After NorthEast United FC’s win against Kerala Blasters FC in their first match of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), they would have gone into their fixture against Atlético de Kolkata with plenty of confidence. However, despite again impressing with their display, they fell to a well-drilled Kolkata side. Although manager Ricki Herbert was obviously disappointed by the result, he felt his side “were the best team by miles tonight.” He thus drew plenty of positives from “I thought we passed the ball very well. We had such long periods of dominating the game,” the New Zealander said. He went on to assert, “For a franchise with a lot of young kids, I thought the best players were probably on our side tonight.”Herbert singled out midfielders Zodingliana and Milan Singh for special praise. “Milan was excellent tonight, up against Luis García. And Zodingliana was the best player on the pitch!”Ultimately, however, Herbert understands that the result is what matters. “We got nothing from the game, and we need to learn and be strong about that, and accept that we do need to be better,” he said.The manager has already pinpointed the things his team will work on ahead of their next match, stressing on the need to be more clinical up front. “We had so much of possession in and around the front third of the pitch. We needed to just be a little more decisive and give ourselves better chances to score,” Herbert said. “We’ll have to work on that. I think we just need to be clever in the front of the pitch.”Herbert is certain that NorthEast will make their mark on this league, citing the youthful exuberance in the squad as an advantage for the rest of the season. “I’m going to invest in these young kids, and give them the confidence and courage to play football like it should be played,” the veteran Kiwi manager exclaimed. He added, “We’re going to be playing with a lot of confidence. And I think the confidence in these young boys is going to keep growing. In time, this is going to be a very strong franchise.”Looking ahead to their next fixture, a home game on Sunday against FC Goa, Herbert is sure that his players will be able to deliver all three points. “We’ll be here on Sunday, and very confidently, based on what I’ve seen today, and the players coming on, we’re going to have a full squad to choose from and we’re just going to keep getting better.”His assertion that the full squad is available was also confirmation that skipper Miguel García and defender Robin Gurung will be ready to play, after being rested for the game against Kolkata. Of his Portuguese centre half, Herbert informed, “Miguel has a slight a calf strain. He’s a real talent, arguably one of the best centre halves of the league, from what we’ve seen so far. So he’s important to us, he’s the captain of the side and we were cautious tonight.” Meanwhile, Herbert said that Indian defender Gurung had a similar injury. “Robin’s got the same thing. He’s got a tight calf, which had the potential of being worse, for four or five weeks.”Herbert signed off by sounding a warning to the rest of the league. “If we can keep dominating the games like we did tonight and be better in that final third, I think that we’re going to be somebody that people are going to fear playing.”
