Carles Cuadrat: The solution now has to be foreign referees

The Spaniard spoke about how the team plans to approach the tough game against Odisha.

The Indian Super League’s reigning champions Bengaluru FC will be eager to get back to winning ways in the league when they return home to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium to take on a high-flying Odisha FC side. The Blues come into this fixture on the back of a gutting defeat to Mumbai City and Carles Cuadrat and Co. will be out to put things right once again. The tactician addressed the media at the venue along with new signing Deshorn Brown.

About The Previous Fixture

“We feel down after the last game because a lot of things happened that can affect the mental situation of the team. Now, we have to try and change that. When we make personal mistakes in a game, which is not something we normally do, it affects the players. If you add a completely legal disallowed goal, that’s another mental block. They were also not letting us play, a lot of interruptions, lots of fouls and lots of stoppages.” [KH_ADWORDS type="3" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] “These three things caused mental problems, but we have been working with the players like (Harmanjot) Khabra, Gurpreet (Singh Sandhu) about the personal mistakes. I have been supporting (Sunil) Chhetri about the disallowed goal and Dimas (Delgado) about the constant fouls as well. It was not a good game because there was not a lot of football happening.”

About The Refereeing

Further, the Spanish coach decided to express his deep-lying discontent surrounding the refereeing scene in the ISL. He began to field his complaints about some of the decisions by the ISL officials. He spoke extensively about the rule discrepancies from their last outing against Mumbai City. Carles Cuadrat even cited examples of some of the decisions made during the recent Premier League clash between Manchester United and Liverpool to exhibit his point. “Football is a game where you have to manage emotions and the referees are not managing their emotions and that is making everyone crazy. I was in Mumbai at the meeting, but they said no, now we have four Indian professional referees, next year we will have eight. It’s not about increasing the number. The solution now has to be foreign referees.”

About Odisha FC

"We have the support of the people at the Kanteerava against a good team in Odisha, who come into the game having formed a good routine. We are also happy with the performances at home and haven’t been dropping too many points. Our only defeat was against Mumbai. The rest of the games we have been good and compact and we will fight for the three points again," said Carles Cuadrat. [KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] "We know that we might have to play with less possession than them. But, we are a team that is very good in the transition and we can make an impact from situations like set-pieces. We can manage the situation to win the match at home," he added.

The Deshorn Brown Effect

The Jamaican striker who accompanied the coach was quizzed about his first game for Bengaluru FC and how his transition has been so far. “Mistakes happen, individually and team-wise. It was my first game and we started pretty well. I think, here the referees are being bullied by the players. The players usually show the referees respect, but it doesn’t seem to happen here. It was a good game and in tomorrow’s game we’ll try to get the three points.” “The refereeing decisions do impact the players’ morale. It’s just bad refereeing. I’m not complaining, but it’s bad," added Brown.

Team News

With Deshorn Brown and Manuel Onwu both fully fit and raring to go, the Blues’ only doubt would be Raphael Augusto in midfield, who has been absent for the last couple of fixtures.

Predicted Lineup

Sandhu; Bheke, Serran, Juanan, Nishu; Khabra, Dimas, Paartalu; Ashique, Brown, Chhetri. [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News | Article Continues Below"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Head-To-Head

The two teams have only met once owing to the fact that Odisha FC were formed at the start of the campaign. The Blues won the away outing thanks to a lone Juanan goal and will be looking to keep the winning run going when they return to the Kanteerava.

Broadcast

This match can be viewed on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD on television. It is available on Hotstar and Jio TV for viewing on other streaming devices.