Our boys tried really hard: Jamshedpur FC’s Khalid Jamil
The Men of Steel dealt a significant blow to their playoff hopes after suffering a defeat to Mohun Bagan Super Giant.
Jamshedpur FC head coach Khalid Jamil lauded the work ethic of his players despite them going down 3-0 to Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Friday.
The home side was in the driving seat from the first whistle, and it only took them seven minutes to break the deadlock through Dimitri Petratos. Both sides created more clear-cut chances, but it remained 1-0 at the break. The Mariners continued their dominance in the second half, and they added more goals to their name through Jason Cummings (68’) and Armando Sadiku (80’), putting an end to Jamshedpur FC's unbeaten run.
Jamil appeared dissatisfied with some of his decisions today, as he feels his side should have done better from the beginning of the match. However, he seemed happy with the work rate of his players, and he aims to bounce back in the next match.
“Our boys tried really hard. But I think it was my (tactical) mistake. When you play away from home, you need a good start (which we didn't have),” Jamil stated in the post-match press conference.
“But the good part is everybody worked very hard and we have to bounce back again (in the next match),” he added.
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Jamil made a strategic move just before the break by substituting Javier Siverio with Rei Tachikawa. While the change did yield some positive results, the team still struggled with wastefulness in front of goal, failing to make the right choices.
When addressing the missed opportunities, the head coach stated, “Somehow, it didn't click today. Like it happened in the other matches.”
Indian international Manvir Singh set up both Dimitri Petratos and Jason Cummings for their goals, and it was also his cross that deflected to Armando Sadiku before the Albanian slotted it into the top corner.
Jamil reflected on the performance of the winger and the three foreign players who got their names on the scoresheet tonight.
“Manvir (Singh) is one of the best players we have in India. He is a quality player and he must continue (playing) like this,” he opined.
“Talking about the foreigners, they have the best foreign players - all of them are quality players. Individually they are very good and they have one or two quality players in every position,” Jamil stated.
Jamshedpur FC remained in the sixth position in the points table with 20 points from 18 matches, one point above seventh-placed NorthEast United FC, who have two games in hand.
The remaining four matches are now crucial for the Men of Steel as they aim to maintain their position inside the top six at the end of the season.
However, Jamil now wants to take a game-by-game approach and aims to bounce back, completing the double over Mumbai City FC in the next game.
“I don't think of too far. I am currently thinking about the next game which is at our home against Mumbai City FC. They are also similar to Mohun Bagan Super Giant, they have good foreigners as well as Indian players. So we have to work hard,” he commented.