ISL 2019-20 | Have strong philosophy and style that doesn’t need changing, says Sergio Lobera
FC Goa manager Sergio Lobera has been of the opinion that the team already has a strong philosophy and playing style that people have loved and it won’t be needing a change. The Spanish manager further stressed the importance of having quality domestic players in the team to win the league.
FC Goa have made a name for themselves by playing short-passing and attacking football under Lobera, which the fans have accepted with open arms all across the country. And the manager has stressed upon the fact that the side would stick to it and improve learning from their past mistakes.
"I am very happy that everybody always speaks about Goa’s exciting style of football. To win the respect of the people is our biggest prize. I think we have a strong philosophy and style, which I don’t feel needs to change. It’s important to learn through our mistakes and I think my second season compared to the first saw lots of improvement by the team from the defensive aspect. And I think it’s important to improve from our last two seasons,” said Lobera in the pre-match press conference, reported ISL website.
Apart from the playing style, Lobera has lauded the clutch of domestic players at his disposal who have adapted to his philosophy well. He also stressed on the importance of the development of the Indian players in his squad as it is them who make the other five overseas players look good.
“For me, the performance of the Indian players is the most important. We always speak about the foreign players, but I think it’s very important to have talented Indian players. There have to be five foreign players in the first XI, which is why it’s imperative to improve the level of Indian players. For me, it’s impossible to win trophies without quality Indian players,” he said.
While the likes of Brandon Fernandes and Jackichand Singh have done well under Lobera last season, Mandar Rao Desai has been exemplary with his progress at Goa over the years. He was asked to play as the left-back last season and he did exceptionally well to take the side to final. Lobera pointed out the same.
“But I am very happy with the likes of Mandar Rao Dessai in my team who is now a part of the national team. I am happy with his success and now we have, I think, three players in the national team. However, I feel more players from my side can break into the national side. Having young Indian players is very important and we plan on using some more Indian youngsters this season,” Lobera added.
FC Goa would be playing against Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, to reignite a rivalry that has been exciting over the years, seeing as many as 45 goals over five years. The highest-scoring tie in league’s history would return after they both clashed in the Hero Super Cup 2019 final.
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