thing was to make them strong mentally.”

He added, “At that moment, if we conceded a goal, it would have affected us. When the difference is of three goals, the players feel free to attack the spaces and they enjoy the game. They get that pressure out of their minds and as a result they enjoy the football.”

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