Khalid Jamil hopes for good finish, Marco Pezzaiuoli demands more

The Blues won the reverse fixture by a 4-2 margin at the start of this season.

Since meeting on their opening day of this Indian Super League season, Bengaluru FC and NorthEast United's campaign have gone separate ways. While Marco Pezzaiuoli's side are chasing a top-four spot, Khalid Jamil's men are at the bottom of an 11-team league and fighting to avoid the tablespoon. Both sides meet again on Friday with contrasting goals in mind.

A win for Bengaluru FC, whose nine-game unbeaten run was halted by Hyderabad FC last week, would take them to third. The Blues are also unbeaten in their last six meetings against NorthEast United, with three of them resulting in wins. The Highlanders, on the other, are winless in their last 10 matches, their last victory in ISL 2021-22 coming exactly two months ago against SC East Bengal. They are tied with the Red and Golds on points (10), but behind on goal difference. A win over Bengaluru though will lift them to 10th.

Ahead of the match, coaches Marco Pezzaiuoli and Khalid Jamil addressed the media and shared their thoughts on the match.

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NorthEast United coach Khalid Jamil

Thoughts on Bengaluru FC

Khalid Jamil: They have experienced players. They are working hard and so are we. We are working hard to finish the season well and everybody knows that it is a serious game.

What went wrong this eason after the highs of last year?

Khalid Jamil: Everybody worked hard, but we didn’t get the results due to many reasons. We still have three matches, so we must think about it and I think that will be a better solution.

NorthEast United midfielder Mohammed Irshad also joined the head coach at the pre-match press conference. Here's what he said:

How has been your time with NorthEast United FC?

Mohammed Irshad: It has been good, but unfortunately we haven’t got the results. I’ve got more game time and we will keep trying.

How difficult is it for players to keep themselves motivated when results are not going your way?

Mohammed Irshad: It’s very difficult, but we all are giving our 100 percent during training. The next three matches are crucial for us as we have to play for our fans and try to win all of them.

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Bengaluru FC coach Marco Pezzaiuoli

Injury Updates

Marco Pezzaiuoli: We have some players missing now and I usually don’t make a big issue out of it because we still have enough good players. But, on the left, Ashique (Kuruniyan) and Roshan are unavailable. For Roshan, it’s because of suspension due to yellow cards. Rohit (Kumar) and Jayesh (Rane) are also not available for this game. In terms of long-term injuries, (Yrondu Musavu)-King, Amay (Morajkar), Harmanpreet (Singh) are still not available. Also, we have some players who are still suffering after the COVID situation and therefore not fit enough to join the team. 

For the left side, we need to find a solution. We have some players who played on the left last season as well as (Wungnayam) Muirang who can play on the left. Apart from this, we also have some other players who can fit into this system. But, it’s not only about the left, it’s about overall teamwork and how we play with as well as against the ball.

Start for Yaya Banana?

Marco Pezzaiuoli: Yaya has trained for a week with us. We have to be careful about him because he had an 11 day-quarantine period. We need to prepare him for the next steps. He can be an option for a few minutes. We can create an overload in midfield and he’s very good defensively. Last game, he played around 15 minutes and I hope he can make the next step by playing 45. Overall, he’s a good option in defence, as he has quality with the ball and is calm and experienced. But, the players who’ve played so far have also done a great job. 

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Importance of this game in context of playoffs

Marco Pezzaiuoli: I think every game is important and not just this one. In football especially, it’s always the case that the next game is the most important. As I mentioned earlier in the season, there are a lot of teams who can be in the top four and that makes the league interesting. Yes, around 7-8 teams are in the playoffs race. But, for us, we cannot be influenced by other teams and their points. We should only focus on ourselves. We need to do this better and that’s very clear. We need to have more personality on the pitch.

Mood in camp

Marco Pezzaiuoli: Honestly, everybody's waiting for the end of the season because they want to leave the bubble. I have to be honest about this. We want to do the most we can do and that's to reach the top four and then the final. The mood is good on the pitch, everyone's focused when they need to be and laughing and enjoying their football. We have our targets and we will continue to work towards them until the end of the season.

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