He was a good coach but needed more time: Chennaiyin FC interim boss Syed Sabir Pasha on Bozidar Bandovic

Under new boss Syed Sabir Pasha, Chennaiyin FC played a much more expansive, attacking brand of football and sealed a thrilling 2-2 draw against Odisha FC in their last game. Former head coach Bozidar Bandovic was heavily criticized by fans for sticking to a defensive system.

However, the interim coach opined that Bandovic didn't do a 'bad job' but needed more time to execute his system. Syed Sabir said:

"I want to tell you that he was a good coach. So everybody needs to understand that. He had produced results before and that's why we had brought him here. But he was confident in one setup and needed more time, to my knowledge, which he didn't have."

"He didn't want to change (his system) because he was comfortable and had produced results with that formation. He felt that we had to strengthen our defense. He didn't do a bad job. The only thing that he lacked was that the players weren't in their comfort zone."

Chennaiyin FC will face Owen Coyle's Jamshedpur FC next, who are a compact side. Asked by Sportskeeda how the Marina Machans will approach the game, Syed Sabir said:

"It will be difficult. Jamshedpur FC are a team that plays direct football and I have worked with Owen Coyle and he is a very good coach. So they'll go for the win, for the three points. But we know what they are going to do and how they are going to play. So we are ready for that. We just have to execute things that we have been working on in the field. Once we do that, I think everything will be good."

---

Nerijus Valskis opens up about playing under former Chennaiyin FC boss Bozidar Bandovic

Against Odisha FC, Nerijus Valskis scored his first goal since his return to Chennaiyin FC in the winter transfer window. Not only did the Lithuanian forward fail to score in his first seven games, Valskis mostly had his back towards goal when he received the ball. The striker opined that he was operating too far from deep. He said:

"For me, it's not about a problem with this formation or another. But we had to do too much defending (under the previous coach). I felt like I'm not a striker but a midfielder. This was the reason why I didn't have any chance in the first seven games. And you know when you're a striker and you don't have any chance, how you can score? What can you do?"