Carles Cuadrat: No excuses or injuries, we must fight for three points

The Spaniard also explained some of his observations from the previous game against FC Goa.

Bengaluru FC head coach Carles Cuadrat made no bones of the expectations he has from the players ahead of their second Indian Super League (ISL) game against Hyderabad FC on Saturday. The Blues were held to a 2-2 draw in their opener against FC Goa where they let slip a two-goal cushion in the space of three minutes. The coach was however not concerned about the second-half lapse that led to sharing of points rather than the Blues taking home the win and instead highlighted some of the areas that could have altered the course of that match. 

“Against Goa, we had opportunities to increase the scoreline. Sunil (Chhetri) missed a chance from a counter while Fran (Gonzalez) had an opportunity from a free kick,” observed Cuadrat.

“The players were not ready to play the whole 90 minutes. We had to make substitutions. We also must consider that the opponents were good. A draw seemed like a fair result,” added the Spaniard.

They now face a Hyderabad FC team that, like FC Goa, haves also gone through significant changes in the summer. “We have watched their victory against Odisha. They have a lot of positives. They had the clean sheet and three points. I am expecting a tough game and it would be interesting.”

The Blues had fielded their two new attacking options in Kristian Opseth and Cleiton Silva along with Sunil Chhetri in the Goa game and Carles Cuadrat was optimistic on how the duo would gel along with the club talisman. 

“We have more options with the squad. Some players have familiarity with the system. Even though (Deshorn) Brown played only 45 minutes and trained only for 10 days, the players understood what the team required from them,” said the 52-year old.

The common opinion was that the Blues could have managed the Goa game better after taking a two-goal lead and seen off the game. Cuadrat was aligned with this notion but added a few key observations. 

“We can manage the game better. One moment, we had three points but we ended up with one. The team is working well and doing a good job. The unfortunate thing is that in a short space of time they (Goa) got the two goals. In such cases, teams lose concentration and go into a negative spiral. A third goal was possible. But we did not have this kind of situation. We calmed down and brought on Dimas (Delgado). We were very close to the killer pass. It would have been a different game,” said the Spaniard. 

The absence of fans for the yearly football bonanza in India is noteworthy especially in the context of Bengaluru who have one of the most vocal and passionate fanbases in the country. Cuadrat acknowledged their role in the team performance over the years but chose not to use this as a reason for bad performances. 

“Fans help us in an incredible way. Especially in the last minutes, they give us a great push. Unfortunately, it is not going to happen here. Players know that the target is to make the playoffs. We have no excuses or injuries and must fight for three points. We were close to our objective in the Goa game,” signed off Carles Cuadrat.