What matters the most for East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil?

East Bengal footballers return home after beating Jamshedpur FC in a friendly game | Image: XtraTime
East Bengal footballers return home after beating Jamshedpur FC in a friendly match | Image: XtraTime

Kolkata: East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil is no mood to relax on his teams back to back wins against FC Goa and Jamshedpur FC. The Red and Golds registered a 2-1 win against FC Goa and followed it up with a 3-1 win over Jamshedpur FC. While arch rivals Mohun Bagan did not have the rub of the green, East Bengal on the other hand showed a lot of promise. The Green and Maroon were humiliated by FC Goa and FC Pune City respectively. East Bengal coach does not want to read too much into the results. According to Khalid, “You cannot compare as these are only practice matches. Results do not matter, as main thing is to get the combinations right. Our real test will be during I League

The Red and Gold footballers looked visibly exhausted after their seven and half hours journey on road from Jamshedpur to Kolkata. The footballers looked jaded as they came down from the team bus. The players took a break at Kolaghat for lunch on their way back. Trinidadian Willis Plaza did not accompany his teammates to the club. The players were given a day off tomorrow by Coach Khalid Jamil.

The practice matches against the ISL teams were more to set the combinations right for the East Bengal coach. The gaffer tried most of his players in the five practice matches he played so far. The gaffer was especially impressed with the performance of Eduardo.

Talking about the Brazilian, Khalid said, “Eduardo is improving with every match. Hopefully he will settle down well with the team.”

On being asked about the standard of ISL teams, Khalid said, “ISL teams no doubt are good and are strong. They have some good players in their ranks. But then I League teams are also good.”

“It is good for our confidence but then these are only practice matches,” signed off Khalid.