ISL 2022-23: Our lack of character gave them the opportunities: CFC head coach Thomas Brdaric

Chennaiyin FC head coach Thomas Brdari admitted that their lack of character gave the opposition a lot of opportunities after the Marina Machans were obliterated by Mumbai City by 6-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.

Chennaiyin FC took a 2-0 lead in the first 32 minutes but veered off the track soon after. The home team took a total of four shots on target while the Islanders took 11 shots on target, converting six of them into goals.

It was a dominating performance from Mumbai City FC as they challenged the hosts’ defense and put them under pressure, especially in the second half of the game.

Sharing his thought on the team’s performance, Thomas Brdaric said in the post-match press conference, “This was a tough game because when you are two-nil up and to give up such kind of lead with the mistakes that we made, it was lack of concentration and technical mistakes while the opposition took advantage of it.”

Brdaric admitted that his players lost concentration after conceding the second goal and it led to their downfall in the game as they could not bounce back.

He added, “We have to understand that against strong teams we really need to concentrate on not making mistakes, we know that our lack of character tonight gave them the opportunities. After the second goal, we really did not keep ourselves concentrated.”

Brdaric feels scoring two goals against top opposition was a positive but they should have been better in defense as they conceded six goals.

He concluded, “We have to analyze well, how the simpler mistakes happen and work hard towards improving them. Everything was not bad tonight but to bounce back against such strong teams is a bit tough but we should take the positives out. We scored two goals tonight and we need to show this kind of character again in the next match.”

Chennaiyin FC will next take on Jamshedpur FC on Saturday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.