Owen Coyle and captain Ryan Edwards spoke to the media prior to their next away game against Hyderabad FC, having recently suffered a 1-0 setback to Mohammedan SC at home. Both of them discussed the atmosphere in the team, the new signings, their lack of goals, and their opinions about the opposition in their responses to various questions. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the most significant points made at the pre-match press conference.
“We have to be more clinical” – Coyle on loss against Mohammedan SC
Even though Chennaiyin FC started the game strongly and had most of the ball, they lost their previous encounter against Mohammedan SC 1-0 at home. Marina Machans gave up a relatively simple goal, which head coach Owen Coyle termed an “early Christmas gift.” They had plenty of opportunities and managed to register 22 shots, but they could only manage to keep 4 of those on goal. Owen Coyle was disappointed with the lack of goals, even though his team had more opportunities to score.
“We started very well and we could easily have been two or three goals in front, but what we were, we never scored. We have to be more clinical because there are really good chances we’re creating. But what we also know is that within the game we dominated the possession, we dominated 10 corners to 2 with 22 attempts at goal. What we need to do is, we need to have more on target, hitting repetition, hit the target, more times in target, more chance of scoring goals”
“I think Hyderabad are dangerous opponents” – Coyle on Hyderabad FC
Hyderabad made it into the current ISL season after overcoming several obstacles both on and off the field. They have signed players like Cy Goddard, Ayush Adhikari, Arshdeep Singh, and Lenny Rodrigues, to mention a few, after finding the investor and the transfer restrictions were overturned. Important players like Alex Saji, Rabeeh, Chunga, and head coach Thangboi Singto have also been retained.
Despite performing well in the first two games, Hyderabad have failed to earn a point and are at the bottom of the league standings, having conceded five goals while scoring none. Owen Coyle mentioned the youth of Hyderabad and his admiration for Thangboi Singto in response to a question regarding his opinions on the opposition.
“I think they’re dangerous opponents as always. They have players that were at ISL clubs that have now signed with a big, big point to prove and, so you know that makes them dangerous opponents. Thangboi, I like, is a fantastic coach and a really nice man, somebody I have a lot of time for. But he knows as I do for the duration of the game, my focus is on winning that game and make sure we’re at our best. And if we’re at our best, of course, that’s a game that we can go and win, but we need to be getting close to our maximum.”, added Owen Coyle.
Captain Ryan Edwards added, “It’s not a negative camp and there’s a lot of young and hungry lads waiting to go again against a good Hyderabad team who have been unlucky. There are still obviously a lot of young players who were there last season and we know what happened at home when we played them there, we gave them their first win. So we’ve got to bear that in mind and and make sure we’re right at it as we were against Odisha and the first 30 minutes Mohammedan”
“Lucas is certainly knocking on that door” – Coyle on Lukas Brambilla
Owen Coyle changed things up offensively against Mohammedan SC early in the second half by substituting Lukas Brambilla for Elsinho. The Brazilian midfielder had an excellent cameo and came close to equalizing for Marina Machans, but was denied on the line by outstanding Mohammedan defenders. In addition, he created four opportunities, all of his set pieces were quite threatening, and he played the entire game with great energy. When asked if he has established a case for himself to be in the starting 11, Owen Coyle quickly dismissed the topic, stating he does not want to give out the starting 11, but added Lukas is absolutely on the verge of starting.
“We got minutes (for Lukas) at Odisha and then we got 45 minutes the other night against and I thought it looked pleasing on the eye. Very creative could have probably and should have scored although credit to the Mohammedan boys. Lukas is certainly as we say knocking on that door ready. I’m obviously not going to sit here and tell Hyderabad my team, but he’s certainly getting closer every day to starting games. He’s got a trick, he can beat a man, he can create a goal, he can score a goal. We certainly believe when he’s at himself, he’s going to be a very good player that’s for sure.”
“We’ve brought Edwin Sydney to the club”, confirmed Coyle
While everyone in the room was questioning Owen Coyle about what went wrong in the previous game and how the club is preparing for the next game against Hyderabad, the Scottish head coach announced the return of versatile midfielder Edwin Sydney Vanspaul. After four years with Chennaiyin, the local boy moved to join East Bengal FC last year. However, things didn’t work out as planned, and Edwin ended up playing in the Calcutta Football League this season after being left out of the first team. Owen Coyle stated that Edwin has a point to prove and must battle with the club’s younger players to establish himself in the starting 11.
“We’ve also brought Edwin Sydney to the club. He’s trained with us last week, somebody I know well and somebody I’ve got a lot of time for. I mean, he was outstanding for me in season six. I actually tried to sign Edwin at Jamshedpur, he stayed at CFC because he knows what the club stands for. He knows the core values and principles and he has a point to prove as well because he wants to get back in it.
“He knows a big challenge ahead because of the young players we’ve got. He knows he has a big challenge ahead because of the young players we’ve got. But it’s good and certainly, for me, it’s a great signing because we have the smallest squad in the league as you know 20 outfield players. Edwin now makes that 21.”
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