Bengaluru FC’s aspirations of reaching the semifinals went up in smoke as they lost to ATK Mohun Bagan in their recent Indian Super League clash. Goals from Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh on either side of halftime meant that there was no coming back for Marco Pezzaiuoli’s men.
The German tactician was not happy with the lack of chances created by the Blues. But he also asked the supporters to be patient with the young players present in the current roster.
Reflecting on the game Pezzaiuoli highlighted a lot of areas where his team lacked against the Mariners. He believes that with times things will improve as he asks for patience from the fans. He pointed out how his team could not create enough chances and also missed the final box in the box.
“I think we played well today in the game. We had a good time and we made it difficult for ATK Mohun Bagan to play football. Normally they are a great possession team. We had good chances but not really clear chances, it was only Sunil in the first half and a very good pressing situation, good ball position but in the end, we conceded a goal out of nothing and that was a little bit disappointing,” Pezzaiuoli said at the post-match press conference.
Liston Colaco came up with a brilliant free kick that handed ATK Mohun Bagan the lead right at the stroke of halftime. Pezzaiuoli felt that the Mariners played no football and had no chances until they scored that goal. Opening up on what he asked his team to do in the halftime break, Pezzaiuoli said, “I asked to be positive, to go on, do not get in a negative mindset because we also played very well.
“ATK Mohun Bagan had no chances and they played no football at all because we made it difficult. But, we did not have enough chances to score in the end. It was not enough to win a game against a strong team like ATK Mohun Bagan.”
Lastly, he asked the fans to be patient as most of the players are young and will develop if more time is given. The German feels that the club is on the right path with their youth academy. He also adds how it is unnecessary to invest in youth if you don’t promote these players to the first team. So Bengaluru FC have promoted a lot of youngsters proving that they believe in their youth system.
“I think this is the right way. We have a good academy to bring the youth to the first team. When you don’t bring them, it is not necessary to invest in the youth academy.
“I think we have good youngsters. It is very important that the fans and the club have patience, as youngsters will make mistakes, like today. Lara (Sharma) plays good games, but he makes a mistake today for the goal. It happens, it goes up and down for the youngsters. It is part of their learning and how they make the next step,” he concluded.
