Team needs strengthening in January, indicates Scott Cooper before leaving Jamshedpur FC

Jamshedpur FC and Scott Cooper mutually parted ways after the game.

Jamshedpur FC ended up on the losing side after taking a lead against Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Friday. The Men of Steel broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute, courtesy of a thunder strike from Rei Tachikawa. The game was turned on its head in the next 20 minutes as the Juggernauts found the back of the net four times before the lemon break.

This was Scott Cooper’s last game as the Jamshedpur FC boss and he made some tough statements at the post-match press conference. Here are the excerpts from the interaction with the media.

Thoughts on the game

Jamshedpur FC looked confident and seemed to have done their homework before the game. But an array of individual errors from the custodian Rehenesh TP and some sloppy defending made the team concede four goals within 20 minutes. 

Talking about the game, Cooper said, “We made a good start. We cancelled the threat of #10 of Odisha, everything was going smoothly. Then there was a spell of 20 minutes where some players lost concentration and made errors that they don’t usually make.”

What went wrong

Despite playing good football, the team couldn’t match the opposition and ended up with an embarrassing defeat against a side they have always dominated. Scott Cooper was asked to explain what went wrong in the game for his side.

The manager started, “Tactically me and my staff got everything right. We have some players that have to look at their performances, look at that 20-minute spell and ask what I was doing during that period because there was an opportunity to move up to the sixth place. You make one mistake, it’s right, but don’t make the second one, then third and then fourth.”

“It’s tough to accept because the plan was working and the second half proves that. We have to ask ourselves what Odisha did up to the 25th minute and then after 45 minutes. We pressed the ball well in the second half, we didn’t capitulate. I am proud from that aspect, proud of the players that fought back. I don’t know where it came from, it was not something I expected. And there isn’t much you can do about it as a coach. We learned a lesson on capitalisation, and that’s the story of the night,” he added.

The Half-time team-talk

Scott Cooper’s side went into the locker room 4-1 down. Against a side that were exceptionally clinical to benefit from every error in defence, it must have been a tough half-time talk for the manager. 

The mentor shed light, “It would have been very easy for me to put 5-4-1 up and say let’s not get five, six or seven (goals). That’s never been who I am, I always try to get a result. At 4-1 at half time, we went 3-4-3, the most offensive formation you can have in football. We went that way, let’s try to get this game back. And, we had the chances to get the game back. I’ll never change who I am and what I do no matter what rubbish some people say in and around teams.”

He continued, “There are people making comments about me who never kicked a ball, and don’t know what happens inside a training ground. God gave you one mouth and two ears for a reason. That’s why I don’t have social media. I laugh at such people rather than being upset.”

On the second half of the league

The coach was asked to comment on his hopes of turning things around in the second half of the league and probable changes in the upcoming transfer window.

The tactician answered, “It’s a big second half after tonight. The team needs strengthening in the winter transfer window. Every team needs to strengthen themselves, even the one at the top of the table. But that’s a decision of the club, it’s the club’s money and not mine.” 

“I never want to cry about players. Some coaches have a prolific squad and cry about injuries. We don’t have Ritwik Das – a starter, Pronay – a starter, Ricky and Alen Stevanovic and Steve Ambri are injured. We missed five starting players. We played a 19-year old as right wing-back and Imran as left wing-back where he had never played before. We have a teenager up front and a young midfielder. We cannot cry, but these are the facts about our team,” he concluded and left with new year wishes for the fans.

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