BARASAT: Though admitting that his side were not up to the mark in the first three matches – two of which were at home – in the Asian Champions Trophy, Head Coach Goutam Ghosh in an interview with www.the-aiff.com ahead of AIFF XI’s third Group A return fixture with Frenz United Malaysia A, tries to clear the air on what exactly is ‘development’ and how the buzzword for youth teams was never used to paper over cracks.

Conceding at the death in two consecutive matches at home where we are expected to win. How much does this affect the U-16 Boys’ mental makeup going into the third home game?

It affects the mental make-up of the Boys. But we cannot let the dust settle there. They have to understand the fact that with every game their stamina is improving. We are making them realise that. We are forcing them to get up and give that extra bit.

What do you mean by giving that extra bit?

In the first match against (Frenz United) Malaysia we conceded in the 63rd minute. Then at home against (Frenz United) Indonesia it took them till the 83rd minute to breach our defense. And in the last game against (PVF) Vietnam they equalised in injury time.

What does that mean?

It boils down to fitness. Five of our players had cramps after the first home game. We did not have any in the last game. The boys are improving on their fitness. This is also development.

Is it only because of fitness that the team has garnered only one point from three matches?

When you cannot give your best on the pitch physically, when you start feeling tired and fatigued all tactics automatically go out of the window. When I know that my players can play for 100 minutes without their energy levels dropping, I feel happy.

We are striving towards that. That is development. We have not lost by a landslide in any of the matches.

One point from three matches of which two were at home. Who do you look back at those two matches?

As I said, development is those additional 20 minutes we hung on after the second game. That we pulled up our socks after conceding in the 65th minute against Malaysia in the first match.

But we have not been good enough. We have to fare better and we all know that. We are under no illusions. But the fact that we are striving towards putting in that extra bit to yield better results is also development. We want to win, and are doing all to reverse our fate. Work on our mistakes. This is all part of development.

Is the expression ‘development is more important than results’ for Youth Teams overused?

The word should not be used to cover up mistakes. In the last three matches, we have been bad. Let’s put it straight. We became tired in the last ten minutes and fell flat. But that does not mean that we are not developing. We are trying so hard to script the elusive win. Development lies there.

What do you make of Frenz United Malaysia?

Revenge is on our minds. It was a game which we could have won. All this might sound clichéd but it is a fact. We missed two to three sitters. We take the blame but they were lucky. At home we would want to tame them. Having said that they are a great side and we have to on our toes against them. We have to play out the entire ninety minutes.


By Debayan Mukherjee