After being considered as one of the front-runners to take the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 title home thanks to their splendid attacking display, FC Goa were stopped on their tracks by eventual champions Chennaiyin FC in the semi-finals. Hence, in 2018-19, the Gaurs would be charged up to gift the Goa faithful their maiden Hero ISL trophy. 

At the final Hero ISL Media Day event held in Mumbai, indiansuperleague.com caught up with Goa’s assistant coach Jesus Tato, Mandar Rao Dessai and Ferran Corominas to find out their thoughts ahead of the new season.

Balance is the key

Goa scored a massive 42 goals last season, the maximum by any club in a single season. However, their defensive loopholes negated their attacking prowess in the long-run and hence, finding the right balance will be of utmost importance for Goa this season. In the absence of head coach Sergio Lobera, Tato was present to address the media. He agreed on this very aspect and said, “Yes, it’s (balance) very important. We want to improve this season, but we have now changed our style. We want to use possession with players, create a lot of chances and score a lot of goals. But it’s real that we have to improve our defensive line, but I think the new players can help us this season.”

Though Goa managed to retain last season’s top goal-scorer Corominas in the squad, his strike partner and one half of the deathly duo, Manuel Lanzarote has signed for ATK this season. But Tato is of the opinion that though Lanzarote is a great player, his absence will not be an issue. “This is not a problem for us. We don’t need only one player to take the shoes off Lanza. We have a lot of new players with high quality and I’m sure they can help us push and score goals. I’m sure at the end of the season, we won’t miss Lanza,” he asserted.

New leader of the pack

After a brilliant 2017-18 season, Dessai has been handed over the captain’s armband by the coach, an honour he would love to relish. When asked if he believes Goa has it in them to claim the title, the 26-year-old answered, “Yes, it’s really important to be in the top four in the league. Last time we did well, everyone enjoyed the way we played and we made it to the semi-finals but unfortunately, we couldn’t make it to the final. But I think we have been improving on our mistakes and learning a lot of things from our last season. This year we are first trying to be in top four and then look up to the semi-finals and final.”

He also shared his opinion on what positive and negative factors the team has ahead of the new season, “I think when we talk about the positive thing, it is the same. Everyone likes the style in which we play - keeping the ball possession and the attacking side as well. I think that’s the most important thing. Talking about a disadvantage, it’s conceding a lot of goals last season. We have been improving on that and we’ve got new players and that strengthens us at the back. It will be a good team this season.”

All eyes on the trophy

After the departure of Lanzarote, the Goa fans breathed a sigh of relief when their talisman from last season, Corominas decided to extend his stay. However, the Spaniard believes his former partner’s absence this season around won’t affect the team much. “Lanzarote was an important player for the team but there is nothing more important than the overall aspect of the squad. There are a lot of players on the team and we don’t need to focus on specifics of any one particular player. There are a lot of players that can do a lot for us so the idea is to provide the right atmosphere and right aspect on the pitch,” he stated.

He also reaffirmed his belief that this may be the season where Goa can win their maiden title. “We hope the one big difference will be that we will win the title this year. That’s the one thing we didn’t achieve last year and we want to go ahead and do it this year. Yes, we have a new shirt, new players and everything, but hopefully, the target is the same as last year, as it should be. But other than that, we will just try to lift the championship,” he said.

FC Goa begin their 2018-19 campaign away at NorthEast United FC on October 1.