Delhi Dynamos coach Gianluca Zambrotta had quite a few things to say in his pre-match press conference ahead of his side's clash with Mumbai City FC.
The Italian spoke about NorthEast United, praising the side for their performance in the draw against his team.
“We had a very good match against NorthEast, they are the best team in the league for a reason and it showed in their quality of play. We had a lot of opportunities against them. We understand the need to learn on how to capitalise after creating so many chances. We will need to change our strategy and mentality to finish off games like these,” said Zambrotta about the NorthEast team.
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When asked about his approach of building play from defence, Zambrotta admitted he was open to different styles of play based on the opposition. He said, “If the opposition are pressing a lot, then we need to build our attack in the way to avoid mistakes. If the opposition is sitting deep and relying on pace and counter, then we can play from the defence and deny them their style.”
Zambrotta also addressed concerns of his side’s alleged tactical inflexibility, and when he was asked why his team had lined up in the same formation for all their games till date, the Italian replied, “We do prepare each match keeping mind the opposition. The reason you may be seeing a similar style or formation is because we believe it’s important to have our identity, our plan. Maybe we change something tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be so radical that it changes the team’s identity and DNA.”
Zambrotta on the support from the home crowd
The former Barcelona defender also spoke about the importance of fans who come in to support the team:
“When you play at home, it’s very exciting for player and coach and every supporter. It’s comforting and gives a lot of confidence. The stadium was almost full and we thought it was a great turn out all around. The other team’s supporters also showed up in good numbers. But I think for us, crowd support is important and helped us play at the level that we did in the last game.”
Delhi are 4th in the ISL standings and will be looking to climb up the table. Having played only 3 games they will be looking to take advantage of their game in hand.
