Naushad Moosa, East Bengal vs BengaluruISL

'No pressure on Bengaluru' - Naushad Moosa hopes to give chances to youngsters against Jamshedpur

Bengaluru are set to end their 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign with an inconsequential tie against Jamshedpur on Thursday.

"The players look normal and are doing their best in training. The only thing is, there is not much pressure now. Till the last game, we had that feeling that we needed to go out there and win the match. So we just want to go out and finish it in a nice way," voiced the Blues' interim coach, Naushad Moosa.

"We are playing a tough opponent with an experienced coach (Owen Coyle) who wants to finish on a high note. So it's very important that I have a balanced side but we'll try to have more youngsters tomorrow," he added.

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Besides the fact that the team lacked quality due to forced changes for various fixtures, the 49-year-old rued inconsistent results such as the 0-0 draw against Chennaiyin and the 2-1 defeat to Goa in their last match.

"Winning the East Bengal game and then going down to Chennaiyin, and now winning against Mumbai and then (going down to FC Goa), the consistency was not there. The way everybody was focused, we were always positive, trying to see if we could make it. Nobody wanted to accept that we are not a good team that cannot make it. We were always there trying to give our best," he avered.

Upon conclusion of the ISL season, the Indian national team is set to hold a camp in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Bengaluru 'B' team coach revealed that he has been in touch with Blue Tigers' coach Igor Stimac.

Igor Stimac Indian national team trainingAIFF Media

"I'm always in touch with him. The idea was for him to see how the team is performing. We have been recording the training sessions so that he can have a look at them. It's only when we get back to Bangalore that we discuss what needs to be worked on with individual players. Leon (Augustine) has still not recovered. He (Stimac) wanted to have a look at Leon. I wanted to try Biswa (Darjee) but he got a hamstring today," Moosa informed.

Moosa claimed to have gained a lot of experience that can be of use to incoming Bengaluru coach Marco Pezzaiuoli who is set to take charge ahead of the club's AFC Cup engagements.

"Earlier, it was only my feedback to the coach but never a discussion about how the team should be functioning. So this will help me in the next season (with regard to) what I need to work on the youngsters. The level of pressure is totally different from what is expected in the reserve squad to out here in the ISL. This (interim coach experience) will also help me in guiding Marco since he's new to our country from the experience I have from these 11 games," Moosa continued.

"Leon really impressed me but unfortunately he got injured. Parag (Shrivas) has done well in attack but he needs to improve defensively. Ajith (Kumar) was very good with Chennai City but when it comes to the ISL, he was not expressing himself. Definitely, next season these players will be more of an ISL level," he instanced.

Naushad Moosa, East Bengal vs BengaluruISL

Moosa also added that he will term himself ready for a role as head coach at an ISL outfit only when he is certain of a few things.

"Any coach who wants to grow always dreams of that but I'm taking my time because I love to learn. In these 10 matches, I feel that I still need some time. Maybe next season I need to learn something from Marco and see what I can learn from what I learned from Carles and [Albert] Roca. Of course, the dream is to one day take charge of an ISL team but it's not like if I get an opportunity, I will just take it. If I do it, I want to stay there and make sure that we do well," he stated.

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