Owen Coyle talks about what went wrong this season ahead of the clash against East Bengal

Owen Coyle’s Chennaiyin FC face East Bengal on Saturday at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata

Chennaiyin FC had a good start to their 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign and looked like one of the teams that would surely qualify for the playoffs. However, injuries and individual errors have completely derailed their season as they currently languish in the 11th spot in the points table.

Up next for the Marina Machans is a game against East Bengal, another team that looked good before the start of the season, but has not lived up to expectations. The Red and Gold Brigade beat Chennaiyin FC 2-0 at the Marina Arena in December and Owen Coyle’s side will now be looking for revenge.

The Chennaiyin FC manager addressed the press ahead of the ISL game and here is what the Scotsman said:

What has gone wrong for Chennaiyin FC?

When asked about where things have gone wrong for Chennaiyin FC, Owen Coyle said, “Ultimately we need to play better in the field, it’s as simple as that. I mean you could go and you could analyse a million different things but the bottom line is, we haven’t.”

“At times we’ve looked like a good team but other times I think we’ve been far too inconsistent. This is the best way to put it. It’s not helped with the injury stuff, but leaving that aside, I think we all would have expected to have done better than what we’ve done to this point.”

Owen Coyle concluded by saying, “So that’s something that we’ll look at, we’ll analyse. Now’s the time for us, certainly as a group, as we do to stick together, helping each other, particularly the young ones to grow and develop.”

Owen Coyle talks about the remaining games and the Super Cup!

Mathematically, Chennaiyin FC are still in contention to qualify for the playoffs ahead of the game against East Bengal. However, with just five ISL games to go, the Marina Machans have to win all five and hope other results go in their favour to qualify for the knockout stage.

Talking about the rest of the season, Owen Coyle said, “It’s really important as I said that we start against East Bengal and look to get that run going in at the end of the season. There’s a Super Cup to play for, with an AFC spot. So nobody’s giving anything up here.”

The Chennaiyin FC manager concluded by saying, “For the supporters, yeah, be disappointed, I totally understand that. But keep loving your club, keep supporting the team as best you can, as you always do and we’ll do everything we can to get that smile on your face. We will try and win those games and get ourselves ready.”

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