22 September,2021 12:36 PM IST | Mumbai | Ronald Chettiar
Chennaiyin FC`s head coach Bozidar Bandovic
Chennaiyin FC's (CFC) new head coach Bozidar Bandovic has expressed satisfaction on the current squad and said he is confident of Marina Machans making an impact in the upcoming ISL season beginning on November 19 in Goa.
The Montenegrin took over from Romanian Csaba Laszlo after the two-time champions finished eighth in the 11-team league last season.
"We have a good team and now we have to work hard. I believe that we need to have coordination between the players and to make them play in their preferred position so that they can give their best for the team," Bandovic told mid-day.com during a virtual interaction on Tuesday.
The current Chennaiyin squad have a good balance of youth and experience in players like Brazilian midfielder Rafael Crivellaro, Polish attacker Ariel Borysiuk, Kyrgyz winger Mirlan Murzaev and Hungarian midfielder Vladimir Koman alongside some youngsters such as Anirudh Thapa, Davinder Singh and Ninthoinganba Meetei in their ranks.
Bandovic, 52, who won successive Thai League titles (2016-17, 2017-18) and also won the Thai League Manager of the Year award in 2018, begs to differ with other managers who complain about getting less time in the pre-season to shape a winning team.
"As a coach I don't agree with long pre-season. I think eight weeks are enough to make them run for 90 minutes and be refreshed at the same time," Bandovic said.
"We start training on September 26. I spoke to the club about having six to seven friendly games."
CFC managed to score only 17 goals in 20 league games and when asked how he plans to get the team scoring more, Bandovic said, "Looking at the numbers, the team did not score many goals. I believe that this season [foreign] signings can score the goals. We will try to make the change. It's not important who scores the goal. I want the team to win. I believe that we will be better this season," he explained.
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