Carles Cuadrat: Our target is to get to the play-offs

Bengaluru FC‘s next test in the Indian Super League (ISL) arrives in the form of Hyderabad FC that is languishing at the bottom of the table. It has only been a couple of weeks since the Nizams announced that former Bengaluru FC manager Albert Roca will take over as head coach from next season.

Current Bengaluru coach and former assistant to Roca, Carles Cuadrat expressed his confidence in his friend and maintained that Hyderabad will be a tough side to beat, with all players fighting for contracts.

“They have changed their tactics and are trying to work in a different way. I don’t consider this as a game against my friend Albert Roca as he won’t be here. He is a very good signing but he is not there yet. He is just consulting and will be here for the next season. I am sure they will do well next season. But tomorrow the most dangerous thing for us are their players and their coach. They want to show everybody that they are good enough to be on the team for the next season. You can see that they were trying int the last game and I think we will see it again tomorrow,” he explained.

“We lost two points in Hyderabad. They were also at the bottom at that moment. We have seen how the league has been competitive. You saw that was the case in the last game between Goa and Kerala and I expect such a game against Hyderabad,” he added. 

There have been whispers that Odisha FC boss Josep Gombau and Chennaiyin FC coach Owen Coyle are in favour of reducing the number of foreigners in a team. While Cuadrat believes that in the long run, having more Indian players will help the development of the sport in the country, bringing about a radical change with one rule could be disastrous.

“I can say that they (Owen Coyle, Josep Gombau) didn’t say that. You have to be progressive. We have some kind of level in Indian football. It (progress) has to be step by step but if we make it sudden because of a rule, it can be dangerous. You have to give the youngsters the opportunity at the right moment. It is not easy to just say you need eight Indian players to play. The competition is tough and this won’t help them. Last week I decided it was the right decision to play Suresh in the line-up and I think that he did well. That was the right moment to call him. Of course, we have to have more Indian players but we need to think the right plan which can help these players, the club and the national team,” the Spaniard said.

Carles was asked if the defending champions are under pressure heading into the business end of the season with an intense tussle that also involves FC Goa and ATK. He maintained that the objective is to make it to the play-offs and that he is happy with how the team has managed to stay in the top-four so far.

“I don’t feel the pressure. I think that we have our finals and we need to get as many points as possible. Goa and ATK will be ahead of us if they win all the games so there is no pressure on us. We will try to win all our games. I told on the first day that our target is to get to the play-offs. I am happy because we are in the spot for play-offs. We have shown everyone that we are trying to become the first side to win back-to-back titles.”

The Spanish gaffer confirmed that new signing Nili Perdomo will be a part of the matchday squad against Hyderabad but Raphael Augusto, Rino Anto and Eugeneson Lyngdoh will miss the game due to injury.

“He (Perdomo) is going to be on the list tomorrow. We have problems with Raphael (Augusto). Rino (Anto) and Eugeneson (Lyngdoh) also have injuries.

“The new player is one of the Barcelona products, He is not a winger, he can play a lot of different positions. It is very important for a coach like me to play players in different positions. Last season we became champions because we had a lot of players who gave us a lot in different positions at different phases.

“We have two competitions, so everyone will get opportunities,” he concluded.