New Delhi, 20 February 2009
I-League is our first priority
With ten continuous win in the I-League, Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa spoke to the-aiff.com about his team and plans.
AIFF: Congratulations first for having a stupendous run in the league
-- Thank you very much
Q1) Ten wins on a trot what is the reason behind this success rate
See any success whether in sports or any other business require the same ingredients which is hard work, character and personality, leadership. And since football is a collective game you can add team work and team spirit as well. At Mohun Bagan we have manage to assemble nicely theses ingredients and the results are there for all to see.
Q2) You had once said that you want Mohun Bagan to win every tournament is this performance a signal towards to it?
Before I join officially Mohun Bagan I thought about the challenges ahead and my decision to be the Head Coach of the team was deeply analysed and reflected. So since day one I had no illusions regarding the mission I have in hand and the expectations from the fans and the officials, I knew that the club is result orientated and there is no other alternative than working hard to achieve honors.
Q3) Mohun Bagan will be a part of the AFC Cup any special mental preparations that you are doing? Do you have any plans to play against foreign clubs before your tie?
Although I-League is our first priority but doing well in AFC is also very important because at this level we are not representing the whole Indian Football. The draw was not too fair for us as we have to play 3 team from gulf countries who are physically strong and have a lot of experience in such competition also 2 of the main contenders of this
competition are in our group. So we have to be well prepared and we will start our home work as soon as we get to know our opponents,first match will be against Al Karama of Syria we manage to get videos of their recent games when they were recently in camp in UAE and at the right time the team will view these games and we will provide the players with all the necessary information's.
Q4) You have coached Goan side Churchill Brothers as well when there were hardly any big names in it? How difficult was it for you to actually handle the likes of Baichung Bhutia, Barreto and others?
Well I would like to say that my job is not handling players but working with them. The club is divided into 3 categories: management, players, technical staff then you can add sponsors and fans as well.Everyone have a job to do and a role to play in this process and
everyone have to respect the job of the other that how it work and this is the professional way. I believe on that and I implement it wherever I go, I do respect every player and they do respect me, they need to feel important and respected. I must say that I am even
fortunate having Barretto and Bhaichung in the squad because they are mature, unselfish and good human being and there for I enjoy every moment working with them.
Q5) Ishfaq is known to be a very hard player how difficult is to handle a player like him when the tempo is up during the match?
Ishfaq is an exceptional player, he does have his weaknesses as nobody is perfect but his hard work is unmatched. He do loose at times his cool during matches when decisions are going unfairly against him but this is coming from the fact that he is a fighter and you do need such characters in the field. We do have talks regarding this issue and he is doing his best that his aggressive nature stays positive and that will help the team.
Q6) Having coached foreign clubs where do you think Indian clubs lack?
For the development of football in any country you need to take care of the foundations which is: Infrastructure, youth development, officials formation (coaches, physios, administrators) so I do believe that there is big margin of improvement in these fields. Of course this is not the only responsibility of the clubs but they must have the willing to work on this and they must be provided with the necessary help and assistance in this process by the governing bodies (sports and political authorities).
Q7) Another problem you have with you now is to handle Lalumpia? Is there any special training schedule that you have worked for him?
Puia is a gifted player no question about that but he is a sensitive player and lack proper guidance in his personal life. We know whats wrong and whats right in this situation and the main priority for the club is his carrier because if we manage to get the best out of him it will be a win win situation for him and for the club. So far we are going on the right direction.
Q8) Recently AFC got out with a rule that we can have four foreign players in the I League and out of them one should be from Asian country. How much impact would it have on our Indian players when it comes to playing together?
First of all we don't have anything official yet about the change,this is not new Japan was one of the first countries that implemented this rule. I think it will be good for Indian football only if Indian players managed to impress in the best leagues of Asia such as Japan, Qatar, Australia... it will be also a good step for Indian players toward European leagues.
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