Kolkata: The Hero I-League season is on the doorstep and all the claimants of the title are on their last minute preparations for the premier football competition in India. Mohun Bagan has been in tremendous form in the last couple of seasons and will be desperate to have another trophy at the end of the season. In a friendly interaction with www.xtratime.in, the Mariners’ Head Coach Sanjoy Sen revealed his plans and preparations for the forthcoming I-League season. Here goes the entire conversation:
XT: You wanted and in the end have got a set team this season. How much hopeful you are to bring another I-League title?
Sanjoy: I know almost all these boys and they know me and my system as well. Sehnaj was not there in the previous season but he played under my coaching as well. Among the Indian players only Anas is new to me and I’m optimistic that I can create the combination in short time as almost all of the players have worked with me. It is never easy to get the combination going in such short time but except Aizwal & Bengaluru all the teams will have similar problems.
XT: What do you want to say about your new Brazilian defender?
Sanjoy: Well I didn’t watch too much of the ISL but I watched a few games. I gave a list of foreign defenders to the officials and Eduardo was an alternative option for us. We went for another couple of defenders but in the end rooted for Edu. He has a good bio-data but like everyone saw in the previous season what happened with Bernerd Mendy. Playiung I-League and ISL are completely different and the adjustment is everything. Lets see how he adjusts with the team.
XT: Sony didn’t play many games this season in the ISL. How much advantage is this to get a fresh Sony Norde?
Sanjoy: He didn’t play in the first ISL as well. But I don’t give emphasis on any individual player. But yes, as you said, freshness is needed for a long league. Ihope he can help the side.
XT: What would be your resolution for the year 2017?
Sanjoy: I’m a professional coach and to give Mohun Bagan the success will be my resolution. That’s it.
XT: The Kolkata derbies will be played in Siliguri and Guwahati. Is this an advantage or disadvantage for you?
Sanjoy: Derby matches are not my priorities now. I wanna go one match at a time.
XT: You will be playing three home matches at the start of the I League. In the first phase you will play a total of 5 home matches. What are your thoughts on the fixture?
Sanjoy: I am not bothered. That’s not on my hands.
XT: Your counterpart Morgan has commented that it will be tough for all the teams this season. Do you agree?
Sanjoy: He might have a lot of knowledge about the teams but as much I know except 3-4 sides, all the teams are going through the team building process. So, it’s hard to predict now. We may come to know about the strengths after 2-3 rounds of the league.
XT: What do you want to say about this I-League?
Sanjoy: It would be great. I heard 75 games will be telecastede on TV and the other games will be streamed live, which has been a wonderful news. I want to thank The AIFF for bringing back Aizwal FC. Good to see a team from Punjab and Chennai. If The AIFF can focus on the marketing, I-League has the ingredients to become immensely popular.
XT: You have set your own bench marks by winning the I League and Fed Cup in last couple of seasons. So what would be the message for the Mohun Bagan fans?
Sanjoy: Winning and losing are part of the game. What I want, is to offer some mind-blowing football to the fans this season. Winning is important but our objective would be to entertain the fans so that they come in numbers to support the football in our country.