Capital club, Delhi Dynamos FC will be looking for their first win in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 when they host NorthEast United FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Lions have failed to adapt to the tactical demands of head coach Josep Gombau so far, but they haven’t played poorly in any of their games either. 

Ahead of the game, the Spaniard spoke to reporters at the pre-match press conference. The Dynamos have found the back of the net only thrice this season – a statistic that Gombau wants to address right away. “Tomorrow is the day that we will start to score goals. Boys are doing well. I think that in Mumbai even though we lost, we had 20 shots on goal but just six on target. We had 19 crosses, we had more than 400 passes, 555 touches, 58% of possession. Everything is there but the most important thing is to score goals. Today we were discussing with the players that we are close. We have a lack of confidence because we have all these chances and we don’t score. This is something that can affect the team. But I hope that we will be strong tomorrow here at home in front of our fans,” he said.

Apart from scoring, keeping clean sheets has also been a problem for the Lions. Gombau, however, suggested that his team’s inability to keep clean sheets is merely a consequence of his side’s attacking mindset rather than an indication of defensive deficiencies. “We are conceding in transition in counter attacks because we are playing a lot of attacking football. We are playing most of the times in our opponent’s half. We are having the ball, we are having this chance. And this means that when we lose the ball there is big space behind us and other teams are profiting of this. Honestly, I think we are defending well because what we need to do is avoid losing the ball easily. We must make better decisions when we have the ball and avoid the moments when we lose the ball,” Gombau opined.

The former La Masia youth coach concluded his pre-match media duties by insisting that all his players believe in his philosophy and know that they deserve more. “I think that players know this game. Players have experience. Players know that in terms of football we are doing well. You cannot try and say something to a player and try to say something that is not true. They are playing the games. They are watching the replays. They know exactly what they are doing. We are having the ball, we are creating the chances, it’s just that we are failing to score. And of course, this is something that’s difficult for them but the moment we start scoring, we have a good team... We deserve more and I hope tomorrow will be the day,” the 42-year-old said.

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