Coach, even though we lost the last game, do you think there are certain takeaways, positive takeaways that you want to carry forward from this game to the PFC game?

Being honest there were not too many positive things, there were more negative things than the positive things. Maybe the positive thing was during the start of the game. I think we scored first and nearly we went in a good position, we created chances, we should have scored the second goal and finished the game. These kind of things were positive, but there are a lot of negative things about the last game and another positive thing is that we have some examples that we should not do again in the upcoming games. As a coach I have tools to explain to the players how we need to improve and how we need to approach the next game.

Punjab FC are in a good form, how are you approaching this game considering that our away record was not that great last season?

Every game is different, every season is different. I think uh you can see in ISL every team can compete against every other team. There are no favourites in one game. It’s about a favourite in the long term. Thinking about the targets till the end of the season. I think they played a very good game. In their first game they got victory in a difficult situation, in a difficult condition and they showed to everyone that they are a very good team to compete in the highest level in ISL like they did against KBFC and they are in a good mood, with motivation that they are going to compete in the highest level. We need to put the focus in ourselves if we go and give our 100% we have a lot of options to win but if we are not in our 100% it’s so difficult to win this game or all the games in this competition.

Jerry, you have been with OdishaFC for some time now. On which aspect are you focusing to improve as there is a new national team head coach who is looking for new players to experiment?

I think first of all it’s been pleasure to stay here in Odisha for a long period of time and I enjoy being here and yeah obviously everyone’s dream is to play for the national team but now my main focus is to do the best for the club and to give my best for Odisha FC so if that works well, I hope I can be in the national team jersey.

Coach, will you consider playing Roy and Diego together instead of rotating them?

Obviously it is one option. But when you have six amazing foreign players, always you have problems, amazing problems as a coach to choose the right players for the right game but obviously it’s one option. We did it last season in a lot of games and this situation worked well. It is one option and let’s see if we are going to use them together in the next games.

Coach you have seen in the last game we have crossed the ball from both the flanks many times during the second half but failed to finish. Can we expect our forwards to be better in the upcoming games?

You can expect. I think in the last game it was not about the players, it’s about the collective work, it’s about the team. We cannot put the focus in one two or three players. We didn’t work well as a team and finally this is my target as a coach, we need to increase our performance as a team. I think to put the focus in one two or three players is a big mistake. In my opinion as a coach we need to increase the level as a team and when we are working well as a team, individually it is possible to shine and doesn’t matter if the player who is playing. We had injuries last season, suspensions and we worked very well as a team. this is a target for me as a coach. Forget the individual names as our aim is to get the best performance as a team. And doesn’t matter who is the player who is playing, because finally we need to build a very good squad not only the first 11 or only the 15 players. I think it’s very important, for example Jerry did very well in a difficult situation in the last game. He got the opportunity, he played and he did very well. And sometimes to have these doubts for the next game is helpful for me as a coach when one player coming from the bench is doing a good job and generally these doubts to the coach are good for preparation.

Jerry, In the next Game against Punjab FC you have many friends as former teammates. How do you plan to counter them?

No, I think it’s not only about me it’s about the coach, how he wants me, if I’m playing here how he wants me to play. That’s what I have to do. It’s not about how I want to play. It’s about the coach’s philosophy and his gameplan. So how he wants me to play, I will play.

Any update on the injuries of Saviour and Carlos?

We need to check with the medical staff during the last moment, what is the situation about the players. We are trying our best for them to get back as soon as possible but we have one training session tomorrow and we need to check.

If they are still injured after the reports come out, how are you going to tackle the problem?

Yeah the most important thing is as I told you before is the squad. I think we are ready to face injury suspensions. Obviously as a coach I want
to have all of the players, the full squad available because then I would have more options to choose from. But if this situation does not improve, there are not excuses. We cannot put excuses when we are losing one game or because we are missing one two players. This is not the right thing. If you want to compete for the trophies you need to have a very good squad even with suspensions.

Coach, you won both the games in the last season against PunjabFC. Do you think you have a slight psychological advantage over them in the upcoming game?

I don’t think so. I think the past is the past. There are different seasons, different players, different coaches, even in Punjab. Doesn’t matter what happened last season I think the most important thing is to put the focus in the new team, the new season and the past is the past in football the only important thing is the present.

Note: This is a transcript of the pre match press conference. Please watch the video of the press conference below: