AFC Cup: We will have to make use of our entire squad says Albert Roca
BENGALURU FC won 3-0 in the second and final home leg of the AFC Cup preliminary stage against Bhutan's Transport United. Coach of Benglauru spoke to the media about the performance of a newly tested squad and the road ahead.
On the team’s overall performance…
We created a lot of chances in the game and it’s a shame to see that the score was only 3-0, but that’s football. I think the difference in the level of football in both teams is too much, as the result shows. For us too it was an experience, and I can’t blame it on my players. But I’m very happy for Daniel and Semboi who scored, because it’s very important for them to be among goals.
On skipper Sunil Chhetri being an unused substitute…
Sunil was there just in case, as we didn’t want to take a risk with him. If you see the calendar, we play eight games in the next four weeks. He is one of the players in our team who has been playing so much football with us and the national team as well. We didn’t know how the game would pan out, but after getting those goals, I didn’t think we needed him to play today.
On the importance of progressing to the play-off stage…
It’s an important competition for us, and with more games it gives us an opportunity to manage our big squad. I’m happy for the result, but it should have been better. Everyone saw the number of chances we created, but when you don’t have any previous idea about your opponent, it becomes a bit difficult with tactics in front of the goal. I think the blame is on me to not have been able to give the players enough chances till now. But if we go through to the group stage, that will be a great thing for the club and gives us enough opportunity to play everyone.
On giving youngsters an extended run in the competition…
That’s what we want to do as a club. We are a club who has played a final a year before, and a semifinal last year. We want to keep improving and with the calendar that we have, we will have to make use of our entire squad. Our aim is to have the best shot at all the competitions that we are playing, and we need see how we manage it.
On not being able to score more goals, despite the numerous chances…
Sometimes it’s a question of talent, while other times it’s about experience. Some of the players haven’t had much game time till now and I can’t push them to score 5-6 goals just like that, because the other team is good and we need to show them respect as well. We have tried and improved from the first leg, but we can see how difficult it is in football to create and convert chances, as it was the lack of experience in that kind of situations for us. In the next round, the team will be prepared better with the experience of these two games. The young players who have played today have to realise that they need to work even harder to score goals and it’s our job to help them in the process, because in football it’s never easy and the only way is to try and improve in every training session.
Bengaluru FC media release
