Chennaiyin FC coach Bozidar Bandovic wants players to raise their level if they want to be in the semi’s

Chennaiyin FC head coach Bozidar Bandovic was heavily critical of his team after they fell to a shocking 0-5 defeat at the hands of FC Goa in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22 match at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco, Goa. The Chennai team went into the game looking for some valuable 3 points which would have brought them closer in their pursuit for the semi-final places. However, this wasn’t to be as the team didn’t show up and were not able to push through the Goan defense.

Jorge Ortiz netted a hat-trick as the Gaurs blew away Chennaiyin FC in the first half taking a 4-0 lead. Chennaiyin FC did well to concede just one goal in the second half but the damage was already done.

With the defeat, their chances of qualifying for the semi-final are very slim given their poor goal difference of -11.

Bandovic spoke to the media after the match.

Here are the excerpts from the press conference:

Can you explain the match in words?

Ridiculous. Very bad game for us. We started very badly, conceding the first three goals. It was bad defending. It was a very bad day for us.

You were 4-0 down at half-time. What did you tell the players?

What I said stays between me and my players. We had a very bad day but we have to stay positive and try in the next game and think hard about it because the picture of the team was bad today.

Do you take out any positives from this game at all?

I can take the positive that Deepak Devrani had a good game. He played the first game from the start and he did very well.

Can the 5-0 defeat impact the team mentality negatively in the final four games?

We have to try to not let this happen. It’s a bad game. In football, sometimes we lose, sometimes we win. We conceded many goals but we need to come back. We have 6-7 days we need to come back and not let this repeat again. I don’t remember when my team conceded five goals.

Your goal difference is very bad and so even if you win all the games would the goal difference be the defining factor in you not reaching the semi-finals?

If we play like this then we can’t go to the semi-finals. We need to be much better to win the games and we need to be focused, concentrate, and show discipline. Today we were totally out of the game.