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Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera voiced his dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the Indian Super League fixtures following their defeat to Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday, March 3.
Chennaiyin FC ended the Juggernauts’ 13-game unbeaten streak in the ISL, with Jordan Murray’s stoppage-time goal securing a 2-1 victory. While the loss dealt a significant blow to Odisha’s title aspirations, their immediate focus is the AFC Cup knockout tie against Australian outfit Central Coast Mariners.
During the post-match press conference, Lobera disclosed that the club had requested the league organizers to adjust the game timings. This would have facilitated a more favorable travel schedule for the team, given their upcoming match in Australia on March 7. However, that request was denied.
"The club requested to change the time of the game. If we played the game at 5:00 PM, we could have caught a flight and it would have been a better situation for us. It’s very painful. We asked to change the schedule because we played today and travel for more than 24 hours tomorrow (March 4)," Lobera explained.
"The jet lag when we reach Australia means that we can just train once before the game and we could be very tired. We are not only representing the club in the AFC competition, but we are also representing India. So the situation is difficult to understand. "
The situation is far from ideal, as the Spanish head coach also disclosed that his star midfielder Ahmed Jahouh requested to be substituted at half-time, citing tiredness as the reason. Lobera will be hopeful that his team can recover quickly from the intense fixture congestion in preparation for the AFC Cup clash.
"We need to improve and learn from the mistakes" - Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera
Chennaiyin FC’s approach to the game earned significant praise, as they effectively denied the Odisha FC players space and time on the ball.
Owen Coyle instructed his team to implement a full-on man-oriented press, and although the Juggernauts did create chances, the Marina Machans ultimately proved to be the superior side of the night, securing a memorable win.
Lobera believes that his side gave their all despite the scoreline. With just four games remaining, both Mumbai City FC and Mohun Bagan SG have the opportunity to overtake them at the top, but Lobera remains optimistic.
"We have faced this (man-to-man pressing) before and we competed well. Today, it was more about the performance of the opposition than ours. They are a strong team and they played very well today,” he said.
“We feel they were better than us in some situations. We need to improve and learn from the mistakes and we need to keep going because we are in a good situation and we need to keep going in the remaining four matches," he added,
The next couple of months hold a lot at stake for the Kalinga Warriors, but as Lobera has always emphasized, they will approach one game at a time.
Central Coast Mariners, currently second in the A-League, will come into the clash against Odisha on the back of five consecutive victories and the ISL outfit will undoubtedly face a challenging task when they travel to Australia.
