Bengaluru FC Media
Bengaluru FC coach Ashley Westwood played down
any talk of pressure as his League-leading team leave for Kerala on Monday to
play what will be their first ever appearance in the Federation Cup. Playing
its league games in the town of Manjeri, Bengaluru FC are placed in Group B –
dubbed the group of death – alongside East Bengal, Sporting Clube de Goa and
Rangdajied United.
See Bengaluru FC's fixture here - http://www.gcsstars.com/2013/08/federation-cup-in-january-bengaluru-fc.html
Sitting pretty on top
of the table after 15 rounds, Westwood is certain that
positions on the League table will not be an indicator for success at the
Federation Cup. “While there is a league stage, it’s as good as a knock out
right from the first game. You lose one and it sets you back by a long way. It doesn’t
matter what position you are on the table in the I-League then,” said Westwood
at an interaction with the media.
Bengaluru ended the
year with a 2-1 win at home against Salgaocar before earning a week off that
Westwood believes was good rest for his team. “We’ve come back rejuvenated and
spent this time off from competitive games to train and conduct tests on the
boys. All this should surely give us an edge in the tournament. I hope we can
carry forward our momentum we have built in the League, through the Federation
Cup.”
The club has roped in
sports conditioning expert Malcolm Purchase and goalkeeper coach Ali
Uzunhasanoglu in a bid to build on the impressive foundations laid since
Bengaluru FC’s inception in July last year.
On the players front,
Bengaluru skipper and striker Sunil Chhetri seems to have embraced his new
position on the left and has the numbers to back him up. At nine goals, he is
the leading scorer in the League and Chhetri hopes the club’s League success
translates to the games in Kerala. The club’s Australian import, Sean Rooney,
too has been in fine form and much will depend on the midfield marshaled by the
experienced John Menyongar. Central defender Johnson, who took a nasty hit on
the cheek in the Salgaocar game that led to him being substituted, is
completely fit.
Echoing similar
sentiments as that of Westwood, Chhetri admitted there was absolutely no
pressure to deliver. “If we start doing the math, we put ourselves under
pressure and no one on the team wants that. A big reason why we are leading the
League table is because we play every game with zero pressure. We leave all the
thinking to the fantastic coaching staff we have at the club. Our job is only
to execute,” said Chhetri.
