Mario Rivera apologises to fans, Marco Pezzaiuoli asks players to step up

Both the teams are out of the race for a play-offs spot.

SC East Bengal will be hoping for their second win of the season after having a forgettable campaign in the Indian Super League. In the Bengaluru FC camp, the players will be looking to end their season with all three points after dropping out of the top-four race against ATK Mohun Bagan in their last game. The Red and Gold Brigade have looked a different team in the last few matches under Mario Rivera, but luck hasn't always been on their side. Languishing fans of the historic club will be looking forward for an improved season next time out.

Bengaluru FC will end their 2021-22 campaign with a mid-table finish, but their players and fans will be proud for giving a tough fight to the other contenders in the league. Head coaches Mario Rivera and Marco Pezzaiuoli spoke at the pre-match press conference ahead of their final fixture.

SC East Bengal coach Mario Rivera

Assessing team’s performance during own tenure

Mario Rivera: We check only the results, which haven’t been good. But, if you have watched all the matches, the team has changed a lot and been more competitive. We had to make sure the team could pass the ball properly, be confident going forward, as well maintain the same shape while defending. It was difficult, but amazing. In the last couple of matches, the team had 15 to 18 shots. I am proud of the players because they have put in a lot of hard work.

Injury Update

Mario Rivera: Hira (Mondal) is already at home as he needs surgery on his nose. Darren (Sidoel) is out due to his ankle. (Fran) Sota injured his wrist and if we can find some sort of protection for it, he’ll play. Rahul (Paswan) is out for another match. Otherwise, all the players should be available, unless they get injured during these days.

Message for fans

Mario Rivera: The message is very clear. We are sorry that we couldn’t get very good results. I think the fans can be proud of this team, as the spirit of SC East Bengal was there on the field. We fought and tried in every match. Hopefully, in the next season, SC East Bengal can be in a position which the legacy of the club deserves.

Bengaluru FC head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli

Thought on season overall

Marco Pezzaiuoli: We've done a lot of good things, but the important thing was to reach the top four, which we couldn't. We developed young players, players who didn't play last season and we've changed our playing style. The team created chances, scored a lot of goals and were good in set-pieces. We almost have a 50% new squad in our first XI and we did that well. In the end, as BFC, we want to reach the top four.

Another part is that we didn't score enough with our strikers. I think our last pass was missing this season and that's the main reason for not reaching the top four. If you see the top four teams, their top strikers have more goals than ours. Of course, we have more players in our squad who can score, which is also great quality. But, in the end, you need to have 2-3 players who need to score. We had Cleiton (Silva) who scored penalties, free-kicks and was good with set pieces, but that's not enough to reach the top four.

Retaining same style next season

Marco Pezzaiuoli: I think we can play the same style with the squad we have. If you look through the season, the opponents created very few chances against us. Our opponents had little ball possession. ATK (Mohun Bagan) and Goa have over 500 passes in most games, but they had fewer against us. After a few games, the opponents analyzed how we played and many teams like Kerala (Blasters), Mumbai (City), Goa and ATK now had to play more offensive and play higher against us. I think that's also a sign for the league to play more attractive football than last season. 

We've brought some new Indian players this season and the league is a close affair now, which is more exciting. We've developed a new team, with new foreigners and we've taken a step forward in the right direction. The next step is for the foreigners to know the league better and how to play accordingly. They need to step up more like the Indian players did this season.  When you see players like Lara (Sharma), Pratik (Chaudhari) or Parag (Shrivas), they are totally different from last season. I can talk about many players like this that did well, but we are lacking the last press and that is something we will try to work on ahead of next season. We created a lot of chances, but we couldn't score enough goals. We took the ball into the box many times, but couldn't convert. It's not only the strikers or the foreigners or individuals in general, it is a team effort that requires support from each player.

Getting more forwards next season

Marco Pezzaiuoli: I don't think it's only about foreigners. Indian players also need to step up. Sunil (Chhetri) didn't get enough assists and didn't have enough luck to score more goals. Prince (Ibara) also scored, but he needs to improve more as a striker. But, I don't divide between foreign and Indian players. The players who are in attack need to score more goals. One good thing is that we have midfielders and defenders who can score goals. But, in the end, it's not just about the striker having to score goals but them being supported to do so. It's not about going out there and getting a new striker. It's a team effort that eventually falls in place.

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