Head Coach Derrick Pereira in FC Goa training session.
The 2021-22 ISL season has been difficult for FC Goa. As the ninth-place team, the Gaurs have won only three games and have 14 points. In their last game, Jamshedpur FC defeated Goa 1-0.
As FC Goa takes Odisha FC, Head Coach Derrick Pereira said the team will stick to its possession-based style of football in the pre-match press conference.
“I wouldn’t say that we would change our style. We have to, and will stick to our philosophy,” he explained.
“However, at times, there will be a Plan B to explore the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents. More importantly, we also need time on the training pitch to work on such plans–which we rarely got during January. Hopefully, things become better in the next month, and hopefully, the results also get better as a result.”
While talking about their previous game, Derrick Pereira said that the 1-0 result was disappointing. “We’re all very disappointed. We always go in for games with an intent to perform to the best of our abilities. Despite it being so, the ball wouldn’t go in. And as usual, some decisions also didn’t go in our favour, and that is also one of the reasons why we’re struggling this season,” the tactician explained.
Pereira also talked about the midfield talisman Brandon Fernandes' return after a long injury lay-off. The Indian international started in their last game, playing for 82 minutes and created three chances.
"Brandon is one of our key players, and we missed him in many of our games due to his injury. Now that he’s back, you’d have seen how important he is to the team. His presence has made a lot of difference, and going forward, his performances will give us a lot of options in attack," Pereira said when asked about the player.
While Fernandes is expected to feature again on Tuesday, FC Goa is yet to confirm the availability of Glan Martins and Jorge Ortiz.
“Glan had an individual training session yesterday, and today he will train with the team. Ortiz is also in the same situation and hopefully they will be included in the squad for tomorrow. We will be monitoring them closely today,” the head coach revealed.
The Gaurs were crippled with injuries and many Covid-19 cases throughout January. Discussing this situation, Pereira said, “The month of January has been difficult for us. Players couldn’t go out because of the COVID-19 situation and, as a result, training was also affected. After several days, we were allowed to get out of our rooms yesterday, to at least have our meals in the common dining area.”
“Hopefully, this will help our players mentally and help them focus on the footballing aspects of our remaining matches. In our past few games, our intent has been to go for the win and get those three points. It will stay the same tomorrow, with six matches remaining for us in the league stage,” Derrick Pereira signed off.