BFC coach Marco Pezzaiuoli for attacking football

With their Asian campaign a month away, Bengaluru FC returned to training after a short break at the Bangalore Football Stadium with new head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli taking charge of the team.

The Blues’ AFC Cup Preliminary Stage Two fixture is set to be held on April 14 at the GMC Bambolim Stadium in Goa and 22 players took part in Friday’s session, including three boys from the club’s reserve squad.

Among the absentees were captain Sunil Chhetri, who is recovering after testing positive for Covid-19, and new signing Yrondu Musavu-King who is yet to join the squad.

Following his first session with the team, Pezzaiuoli - who was with Eintracht Frankfurt U-19 as technical director in his last assignment - gave his thoughts on the team, his plans and more.

Excerpts:

How was the training session?

The first session was good, maybe a little bit intense. But I thought the players liked it because they started playing and training at high intensity. All the players gave 100 percent, which is very important as a team. Football is fun and I see they enjoyed it. We also brought some young players. It's up to them and what they show in training. Maybe that is why the club chose me as I used to work with young talent to bring into the pro team.

What made you choose Bengaluru FC?

I met Mandar (Tamhane, CEO) and he told me about his project. One part is to bring young players to the first team from our academy, maybe also from outside. The second is to be at the top. The club did not say we want it tomorrow, its a development. But in the end, we need to win. I came here to win as much as possible.

What kind of football can we expect from your team?

Offensive football, active football. We (will) try to give opponents a lot of stress to get the ball early. I like to play with the ball, create situations. The system depends on the players. I need to see and find the right system for the AFC Cup.

Any challenges in implementing your style?

I think the difficult part is with the ball. The coaches before have worked very hard in tactics against the ball. The base the Spanish coach (Carles Cuadrat) has created, I saw in the training, very important to have this base when you want to be active with the ball. Maybe you need to change one or two things but not the entire style. We got a central defender because Juanan is injured and we need a left-footed central defender for stability. It is a small, [but] key point in the team’s success.

What are the positives in the team?

The character of this team is very, very good. The team fights for 90 minutes, no team does this usually when there is nothing on the line. The team missed a lot of players and that allowed young players a chance to get the feel of playing first division.

Is a squad transition needed?

Of course, we need to change some things but we have high-quality players. In the end, it's the quality (and not age) that is important. We need to bring the younger player into the team step by step. Also (it's about) what the (transfer) market gives. Every player who comes in need to make the team better.