The Indian national team captain, Chhetri was bought by Mumbai City FC in the Indian players auction and the 31-year-old feels the squad, filled with top worldwide players, will help not only help the Indians but also the foreign players. The quality of the ISL is higher than the I-League and this is a different tournament.
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The tall Norwegian, one of the marquee players of the Delhi Dynamos FC, is trying hard to rub off some of that ruggedness on the “very quiet” and shy Indian players in the squad.
Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC’s striker Sunil Chhetri believes staying fit and injury-free throughout the tournament will be the primary aspect of any footballer participating in it. It is a kind of expressing that we can do better and rectify mistakes.
Brandon Fernandes has impressed the coaching staff at Mumbai City FC during the pre-season as the Goan has scored a number of goals and provided assists. “Playing with these great players (referring to John Arne Riise and Flourant Malouda) any Indian player should be able to pinch his ability to lift their game when playing alongside such great players”, said the Delhi Dynamos player. “Maybe a little too respectful”, said Kerala Blasters’ coach Peter Taylor, who has been England U-21 manager.
Asked about any particular area which can be beneficial to the Indian players, he said, “It is hard to pinpoint one area but you can say that ball passing is one area”. Want to score something more than a hat-trick. The players I have are stronger, cleverer this season.
“We have made good preparation in Dubai this year at training, we look strong on paper but we have to show it on the field”.
“We are very well prepared, the pre-season training in Spain has really helped”.
“Every coach has his own thinking and they work accordingly”. We are better in defence, better in midfield and attack.
“We got to know the players and the team well, we started our training in South Africa which was really great, we hope to play as a team and hopefully we will win it this year”, said North East United FC marquee player Portuguese Simao Sambrosa. “We had a very good pre-season and ready to deliver for the team and win the ISL”, Robin said.
“I think I have a squad who can implement my football philosophy on the field. So, I want to play at least in the final this time”, said Zico, who said his decision to stand for Federation Internationale de Football Association Presidency will have no impact on the ISL performance of his team. Resting key players at crucial times is very important.
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His marquee player and 2002 World Cup victor Lucio said he decided to come to India to take up a new challenge in his career. That’s when I had to sit them down and tell them that they should not take the shouting personally. To be fair, we have a lot of midfielders also. I try my best on and off the pitch. “There are few differences (in the level of players) but we have to communicate”, he said. But I clarified with them that it wasn’t personal.
