Marco Pezzaiuoli urges for patience with Bengaluru FC's youngsters

The boss spoke after his team mathematically lost the chance to qualify for the playoffs.

Bengaluru FC will not make it to the semi-finals of the Indian Super League 2021-22 after their loss to ATK Mohun Bagan. The outfit conceded a 2-0 defeat, owing to goals from Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh. Marco Pezzaiuoli and his men gave a good account of themselves, but lacked the cutting edge at the PJN Stadium in Fatorda.

The Bengaluru FC tactician spoke to the media during the post-match interaction. During the press conference, he talked about several topics, analyzing the season and the situation surrounding the young players at the club. Here is what Marco Pezzaiuoli said after the recent defeat to the Mariners:

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Looking Back At Game & Season

The tactician praised his team for making it tough for the Mariners. Furthermore, he acknowledged the fact that his team dropped points early in the season, which hurt their playoffs chances in the end.

“I think we played well in the game. We made it difficult for ATK Mohun Bagan to play football. We also had good chances, but no clear chances. We had good pressing situations, good ball possession but in the end, we conceded a goal out of nothing and that was disappointing. The second goal was very disappointing too.”

“I think we missed a lot of points at the beginning of the season. Individual mistakes, not finishing chances, 6-7 points that we are missing would have taken us in the top four. But, we have shown this season how we press and we play football and that is something special. On this base, we can work for the next season,” he said in the context of the season.

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Half-Time Team Talk

Bengaluru FC conceded a goal just a minute before going into the half-time break. Speaking on how it changed his team talk, Marco Pezzaiuoli said, “I asked to be positive, to go on, do not get in a negative mindset because we also played very well.

"ATK Mohun Bagan had no chances and they played no football at all because we made it difficult. But, we did not have enough chances to score in the end. It was not enough to win a game against a strong team like ATK Mohun Bagan.”

Explaining His Substitutions

The head coach made several changes in the second half, perhaps in order to change the complexion of the match. Explaining his decision, the coach said, “Ashique (Kuruniyan) did not train for a long time, he had a muscle injury. Ajay (Chhetri) spent one month in quarantine, Leon (Augustine) was also quarantined in his room (after recovering from injury). I wanted to have fresh legs on the right side because Prince had a lot of balls but there was nothing in the end in the box.

"I wanted to have more quality and I think Leon created good chances. Yaya (Banana) we brought on for Parag (Shrivas) to get in the box and defence work.”

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Need for Patience With Youngsters

The boss concluded the interaction by urging the fans and the club to stay patient in regards to the young players in the squad. “I think this is the right way. We have a good academy to bring the youth to the first team. When you don’t bring them, it is not necessary to invest in the youth academy.

"I think we have good youngsters. It is very important that the fans and the club have patience, as youngsters will make mistakes, like today. Lara (Sharma) plays good games, but he makes a mistake today for the goal. It happens, it goes up and down for the youngsters. It is part of their learning and how they make the next step.”

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