The Bengaluru FC coach Marco Pezzaiuoli wants his players to build off their 4-2 win over North-east United going into the second match of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22 season against Odisha FC on Wednesday in Goa.
This will be Odisha FC's first match of the season. As a result of finishing bottom of the table in the previous season, the Kalinga Warriors have appointed Kiko Ramirez as their manager for the season.
Bengaluru FC has never lost a match against Odisha FC in the 2018-19 season. They have won two and drawn one.
Ahead of their clash against Odisha FC, head coach Pezzaiuoli said.
What do you expect from Odisha FC?
It's difficult to expect something when you haven't seen the opposition team play. We need to focus on our game. We need to take the good things from the previous game and try to improve ourselves and do better. They have a new coach, with new players. They don't know where they stand, which might be a bit of an advantage for us as we have already played a game against NorthEast United. We have three points on the board and we need to try and build on that.
Now that you’ve had time to look back on the last game. What do you make of it?
First of all, we got the important three points. Also, we scored four goals, which is good. I think in the second half we played a good game, especially in terms of possession and high press. We didn't lose possession so much in midfield, in the second half. We need to be sharper in defense and midfield, and it's a process. We had a strong mentality in our previous game. To keep pushing even when you concede goals shows how much we wanted to win and that was good to see against NorthEast United, but there's a lot more to improve on.
What did you make of Udanta Singh and Sunil Chhetri’s performances in the last game?
Udanta had a very good game, after a not very easy preparation. He had an illness after the quarantine, which meant he was out for more than two weeks. I think he did very well, including for the pass to Cleiton. But he has a lot more to grow and we're working on it. I think we didn’t get to see much of Chhetri because as a winger it’s very important to receive good balls from the midfield or the defense line. We lacked in midfield and he didn’t get many balls. We need to improve to get him in a better position.
Prince Ibara made an instant impact off the bench last time around. Can we expect him to be a regular this season?
Yes of course! There were a couple of close calls with Prince, both of which were not offside, and when he finally managed to score from a good run. I'm very happy he performed well. We got him because he has quality, but he was ill and spent a long time out without games. He is not just a good footballer; he is a good person as well. He provides a different dimension to the team. His style is different from Sivasakthi and Cleiton Silva’s. I am happy with him because then we can set up differently depending on the opposition. We can play with two strikers, which makes it difficult for the opponents to analyze us.