Asked the players to play as a team and it worked, says Khalid Jamil

The tactician shared his thoughts on the game, reason behind injuries and half-time team-talk.

NorthEast United brought an end to their disappointing run with a 2-0 victory over SC East Bengal. The Highlanders clearly looked the better side and deserved all three points. VP Suhair broke the deadlock in the second half and Patrick Flottmann scored his first senior career goal to seal the deal for Khalid Jamil's side.

With this victory, the Highlanders climb up to the seventh spot on the table and are just two points off the top four. After the win, head coach Khalid Jamil addressed the media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjOZXzGU3L8

Half-time team-talk

It was a tale of two different halves for NorthEast United. They looked inferior and unsettled throughout the first 45 minutes. But, the story took a different turn in the second half. Khalid said that he asked his boys to play as a team and it worked for them.

“I just told them to go there and play. We’ve to try to hit the target and maybe you’ll get the goal. But, you’ve to play as a team and I think it worked,” said the head coach.

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Thoughts on game

NorthEast United came into this game on the back of consecutive defeats. This victory will do the world of good to their confidence going further into the season. Sharing his thoughts on the game, Khalid said, “At the start, we missed Hernan (Santana), as he injured himself during the warm-up.

"So, we took in Jestin (George). Defensively, we thought not to open and just sit back. (Provat) Lakra and Gurjinder (Kumar) were asked not to make overlapping runs, but stay back to help Flottmann and Jestin because he played the second game and he did a wonderful job.

“I told Imran (Khan) to help Khassa (Camara) defensively. Secondly, I told Mathias (Coureur) to play in a free role joined with Mapuia. I think Danmawia came in and did a good job for us.”

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Reasons for so many injuries

NorthEast United are one of those sides who are facing a lot of consequences on the pitch due to injuries to key players. They already have a key player ruled out in Federico Gallego and a few players are nursing long-term injuries. Khalid said that one reason behind so many injuries could be less recovery time.

“Everybody is working hard and matches are also very close. There’s less recovery time for us. But, at the same time, there’s no complaint and everybody is working hard, which is a good thing,” he concluded.

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