He’s very dynamic, direct in final third: Mohun Bagan's Clifford Miranda on Parthib Gogoi

Miranda also spoke on form of Jason Cummings.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant would aim to maintain their unbeaten streak in the Indian Super League (ISL) and get close to the top spot with a win over a shaky NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 on Friday December 15, 2023.

The Mariners assistant coach Clifford Miranda spoke to the media before the highly awaited clash. Below are the excerpts:

Clifford Miranda pleased to get back Dimi Petratos

With Juan Ferrando suspended for this upcoming game, his assistant coach Clifford Miranda spoke to the media before the clash. He voiced his pleasure to welcome back Dimitri Petratos after the thrilling 2-2 draw against Odisha recently, saying: “We know that we scored a goal at the last minute to draw the game against Odisha. Of course, it’s always important to have all the players available and then we can have a wide variety of players to select from and not be restricted to a few players.

“When you have the best striker in this club (Dimitri) with all due respect to Jason (Cummings) and Armando (Sadiku) because we all know how good Dimi has been for the last year and this year. To have him back with Jason, Armando and Suhail (Bhat) is very good for the club,” he also stated.

Thoughts on NorthEast United threat and Parthib Gogoi

The coach is refusing to take NorthEast United lightly despite their recent blip in form, as he explained: “To get three points against any opponent is a good opportunity, but we cannot write off anyone. If you see the last game, then you would see that NorthEast should’ve been up by 3-4 goals in the first half itself. They are a very good, very organized team and much more organized than some of the ISL teams.

“They have a very good coach and a very clear style of play. Just because they haven’t won many games or aren’t in the best team doesn’t mean they’re not a very good team. If you see the first half against Hyderabad, you will know how good they are. It’s a very difficult game, the first of four games we have for the end of 2023. It’ll be very, very difficult,” he added.

Miranda also had praise for NorthEast star Parthib Gogoi, saying: “He’s a good player. He scored four goals in the first four games. I personally like him a lot, he’s very dynamic, very direct and very dangerous in and around the final third. But it’s not just about him, they have a lot of good players. They are a very, very good team.”

Will Mohun Bagan miss Juan Ferrando?

When asked if the team might be at a disadvantage without Ferrando’s figure on the touchline, the coach said: “What happened last season (loss to NorthEast) doesn’t have any impact on what will happen this time around. It’s totally different.

“We still don’t know if Ferrando be there or not for that game, but I hope he’ll be there. He prepares the team with all the aspects. But it’s just that he will not be there on the bench. But everything else, preparing the team or everything else will be done by him. It’s not ideal when you don’t have a head coach on the bench, but everything he will do.”

Reflection on the Mariners’ form

Miranda got a bit fired up when asked about the Mariners only winning one of their last five games, as he stated: “If you take it in a context of counting game, then you could also state that after the loss to East Bengal in the Durand Cup group stages, we had won 12-games on the trot. You wouldn’t say much when we won 12 games on the trot.

“We lost against Bashundhara and Odisha, but we also won against Hyderabad in the middle and didn’t lose five games on the trot. When you play in a long season, there is always a trajectory where a team’s form drops. This happens around the world. You can find any league where teams go through a downward trajectory. Nobody is a machine, this is not a computer. The players playing here are in the human body,” he also added.

No major worries over Jason Cummings

Finally, the Mariners’ assistant coach refuted any worries over Jason Cummings’ form and said: “He is working really well in training and for me, he’s doing as well as the other players that we have. Sometimes some goals go inside and some shot doesn’t.

“At the start of the season, he was scoring in almost every game and has had a small blip in form. The team is made of players, so when the players have a blip, that affects the team too. He’s working extremely hard and we’re very pleased with him. We expect more from everyone in the team, from us (coaching staff) also,” he finished with.

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