ISL 2019-20 | Long pre-season will help us to have less pressure, says Josep Gombau
Odisha FC head coach Josep Gombau has stated that the long pre-season that his side had, prior to the franchise’s maiden season, would go a long way in helping his side to play without any pressure on Tuesday. Skipper Marcos Tebar, on the other hand, has stated he has no burden leading the side.
New ISL entrants Odisha FC would be starting their ISL campaign with an away trip to two-year-old Jamshedpur FC, where he would be facing fellow Spaniard Antonio Iriondo. And both the managers are expected to approach the game under huge pressure given it would majorly decide what to expect from each side for the remaining season.
However, Gombau has stated he has had enough time to know his side during the pre-season and they won’t be under any pressure going into the match. “I think football is to enjoy. We had a long pre-season. We played a lot of games and we worked hard and well. When we start the season, we will have no pressure. We will enjoy and have a good game,” said the coach.
Tuesday’s match would also be quite interesting because of the over-involvement of Spanish players in both sides and Gombau has stated that he would be expecting a more free-flowing, attacking football.
"Yes, it’s true. We have five Spanish players in our squad. Jamshedpur also have a lot of Spanish players. I think it will be a good game. Spanish players, Spanish coaches, so we will try to play in a certain way that involves keeping the ball and play the attacking football. It will be an interesting game," he added.
Marcos Tebar, who was also the skipper for Delhi Dynamos last season, would also have a huge task at hand as he would aiming to right all the wrongs that the side did last season. And the Spaniard second his manager stating that he was feeling no pressure whatsoever.
“No, I don’t really have any pressure of being the captain because last year, in the second half of the season, I was the captain for Delhi Dynamos. Josep trusts me and I am here. We are looking to start this competition. We worked very hard," he added.