Willis Plaza to join practice from Thursday
Kolkata: Conceding fewest goals is the top most priority of winning the upcoming I-league, says East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan. The Red & Gold brigade started their first practice session of 2017 at the central park from today. The above mentioned mantra was seen from the practice as the red and gold brigade are clearly emphasising upon their defensive duties to get them on their toes for the marathon league.
In the practice session, all the central defenders and wingbacks were given defensive situations to deal with and clear the ball, which they handled brilliantly and with sheer brilliance. Most notably, wingers like Romeo Fernandez, Avinash Ruidas, Lalrindika Ralte were also given duties to track back and help out the defence. Frequent discussions were held with senior defenders Gurwinder Singh and Anwar Ali regarding defensive issues, by Morgan and assistant coach Warren Hackett. This clearly proves the intentions of the 3 time National Football League Champions that they want to conquer the quest by utilizing defensive traits.
One prime reason of this can be the eminent problem of lack of striker except Wedson in East Bengal. Although the team had numerous Indian recruitments before I league, the striker issue is still a matter of concern for the side. Foreigners Ivan Bukenya and Wills Plaza are expected to join the practice by Thursday. However, there are no news regarding the 4th foreigner issue till now.
Regarding this matter Morgan said,” It is what it is, there is nothing we can do, so we just work what we got. It is not an idle situation but we have to accept it.”
When asked about the weak and strong points of the team, the British coach was reluctant to reveal his cards as he thinks it might help his opponents to buck up. Morgan replied,” I will not tell about my team’s strong points and weak points, but what I can say to you is that we are working to be defensively strong. We cannot win games if we don’t keep clean-sheets, we are not going to score three-four goals in every match.”
He also declared that there isn’t any extra pressure upon the midfield, which is widely been considered the strongest point of the Kolkata giants, he rather said he relies upon team game to win the league.
The gaffer also appeared to be a staunch critic of the U-22 rule as he thinks using a player for only 2/3 minutes to get off the rule and then subbing him off hugely damages the Morale of the player and being a youngster, he might never recover from the trauma and may lose his natural game, which provides us with a sign that East Bengal might use the under 22 rule quite seriously.
The Red and Gold brigade kick start their campaign at the Barasat Stadium against Aizawl FC, on the 7th of January.