Sanjay Sen praises Bengaluru FC team & fans, explains his controversial comments on AIFF

MOHUN BAGAN COACH Sanjay Sen had many good things to say about the Bengaluru FC team and their supporters ahead of taking them on in a pivotal I-League clash on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters about the importance of this match, Sen said,

"It's always important. When you're in the title race, you're looking to earn as many points as possible from home and away. So we'll look for 3 points. It'll be a tough game. We respect Benglauru FC. They're very organized and strong in every department. They've been the most consistent team in the last 3 seasons. They lost matches but came back strongly. So it'll be a challenge."

When asked by TFG whether a draw from a difficult away game like this would be acceptable to him in the context of the league, Sen was diplomatic,

"I faced this question even last season when we played the title-decider here. We played very positively, we were down by a goal but managed to pull one back. If you play for a draw you never know what will happen. So we will be looking for a win. If we can't win, a point will be important as well in the league from a game like this."

Talking about the attacks that both these stalwart teams feature, Sen dismissed any claims that Mohun Bagan have the best striking force in the league,

"I don't believe in thinking like that. Whatever team we have, we have to deliver. Only then we can claim to be the best. Look at BFC, they have Sunil Chhetri, the best forward in India, a regular scorer. They have the Korean striker Kim Song-Yong. There's C.K. Vineeth who has scored a number of goals... if you put too much emphasis on Chhetri then Kim will get chances. If you try to stifle Kim, Vineeth will take a shot. So they have a very good squad. Performance-wise, they are very good."

Eventually the issue of the show-cause by AIFF came up. Here, Sen spoke passionately as he sought to explain under which circumstances he made the "sold out" comment about India's FA,

"Tomorrow is the last date to reply, so I'm replying. I won't share the contents of my reply, but at the heat of the moment I may have said something that may be too critical. But if you look into my comments, you may find there's a logic behind that. When an Indian club goes to play in Asian, they're representing AIFF. So AIFF should look into the way their schedules are. At the moment I may have replied in a way, and I felt sorry for that also... sometimes you have to soften yourself to get things done, you cannot stay fixed on one thing. But someone at some point has to say these things. Because the big question is, when are we going to learn? We are playing 11 matches in a month. You tell me, which team in the world plays like this? How can we expect better performance like this? It's inhuman. You may say the fixtures came out long ago, and that's true. Perhaps there was some carelessness from our officials also. So the thing is, when you suffer... I can't even explain it in these words."

Sen also had many a good things to say about the sporting attitude of the Bengaluru FC fans,

"Last season we were playing here, the Bengaluru FC supporters were very sporting. Mohun Bagan fans traveled here too, our club has supporters all over the world. But they are different. BFC fans backed their team when they played well and also when they played bad. It's a good thing, because you cannot perform consistently. Some days you are going to falter, and how your fans support you on that day is important for the team and the players."

In the morning's practice session Sony Norde and Kingshuk Debnath had suffered slight injuries on their left feet and were limping around at the end of it. Kingshuk also had to abandon the practice halfway into it. Sanjay Sen insisted that those injuries were nothing to be worried about,

"It's not serious. Little bit niggling injuries are always there. Many go through it. Everyone who is playing is not completely injury-free. But they have to continue with these things. If it's serious we rest them. But this time it's not the case."