ISL 2019-20 | I prepare team as best as possible to eliminate pressure, says Phil Brown
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Newcomers Hyderabad FC's head coach Phil Brown has stated that he always prepares his team in the best way possible to eliminate all kinds of pressure, while lamenting their huge loss to ATK in the campaign opener. Midfielder Marko Stankovic, who accompanied his coach, asked for more time from fans.
ISL debutants Hyderabad FC are travelling to Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Stadium in Jamshedpur on Tuesday, and coming from a 0-5 away loss against ATK, the new side would have numerous concerns. And Brown has stated that their last match was an anomaly for it was not their usual standard.
“It was not our usual standards. To say we’ve had a difficult period for five, six weeks is an understatement as well, You put yourself under pressure. Every time these guys cross the white line, I’m over there with them. I prepare the team as best as I possibly can to eliminate that pressure.” said Brown at the pre-match press conference, ISL website reported.
Apart from losing the match by a huge margin, Hyderabad’s problems are further exacerbated by the injury-plagued squad that they have, which includes Rafael Lopes and Giles Barnes. The Indian players were also burdened with the absence of key foreign players. And Brown has credited it to be one of the main reasons for their poor season.
“The main thing were the injuries. We’ve had injuries to key players. As I said after the game, whatever could go wrong that night, did go wrong. We had three key injuries to Rafa Lopez (Rafael Lopez Gomez), to (Giles) Barnes and to Asish Rai. The list of injuries is fairly lengthy and to key players as well. I think the Indian boys suffered because of the lack of foreign players that we have available to us. We only have three players on the foreign front available to us.
“The group is okay. They are in a good place. We are preparing for the next wave that’s coming at us which is Jamshedpur. We will do everything we can to contribute to one: a good game, but two: to try and get some points on board. That’s the biggest challenge. But until we can have a fully fit squad, we can’t say anything about how we are going to do this season. It’s going to be game by game.” added Brown.
The game against Jamshedpur at the Furnace will be a tough task for the debutants after the hosts overcame Odisha FC despite going a man down in the last match. And Brown has hailed the character of the Men of Steel.
‘There is a character about Jamshedpur that is likeable. Against the run of play, a man down, and they still won the game (against Odisha). That is a sign of character and we understand that. We are going to have to prove our mettle. We will need to put in our best performance to come out of the game with something.” said the 60-year-old.
Meanwhile, midfielder Marko Stankovic, who was also with Brown at the briefing, asked for time to improve their performance. “It hurts because everybody expected something different. It’s a new club, so it takes a bit of time. The good thing about this game is nobody can point fingers at anybody because everybody was at the same level. We have nice characters on the team. We also have senior players who will try to help.” said the Austrian midfielder.
