ISL 5: NorthEast United looks to make most of FC Goa’s defensive fragility

Despite their season going south, NorthEast United managed to remain unbeaten against semi-finalists FC Goa last year. And coach Eelco Schattorie, who part of both the 2-1 victory at home and a 2-2 draw away – albeit as an assistant manager – looks forward to exploiting their opponent’s defensive fragilities, when they both square off at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Monday.

“Last season I had the chance to play twice against Goa and in both games, we got results – one win and one draw. They were both based on certain weaknesses that we spotted in their team,” said Eelco at the pre-conference.

“Hopefully, we can exploit them again. Having said that, we must remember that we have got a relatively new squad who will take time to get used to my methods whereas Goa have a more or less settled squad.”

FC Goa scored 42 goals in 2017, a record for the most number of goals in scored in a single ISL season. But they also conceded 28, which was the fourth highest and majority of it went to their defensive weakness that was often left exposed as the team put more men upfront.

Also Read: Our primary aim is to qualify for the play-offs: Eelco Schattorie

“We broke so many scoring records last season. We have a team which is built to be offensive. I always prefer to win a match 5-2 than 1-0,” said Goa coach Sergio Lobera. But at the same time “we will definitely work on our defense this season. It is true that in order to improve on the defensive part of the team, we have to limit our attacking abilities slightly.”

NorthEast United remain the only team in the ISL that has still not reached the playoffs even once in four seasons and it has not helped them either that the Highlanders have undergone coaching changed every season. But for Eelco, who comes with valuable experience having coached East Bengal and Prayag United in India play-offs remain a distant target.

“I want to win the first match,” he said. The target is to go match wise and let’s see where it takes us.”

Goal scoring has been a major problem for NorthEast United ever since Emiliano Alfaro swapped shirts for FC Pune City. But with former PSG star Bartholomew Ogbeche in the ranks, Eelco hoped that the scoring problem will be over this time.

Image Source: Hindustan Times