Kolkata: The much awaited Hero I-League will get underway in a few days time but the concerns for the East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan is getting thicker as the British Coach is yet to know the arrival of his three other foreigners. Only Wedson Anselme, the Haitian forward has joined the side on time to help his coach getting the combination right.
Today morning, in the training session Trevor was seen to spend more than half an hour’s time with his Haitian forward Wedson to keep him ready for the opening game of the campaign. The Red & Gold gaffer doesn’t even know when Ivan Bukenya and Willis Plaza, the two other confirmed foreigners will get their visa. Later Trevor said, “I will not field the foreigners if they don’t acclamatize with the conditions. If they can play, no problems, or else I won’t mind playing Indian players in their positions. There is no point of playing a foreigner if he is not ready to play. So, we’ll see what time they arrive, what sort of fitness they have and will take it from there.”
Trevor seemed happy about the progress of Abinas Ruidas, as he said, “Well I have been watching him from the end of the last season and I saw him in about ten games in the Calcutta Football League this season. He is really good and in fact it will be a battle between him and Nikhil Poojary to get a place in the team as both are great options for the U22 quota. If they can maintain their quality, it will be a bonus for the team.”
The Red & Gold coach stated that all the Indian players would join the training by Thursday. Today it was Abinas Ruidas and Gurwinder Singh who joined the training. Trevor was optimistic about Gurwinder as he said, “Gurwinder doesn’t have the match practice but he has been training, which is important. He played a half in the exhibition friendly we played last week but he is gaining the fitness. The last time he finished a game, was back in October I think. But he is a good player.”
The time when Mohun Bagan has almost retained a set team this season, East Bengal has restructured their squad with a bunch of new players coming in. And that will make Trevor’s work even harder to get the combination right in such short time. But the tactician said, “Well, wherever you play, the basics of the game of football remain the same. If you are playing in England or China or India or Australia, the game would be the same. For any professional it’s important to get used to with the surroundings. That’s all.”
Now it is to see how the beloved coach of the East Bengal fans organizes the squad despite all the unexpected uncertainties and preparational troubles he is facing before the start of another exciting I-League.