SC East Bengal Head Coach, Manuel ‘Manolo’ Diaz while addressing a press conference talked about derby, preparation of team for ISL and chances of SC East Bengal.
He said that he gets reminded of Kolkata derby all the time. He also said that he has seen the Madrid derby of years and he understand the importance of a derby. After coming to India everyone has talked about the derby – Players, staffs and members. But he wants to go step by step as derby will be the second match for Red & Gold Brigade.
Moreover, he said that ATK Mohun Bagan, as a squad is playing together for years and on the other hand SC East Bengal started their camp for two and half months earlier, but still the team will give their best so that they can bring smile to the Red & Gold fans.
East Bengal have played three friendlies against Vasco SC, Salgaocar FC and Gokulam Kerala. The coach said that the coaching staffs are assessing players closely match by match. After being evaluated during friendlies and training, eight of the players were released from the squad. Coach Manolo, though, says the decision to cut down on the squad was a professional call.
He said that though the team has started everything late but the team will take it step-by-step, week-by-week, match-by-match, because that’s the best way to improve the level. Finally, he said that he is aware of last season’s performance but he is optimistic about SC East Bengal in this season’s ISL.
