It was relief for the City Boys to finally clinch our first win of the season, but even more pertinent was that we managed to stem the flow of goals against for the first time in the league.
Addressing the members of the media after the 2-0 win over Melaka United, head coach Bojan underlined the significance of the result for the confidence of the team.
“3 points (but) most important is (that) we didn’t concede a goal, because this was the problem (in) the first 3 games (against Selangor, Kedah DA and Johor DT) and we played quite well (today)”, describing the win.
“Melaka I think they had 1 chance and 2 free kicks meant that defensively we’re good”, he added.
The Croatian was also pleased with the offensive line’s efforts today, in which skipper Paulo Josue scored both goals, and explained that Romel was on the right path to recovery.
“Attackingly we created chances. Romel had a few chances but he’s not ready yet. Most important for striker is to enter (create) chance(s) and goals will come. He could have scored 3, 4 goals today but you can see that he was always somehow half a step behind and this is normal after a player didn’t play for a long time”.
Delving further into questions about Romel, the 50-year old tactician shared some insights on the team’s’ plan to get Romel firing again on all cylinders following his medial collateral ligament injury sustained during the Malaysia Cup final win.
“Look, after injury you need to start playing, and after (in the earlier matches) he (Romel) couldn’t play. Against JDT we tried 45 minutes, it was good. Today (vs Melaka United) he was 75 minutes on the field. Next game (vs Sabah) probably he will play full game. He can hold the ball of course, still he’s not fully fit. He can hold the ball, he can help the team. So I’m happy. With him we will get a lot.”
Continuing, Bojan said he was looking forward to Koubemba’s recovery, so that he could finally deploy the city slickers strongest attack.
“Within 1, 2 days with Kevin (Koubemba) but he’s almost okay..So now when we have 2 of them (Romel & Koubemba) and Paulo in attack, I think this part will be much stronger”.
Bojan also pointed out that the team was fatigued after the gruelling battle in midweek with Johor DT, hence not all their plans today were realised, and the Hang Tuah side had the advantage of having an day extra to recover compared the City Boys. Nevertheless, he was pleased to came out tops and was certain we are getting better.
“Difference between this game and JDT was only 2 days rest. So we are actually quite tired. We didn’t press, we couldn’t press how we want to press. (Maybe) We couldn’t run counterattack how we want. It’s still (a) difference when you have 2 days off or (compared to) 3 days off. I believe that tactically we were slightly better today but even vs JDT (tactically) was good. If there was no red card, it was quite a good game. Most important for me is that we are improving, we are back on track”.
When asked whether Melaka United were there for the taking after the predicament affecting their team was made known to the public (allegations that they were behind on salaries for their team members), Bojan disagreed, indicating that the opponent’s were a good side but felt the loss of their foreign trio of attackers to injury.
“We know about Melaka’s situation. I think that they played quite well. Problem is that they missed 3, 4 players especially (their) foreigners (forwards Ifedayo Olusegun, Adriano Aparecido Narcizo, Emmanuel Oti) and maybe attackingly they were not in the best shape but I think the way they played, the way they pressed, they way they held the ball, they looked good. So at the end, I think that we were slightly better in the final third, we had (the) better pass and scored when we had Romel”.
On whether he would retain the same starting line-up today for the next game at home to Sabah this Saturday, Bojan was non-committal.
“We’ll see. We’ll see. Zhafri also was involved today. He played 45 minutes, he played well. You know for (a) coach, (the) most important (thing) is (that) you have number(s) of players. So before, I had basically 11, 12 players, (despite having) these young boys who are still scared somehow to play but now with Zhafri back, with Kevin (Koubemba) back, with Romel back, now we have 14, 15 players. Safee also did (the) last 10 minutes, what we need from him, so that is 16 players already. So this is for (a) coach (the) most important thing.”
To read the match report of KL City vs Melaka U on 9/4/2022 (Super League), please click
kualalumpurfootball.com/…/were-back-in-business-city-boys-land-first-win-in-the-league
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