After a disappointing 2017-18 campaign in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), Delhi Dynamos FC will be looking to get back on track when they begin their 2018-19 season with a home encounter against FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday. Josep Gombau, who has been appointed as the new head coach, will be hoping for a positive result in his first game in charge. The Spaniard was present at the pre-match press conference a day prior to the match to answer the media’s questions.

Gombau started off by speaking about the side’s preparations for the season, including their pre-season trip to Kolkata. “The team has been working for the last six weeks in the pre-season. We trained in Kolkata and we worked hard even after that, for two weeks there. We are ready to play this first game and all of us are looking forward to tomorrow. Hope we can play a good game.”

Given his Spanish roots, Gombau will be expected to bring a new and refreshing brand of football to the club. Going into the tie, he was hopeful that the team’s efforts result in a victory. “The first game for everybody is always difficult because in the first game the expectations are always high. Sometimes, it’s difficult on the players, as they get nervous. But, I expect we can play the football we are working on in every training session. I hope we have a good game and of course, win the game.”

Speaking about his side’s Indian contingent of players, the 42-year old was impressed with their abilities, signalling out their hunger and motivation. “We have a good pool of Indian players in the squad and something I like about that is, we have a lot of known players, which is good. One of the things you are assured is that they have hunger and they want to do well. Also, they want to achieve something big at this stage. I’m happy with the players that I have. We have five U-23 players in the squad and four of them are going to the Indian national team. So, we have good Indian players in the squad.”

Continuing on the same note, Gombau said that his players should find it easy to adapt to his demands and style of play. “The style of football we are willing to play is very similar to last year. Most of the Spanish coaches have the same approach. And I think, most of the players did well in pre-season and I like what I’m watching and also a few players already know the style. Players who played in Kolkata like Bikram (Bikramjit Singh) and Pritam (Kotal), who played under coach Jose Molina. The players are comfortable with the style and that’s not a big problem.”

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