That was Marco Pezzaiuoli’s first match as the tactician of Bengaluru FC. Sure as we speak about his pedigree, it might as well strike us with the fact that he has nethermost prior experience in helping any Asian side, nor has he found success anywhere he went before.
But tonight’s game can unquestionably be defined as a good head start for Marco Pezzaiuoli at Bengaluru FC after what has been a downgrade of a performance that they had been witnessing under their former coach Carles Cuadrat. The new gaffer has proved his quality to not be questioned at a stage not to be considered small, the AFC Cup, and Bengaluru FC put forth a delightful brand of football under their new gaffer.
Let’s contemplate the five talking points of the match between Bengaluru FC and Tribhuwan Army Club –
1) Bengaluru FC’s gaping without knowing what to do
Marco Pezzaiuoli’s side started off the match on what seemed to be not so great start. The side looked terribly unstable. Marco Pezzaiuoli did have a Plan B for facing the Nepali side in the first half, although before that Bengaluru FC wasn’t just as comfortable. The game was a mix of long balls, diagonal passes, back passes, and so on. The players did enjoy the possession-based game but there were fewer to nil shots on goal for the Bengaluru side.
Defenders were building up the play from behind, and we did get to see the new Gabonese signing Yrondu Musavu-King a lot on the ball. The Bengaluru FC defense was holding up a very high backline, and the midfielders were not getting a chance to control the game. Erik Paartalu was giving away a considerable amount of back passes. It probably just was the side taking their time to settle in but in doing so, the side didn’t put forth the best brand of football they were capable of. In line with this, there were an exiguous amount of passes seen in the final third as well. The side was only looking to finish the ball as they get it onto their feet.