"We gave presents to the opponent" - Chennaiyin FC coach Thomas Brdaric slams errors after ISL 2022-23 defeat to Hyderabad FC

Chennaiyin FC head coach Thomas Brdaric believes his side were made to pay for their errors by Hyderabad FC in their ISL 2022-23 encounter. The two teams clashed at the 'Marina Arena' in Chennai on Saturday, December 3.

An evenly contested first half gave away to a dominant second-half display from the visitors. Hyderabad deservedly opened the scoring in the 65th minute through Halicharan Narzary.

Ajith Kumar's red card seven minutes later put the hosts at a disadvantage before Chinglensana Singh and Borja Gonzalez sealed the win for the Nizams. Petar Sliskovic got a goal back shortly after Hyderabad's second strike, but it proved to be a mere consolation.

All three goals scored by Manolo Marquez's men came after Chennaiyin failed to adequately clear the ball from their own box. This was a major point of frustration for Brdaric.

When questioned by Sportskeeda about his team's defensive culpabilities, the German tactician responded:

"When you see how we conceded the goals, it's too simple. We gave presents to the opponent. We can clear the ball out of the danger zone [but] we cleared it to the feet of the opponent, they shot and scored. It's very simple."

Brdaric went on to add about the difference in class between the Marina Machans and reigning ISL champions Hyderabad:

"We are not able to clear the ball from the danger zone and this is what we have to understand - if we show the opponent these kinds of foolish things, they will punish us. This is a class of difference - that's why they have 19 points and we have 10."

The Chennaiyin boss was also unhappy with his team's inability to take their chances in attack. Brdaric's side forced a couple of good saves from Gurmeet Singh in the first half, but often couldn't supply the killer pass in the final third. On this, he said:

"It was a really hard-fought game. If you get opportunities against top teams, you have to exploit it. We had 3-4 opportunities [in the first half] and against top teams, you don't get more. We weren't able to produce those kind of chances [after that]."

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"In some spells, we were very good" - Chennaiyin FC boss Brdaric doesn't belive it's all doom and gloom after loss to Hyderabad FC

Despite missing a few chances, Chennaiyin FC played on the front foot and matched Hyderabad FC step for step in the first half. They also did well to make it 2-1 in the latter stages despite being a man down, though that was eventually to no avail.

Looking at some of the positives from a difficult loss, Thomas Brdaric said:

"In my opinion, the way [we play] is decisive, not to win or to lose. We have to understand that every match is important to learn. If we learn from our foolish mistakes, we will improve because not everything is bad. In some spells, we were very good.

"It was a tough match and the team showed good character. But we have to concentrate 100% for 90 minutes."

Brdaric also believes the team have coped well at times with the absence of starting midfielders Anirudh Thapa and Jiteshwor Singh. Both players missed the match against Hyderabad due to injury. The Chennaiyin coach indicated that the team will improve once the duo are back and will aim to recover from this setback:

"We have good acts and good balance [despite] missing players like Thapa and Jiteshwor. It's very simple - we need all of them and have to keep going in a positive way, to fall down and stand up all together."

He concluded by stating that he was confident of turning the tide around for the Marina Machans, who have now lost four of their eight ISL 2022-23 matches:

"I'm okay with the situation and know how to deal with that. We have to work hard, to have hardworking mindsets and be strong physically to win these kinds of matches. This is what we will try to implement next week."

Next up, Chennaiyin FC will take on NorthEast United FC in Guwahati on December 10.