Owen Coyle: We paid a heavy price for individual mistakes
(Courtesy : ISL Media)
The Scotsman spoke on the back of his side's narrow defeat against Kerala Blasters on Sunday.
Jamshedpur FC started their New Year with a 2-3 defeat against 10-man Kerala Blasters, as the Men of Steel remain fifth in the Indian Super League. Goalkeeper TP Rehenesh had a bad day at the office, as his individual mistakes led to goals for the Yellow Army. Despite the loss, head coach Owen Coyle focused on the positives.
Lapse in concentration
He was also quick to acknowledge the mistakes, as he said, "I think in XI Vs XI, we were the better side. Then because you get that extra man advantage, one or two lapses of concentration resulted in us gifting the goals and we found ourselves 3-1 down. We came roaring back and had numerous chances. Over the balance of play, we did not deserve to lose the game. But, if you give soft goals away, then you will be punished."
Time and again, Owen Coyle has been questioned about the lack of goalscorers and their over-reliance on Nerijus Valskis. But, the Scotsman once again reiterated, "People have already stepped up and scored goals. I mean it is just a random throw away because Valskis has scored eight goals, but if you see, Stephen Eze has scored goals, Aniket has scored and others have also come close. We struck the woodwork three times tonight and Jackichand (Singh) and Mobashir (Rahman) have also come close to scoring. Valskis is an outstanding striker and so is Igor Angulo, but others can also step up and score."
Rare bad outing for TP Rehenesh
TP Rehenesh has been one of the best goalkeepers in the league this season, but he had a rare bad outing and his mistakes were punished by the Blasters. However, Owen Coyle feels that is how the life of a goalkeeper is and that Rehenesh will pick himself up again.
"I think TP Rehenesh has been outstanding this season and automatically when a goalkeeper makes a mistake, it results in a goal. Tonight, it is true that his mistakes have cost us the points. But, we will work, analyze, pick him up and we will go again. So, the boy just had a bad night. I know as I was a striker, when you miss a lot of chances and then you score a goal you are a hero. But, it is very unfortunate for goalkeepers. That is why you need to be mentally strong and he needs to pick himself up ready to go again."
Hit the woodwork thrice
"I think we started well and then we gave away some chances to Kerala in the early part of the first half. They scored the goal which was easily avoidable. But, we picked ourselves up and scored a wonderful goal. We struck the woodwork three times tonight and their keeper came up with an unbelievable save to deny Valskis in the first half. So, we of course need to defend better, but if you analyze the game, it is a game which we should have never lost," the Scotsman added.
Individual errors
When questioned about not being aggressive enough in the second half, Owen Coyle refuted and claimed that there were some individual errors from his players which led to goals. The former Wigan manager added, "What happened is we switched off, had some lapses of concentration and it was down to individual errors. So, it was not about the team, it is always a collective effort. But, one or two of them switched off and we got punished for it. It is as simple as that. People sometimes tend to over-analyze situations. There were individual mistakes and we paid a heavy price for it."
Is there still a chance to make it to playoffs?
Lastly, Coyle also pointed out how his team squandered a chance of going into the top four again with a win. Nevertheless, he is confident that his men will pick themselves up and fight for the playoffs.
"It is easy, we have to win our next game. There was an opportunity to get into the top four, where we have been for the last few weeks. But again, if you look back to some of our previous matches, there were points which we should have had. We would have been already in the top four and it is only because of the points that everyone knows were taken away from us. It has happened now, we have got loads of games and we are only at the halfway stage. 10 games to play and we will pick ourselves up and look to get a spot in the top four," he concluded.
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