Carles Cuadrat reveals plan to bring East Bengal back to winning ways

The East Bengal manager will want his men to grab three points from the game.

Carles Cuadrat’s East Bengal are in desperate search of their first win of the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign in their first home match against FC Goa on Friday (27 September). Coming off two consecutive losses, the Red & Gold Brigade need their fans at the Salt Lake Stadium to raise their spirits and empower the players to produce a dominant performance to blow away the Gaurs.

Carles Cuadrat on pressure from fans

Carles Cuadrat is feeling the pressure after the poor recent results. Ahead of the game, he spoke about being under the hammer for his side’s form and stated: “Pressure is always there in football. Pressure is something that happens in any club and any situation. Even if we coach, players put more pressure on themselves. We need to take that next step, get the win to put us in another situation.

“We struggled with 2-3 bad situations last season. If you remember, we lost three games in a row and then we defeated NorthEast 5-0 here, which added a new dynamic to the team. Also towards the end of the season, we lost three games in a row and then won 4-2 against Kerala to bring more energy to the team.

“The team is trying to bring that big change, change the flow and give confidence to the players. We’re going to be competitive, let’s hope that happens tomorrow,” Carles Cuadrat added.

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Questions raised on fitness coach’s strategies

When questions were raised on whether his fitness coach Carlos Sanchez’s grueling training session is starting to cause injury worries in his squad, Carles Cuadrat stated: “I think he’s a great professional. He’s doing a great work. If you see the kind of injuries we’ve suffered, it’s not about preparation or nothing about whether we’re doing damaging things in training. The players enjoy the kind of practice we do, we do a lot of tactics and physiques in the sessions.

“A lot of things happen, when a group of people work together, one day one thing happens and another day something else happens. But the team is getting fit, ready for the competition without any problems in the training session techniques or intensity,” Carles Cuadrat added.

What does East Bengal need to improve in their game?

Finally, Carles Cuadrat spoke about what aspects of their game East Bengal must improve from their recent performances in the upcoming clash against FC Goa. He explained: “You have to improve in moments of the game.

“I think in Kerala, the protection of our backline was not good. We allowed them to make the high press and were not good enough with our decisions at that moment. We have to be more conscious about what’s going on around us and the way to get points in the competition. You see, there are not a lot of football leagues in the world like Indian football.

“If you see the stats, how many goals are arriving in the last moments of the games? That is almost 33% of the total goals to arrive after 85 minutes. Why is that happening? Players get tired, lose focus and because of unnecessary mistakes and a lot of emotions with which they make decisions. We have to control that as a team and arrive at the last moments of the game with the option to take three points. It’s something we’ve talked about and must improve,” Carles also stated.

East Bengal are winless in their last four games against FC Goa in the ISL. That is a record Cuadrat will hope his side ends and finally gets three points on their board to properly kick off the 2024-25 season.

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