Interview with Roberto Carlos: "Riise, Mulder, Chicao & Malouda are my 4 captains"

Carlos marshalling his troops vs Chennaiyin (Image courtesy ISL)

First home game and first win of the season! Seems Roberto Carlos’s pre-match prediction that the Dynamos will bring their A-game to the table when they step on their home turf here at the Jawahar Lal Stadium came true. Egged on by what was the largest recorded attendance at the venue in ISL history, the team representing the capital seized the initiative early with a goal from the Penalty spot and then defended stoutly to hold on for the win.

Talking after the match the gaffer seemed overjoyed and discussed in detail how they managed to overcome the spirited Chennaiyin boys.

Excerpts:

Addressing the media in post match interaction (Image courtesy ISL)

How would you rate your team’s performance today?

We were extremely good. Especially after the loss to Goa, I thought it was a brilliant effort to come here and perform this spendidly in front of our home fans.

Riise and Mulder’s were brilliant tonight. What are the kind of roles you want them to play on the field?

I always do my analysis in general. all the players performed well. But obviously Riise, Chicao, Mulder and Malouda are the leaders of the team, the four captains, and they have to be the pillars going forward too.

Are you happy with the team’s defensive performance?

My team was very strong physically. We were well positioned for all their attacks and that’s extremely satisfying.

Prior to the tournament, you said you will go all out attacking. But it faded as the game progressed. What do you feel about that?

This is normal in this heat. We were winning 1-0 so we were playing counter-attacks. Chennai didn’t have one shot on the target, so we altered our game plan. We used the speed of Mulder, Gadze and dos Santos to tackle their threats.

About the scoreline I don’t need to win 5-0, 1-0 still fetches me the same three points.

Yesterday, you said that fans come here for entertainment. Still content with 1-0?

Of course the fans want to see a lot of goals but we are just starting the competition. We will face difficulties in the next few games. The team is getting to know each other. They will do better as the league progresses and needless to say a a lot of goals will follow soon too.

What do you make about the penalty that was awarded in the first half? (the Chennaiyin coach was upset by the decision)

The referee was right, wasn’t he? I’m asking. I think he was!