Naushad Moosa pleased with Bengaluru FC's performance against SC East Bengal

The Blues ended their unbeaten run with the win over SC East Bengal.

Bengaluru FC secured their first victory under interim head coach Naushad Moosa as they triumphed 2-0 over SC East Bengal. Cleiton Silva scored the opener in the 11th minute and Debjit Majumder’s own goal doubled Bengaluru’s lead in the first half. They safely saw off the rest of the game by maintaining a compact formation and collected their fourth win of the season.

After the match, Moosa seemed extremely pleased with the performance and hailed the players’ positive mindset for this result. Here are the excerpts from his post-match press conference.

Thoughts on the result

This was Bengaluru’s first win since December 17 and must have definitely come as a major respite for the club. Moreover, Moosa has taken over a major assignment and hence it was integral for him to bag three points after a run of mediocre outings.“To tell you the truth, more than me, I feel so happy for the players. The way they have given their best today, they were fighting till the last minute today. It was really nice to see that, that aggression, that mentality, it was really nice,” he responded.

Early goals: A strategy?

The Blues managed to maintain dominance throughout the course of the game owing to two early goals. The tactician was probed whether it was a conscious effort to exert greater influence in the proceedings. He explained, “No, if you see the way we had our players, it was to stay more compact, go for the counter-attacks in the first-half, whatever opportunity we get, see that to utilize that. So, lucky that we got the two goals. It was not that in the second half we had to sit back or something. We wanted to play that football.

“But, the players what I had with me it was difficult to play those passes and move the ball around. So it was more okay to play those long balls behind the defence and Sunil getting the ball well and that is what we were looking for,” he added.

Dressing room atmosphere

Bengaluru FC had slipped away their two-goal lead against Hyderabad FC in their last match. Naturally, there were apprehensions that they will commit a similar error yet again. Asked about how the team avoided a hara-kiri, the 49-year-old quipped, “It was you know, today’s match I don’t know, the dressing room was very positive today. Everyone was smiling. I saw that smile on their face which makes me feel confident. Today they were not worried about the win or the loss, they just wanted to go there and just play.”

Performances of younger lads

https://youtu.be/bU-q4EJnhoY

Leon Augustine, goal-scorer against Hyderabad FC previously, had to be substituted in the 42nd minute. Defender Parag Shrivas replaced him and played in a slightly advanced position considering the circumstances. Reflecting on the two young lads, Naushad Moosa stated, “Leon, he’s not much I think, still we need to have a look, he has got a hamstring. Parag, really satisfied with him the way he played. Till now he played as a left-back. Today he played for me as a left-midfielder and he did his job really well. This is what we are looking for from the youngsters to play in whatever position they have been told to and give your best all the time.”

On Pratik Chaudhari

Last month, the former Air India coach had said that centre-back Pratik Chaudhari doesn’t suit Bengaluru’s style to play out the ball from the back. However, Chaudhari partnered Fran Gonzalez at the heart of the backline tonight. Commenting on that, Moosa clarified, “I think it was misinterpreted by the media. I said he was having a problem adjusting with the team because we were playing more possession. But, what I did was you know just ask him to play his game, just be happy and go give his best and that really worked for me.” 

Has playing Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh in their natural positions benefitted Bengaluru?

Naushad Moosa has rejigged the system a bit and slotted Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh on either side of Cleiton Silva in the frontline. He was enquired whether this alteration has helped the team perform better recently. “Of course. The problem with me, with BFC this year was having a proper number 9. Then my left wing was being exposed a lot. So my main focus was to first block the left side and then having someone to hold the ball upfront. Getting Sunil there and getting Udanta on the right and Cleiton working upfront it has really worked for us,” the ex-Pune FC coach said.

Thoughts on transfer window activity

Bengaluru FC re-signed former attacker Xisco Hernandez in the January transfer window. However, there were no further incomings despite the team very clearly needing some quality reinforcements. Naushad Moosa somewhat tried to put up a brave face as he said, “Of course. We are happy (with the present squad) which includes Xisco (Hernandez). It's true that we were looking for players which didn’t materialize. But, yes whatever we have we have to play with this. More five games, just stay positive, let’s not worry about the points now. Let’s just go play, this is what I feel is the mantra now.”

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