Delhi Dynamos FC are back at home, determined to take three points off Mumbai City FC when they meet on Friday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. They are a more confident lot now after the boost they have acquired from their win against North East United FC a few days ago. Harm van Veldhoven, head coach of the Dynamos, made changes in the tactical organisation of the team in their last game, which sparked the win. However, he did not promise a repeat of the same tactics that brought him rich dividends. “Every game is different. It is important to make combinations and to score goals. We had tried out some new things with Gustavo dos Santos and Francis Fernandes, which worked well when we were away, but we have to see if it can work in every game,” van Veldhoven remarked at the pre-match press conference. “However, we cannot play with the same players all the time. We also have to analyse the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and choose the team accordingly for that particular game. Maybe we play in the same organisation but with different players,” he added. The Dutch gaffer conceded that his defence was put under severe scrutiny in the last match but his team had to resort to a defensive strategy because they were a player short (after midfielder Souvik Chakraborty was sent off just before half-time). “Even though we had more attacks on our goal in comparison to other games we have played, we also created more scoring opportunities,” he explained. “We want to win games and not just exhibit ball circulation. Moreover, when you are one player down it is harder to make changes. Keeping this in mind we did well by holding the game for 45 minutes with 10 players on the field.” Van Veldhoven believes that every player has a different role to play in the team and the need for a player depends upon the situation that lies ahead. When asked whether Alessandro Del Piero would have any role to play tomorrow, he remarked, “I don’t like to talk about any one player in the team. Everyone is working hard and we will try to use everybody as much as possible. Certain formations are suitable more for one player than the other. Del Piero is working hard and is important to us. We might use him for the next four games. It depends on the situation which is in front of us.” The Dynamos face a few injury concerns with Bruno Arias, Shylo Malswamtluanga and Wim Raymaekers not certain to make the cut tomorrow.
