PANJIM: After the unexpected drama and exit of Spanish coach Juan Ferrando, FC Goa now begin their life under new yet familiar coach Derrick Pereira as they prepare to take on Odisha FC in the Indian Super League at Tilak Maidan, Vasco, on Friday.
Whilst Juan Ferrando had steadied the ship after a shaky start, the Spaniard abandoned the side when they needed him the most. However, Akshay Tandon rightfully chose the ideal person to lead the Gaurs during the crisis.
This isn’t the first time Derrick has been in such a situation. He had been incharge of the Gaurs when Sergio Lobera was sacked in 2019. However, Derrick has been more determined this time for the challenge ahead of the campaign and said, “It will be a different season.”
“I have faced this before. I’m 100 percent sure the players will be professional. Such issues off the field and on the field come and go and you’ve got to overcome them,” expressed Derrick Pereira.
While Goa might have picked up seven points from three games, their game wasn’t the best we had seen as compared to their past performances. This wasn’t simply FC Goa’s style of play. However, we all did notice that the team lacked creativity going forward while the defence struggled throughout.
However, Derrick knew where he needed to fix the system to get the Gaurs back on track.
“I have made my thoughts clear. At the moment, we don’t want to make too many changes. We are working on organising our defence and attack,” expressed Derrick, whose side had earlier scored 19 goals in five games in the 2019-20 season averaging 3.8 goals.
FC Goa’s attack will be the services of Spaniard Jorge Ortiz who had been instrumental in FC Goa unbeaten run in the last three games as he has been slapped with a two-match suspension. Defensively their stats aren’t good. This is only the third time FC Goa has failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last six games.
This season the Goan coach has almost more than half of the season to test himself as compared to his previous assignment at the club.
“This time around it’s a different feeling. I have chatted with the few senior players virtually. I will see what I want to do. I have a lot of thoughts. I am putting my thoughts into place and trying to see how we can achieve our goal,” stated Derrick, while addressing the pre-match conference on Thursday.
FC Goa have had their task cut short considering Odisha’s poor run in the league. Their back to back defeats in the campaign will boost Derrick and FC Goa’s hope of continuing their unbeaten run in the competition.
“We need to focus on our game. I have seen the players working hard. They are putting in a lot of effort. I am sure if they keep doing it we will get results in the near future,” stated Derrick on Odisha FC.
The Gaurs have a great record against Odisha FC as they defeated them on four occasions in the last two seasons.
