NorthEast United arrive in the city of seven islands with intentions of keeping their winning record intact in the Indian Super League. The visitors come into the match against Mumbai City FC on the back of two wins out of two. Nelo Vingada’s side will play their third match in six days against Mumbai on Friday and the coach believes the situation isn’t ideal.
“The rules are made. It’s strange. Delhi haven’t started playing and will play today (Thursday) and tomorrow we’ll play our third game. I don’t want to go inside the workings of the organization. I know it is difficult to combine the interest of all”, he said.
Coach, Nelo said that aspects like the climate and preseason preparations play a very significant role in the team’s performance.
“It is hard to play 3 games in 6 matches in these weather conditions. There is so much humidity and it is hot. It is very intense for us. If you ask me, I would like to play maybe 1 or 2 days later. But I’m very pragmatic. I say lets’ do it. No problem.
“Mumbai started their preseason earlier than us. We have had to do more work than most of the teams. We came for the first game with less than 5 weeks of preparation. This is not enough. But as I said, those were the conditions and we’ll play to the best of our abilities”, stated the coach.
Asked about how his team plans on overcoming Mumbai City FC, Coach, Nelo said that they will need to adopt a high-intensity approach to keep the visitors in check. “We have to defend well when the ball is with Mumbai. When I say we need to defend, we don’t need to defend only the goal. It’s also about pressing and recovering the ball. In the second game against Goa, we showed very good organization and closed down the spaces”, he pointed out.
Nelo Vingada was appointed as the head coach of NorthEast United after their previous coach, Sergio Farias controversially decided to leave the club just days after his appointment and headed to Suphanburi FC in Thailand.
Questioned about whether he is happy with the signings made this season, he said, “When I came, the club already had 5 foreigners who had signed a contract. I respect that. Could I have found other players? I don’t know”, he said.
“Gomes and Wellington Priori were my signings. Romaric the same. Alfaro the same. In total, we’re talking four players who were signed by me. I came in a little bit late but I’m happy. To be honest, the players that were chosen before my arrival are good and are helping the team”, he concluded.
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