CHENNAI: When Chennaiyin FC’s substitute Bryce Miranda found Irfan Yadwad free in the counter-attack, it looked certain that the hosts were going to break the deadlock in Saturday’s derby clash against Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League. With just two minutes remaining, Yadwad had the opportunity to win the match for his team. As he received the ball, Amrinder Singh, Kerala’s custodian between the posts, came running towards him and took a position. Yadwad, meanwhile, took a touch and lobbed it, only to be parried away by the keeper and later cleared by the defender.
Fans at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium were on the edge of the seats but what followed next was the growls. As Yadwad covered his face with his hands, Chennaiyin’s wait for goals still continued. Their goal count still remains at one.
Head coach Clifford Miranda, however, sounded more optimistic at the press conference after the match. While he felt that the team deserved to win, he believed that the players should back themselves more. “I told them: Believe in yourself, back yourself up, get in the right positions, time your run, but most importantly, back yourself with the final touch. I've been asking them and telling them, of course, you train at different moments but in the match, what you require is more belief and composure, and persistence,” he said.
On the day, Chennaiyin looked like the team to score. Playing most of the game at the opposition’s box with the ball, the hosts did everything right from build-up to finding the right pass but could not put the ball in the back of the net. I think we were very good in all the moments of the game, you know, the four the four important moments of the game: attacking and defending, the way how we were pressing, also in transition to attack, okay, and also in transition to defend. The only thing that was lacking was the goal and, but in that, that's what mattered,” he said.
Miranda calls out CFC’s scheduling
Just like last season, Chennaiyin FC began this season with three away games on the trot, which the coach believed was not ‘balanced.’ “Three games away and then you play two home games is not a good thing. It should be at least two (away games) and one (home) or one (away) and one (home), which I think is more balanced, rather than playing three away and then come and play. I'm sure the ones who have made must have had reasons,” he said.
One of the reasons behind the scheduling could be the availability of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, owned and managed by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. As reported by this daily, Chennaiyin’s first home game was scheduled around this time of the season, with the stands and the pitch being prepared over the course of the month.
