Materazzi claims to be not overly concerned about leaky defence of Chennaiyin FC
Chennaiyin FC manager Marco Materazzi claimed that he is not overly concerned about conceding a lot of goals, as long as his side is able to qualify for the semi-finals of the Indian Super League.
With an Italian manager at its helm, if anything was expected from Chennaiyin FC at the start of the inaugural ISL campaign, it was a watertight defence. Instead, the men in blue traded pragmatism for aggression, conceding 24 goals in 16 games on the way- the highest for any team in the league.
During the league phase Chennaiyin were statistically the second worst defensive unit after Mumbai City, who finished seventh on the points table. Despite this record, Materazzi’s men became the first team to book their place in the semi-finals, where they were eventually knocked out by Kerala Blasters – once again due to a defence which conceded too many goals in the first leg of the tie.
Ahead of the clash against defending champions Atletico de Kolkata tonight, Materazzi faced questions about his team’s potency as a defensive unit in the pre-match press conference. The 2006 World Cup winner was however nonchalant about the subject and insisted that he won’t mind conceding goals as long as they reach the knockout round of the tournament.
"If they tell me this year that I concede a lot of goals and still reach the semi-finals, I’ll sign right away", the Italian manager told the press.
Chennaiyin are likely to field at least two new faces in defence in their opening game, along with a new striker partnership upfront. Stiven Mendoza is likely to partner Chennaiyin FC’s new signing Fikru, although there are doubts about the fitness of the former Atletico striker.
The arrival of Fikru provides them with variety in the attack as his physicality and aerial strength with allow them to develop a plan B. Materazzi expressed his delight on the arrival of the Ethiopian international and believes that his “outstanding qualities” will improve them as an offensive unit.
"Regarding Fikru, he has proved that he knows the tournament very well and I picked him because of his experience and his will to never back out. We are an offensive team and I picked FIkru for his outstanding qualities" , Materazzi added.
The 42-year-old was also full of praise for Indian duo Harmanjot Khabra and Jayesh Rane. Materazzi believes that Khabra has enough quality to play in the Italian league, while Rane will need a bit more experience to fulfil his potential.
"Khabra is a really important player for us and I’ll say that he’ll also be an important player if he was with Italian teams. Jayesh is really good but if he makes the jump of the little quality gap, then he’ll be at the level of Khabra and the other players. He needs some experience but we believe he’ll do great" , the manager said.
The Italian also stressed on the importance of playing more Indian players in the League. When asked about whether the number of Indian players in the starting line-up should be increased, he said "It is the Indian Super League. It needs to be played by more Indian players. It will be unfair to play eleven foreigners as we need to give chances to Indian players."
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