‘Not worried about strikers cornering glory’

RIGHT ATTITUDE: Chennaiyin FC's Wadoo (left) and Dhanachandra Singh feel it is very good for a team to have good strikers who keep the ball in the opponent’s half. Photo: R.Ragu

Chennaiyin has been well served by its full-backs.

For a team that relies more on attacking flair and finesse, there is every possibility of the defenders performances go unnoticed. Especially, in the case of Chennaiyin FC, which has stars like Stiven Mendoza, Elano Blumer and Bruno Pelissari.

Chennaiyin has been well served by its full-backs, Dhanachandra Singh (left) and Mehrajuddin Wadoo (right). The Indians have played a crucial part when the team needed it the most (in the last two games at home against Kerala Blasters and Delhi Dynamos), the duo demonstrated the importance of full-backs with their link-ups.

Do they feel ignored when the strikers corner all the glory at the end? “No”, says the 31-year-old Wadoo.

“It is very good for a team if you have good strikers because they keep the ball in the opponent’s half. When they have the ball, the opponents are busy and we also get a chance to come up. If we don’t score, we come under pressure and concede goals.”

On the performance against KB and DD, Dhana says the team stuck to a plan and executed it wonderfully well. The 25-year-old from Imphal explains: “We wanted to see how the game goes in the first 15 minutes. Luckily we got the goal in the first half in both the matches. And that boosted our confidence. It became easy for us in the rest of the game.”

Playing with foreigners like Bernard Mendy, Alessandro Potenza, Elano, says Wadoo, has helped him understand what is ‘positioning’ in football. Admitting that his positioning earlier was not his forte, Wadoo says “My position on the field was not matching with the other players. Position of defenders is something very important. Sometimes, (centre-backs) Mendy and Potenza keep exchanging the balls, and that has helped me keep my position (by moving wide or in-field).”

Having played seven matches together in their respective positions, Wadoo says the advantage is that both understand each other’s roles very well and the communication is good now.

“It is good we are improving day by day. We communicate better. When he goes up, I stay back. That is part of the strategy, part of our understanding.”

With two crucial matches coming up, Wadoo and Dhana hope that the team’s good run continues and it qualifies for the play-off. “We have to stay focused and give our 100 per cent,” signs off Dhana.