ISL 2017-18: NorthEast United's Avram Grant - If we started the league now, we would be in the top four

NorthEast United FC technical advisor Avram Grant was pleased with his side’s response to going behind twice in the 2-2 draw against FC Goa.

“We played very well in the first half. We know that Goa is a good team. They are very clever in attack and they score fantastically from counter attacks but these were things that we were prepared for. The most important thing was the response of my boys. You saw that after the first goal, we attacked very well. Also when it was 2-1, we made it 2-2 and we deserved to make it 3-2,” Grant said at the full-time whistle.

The referee’s decision to blow the final whistle with a minute’s time remaining had not gone down too well with Goa tactician Sergio Lobera and Grant’s opinion was not much different.

“The referee (Rowan Arumughan) cut one minute from the game when we were in attack but I also saw that the other coach (Sergio Lobera) was angry. It's a pity because in the last minute we were three against two and we had a chance to score and win the game,” he explained.

The former Chelsea coach praised the group of players at his disposal and said that their position could have been a lot better if not for the horror start to the league.

“This is a good bunch of boys. Unfortunately, we didn't start well. I was not here. So we now need to chase the points that we lost. In terms of points, our last five games were good. We had two wins and one draw. If we started the league now, we would be in the top four,” he stated.

“We want to play attacking football and collect points and we are doing this. I don't see many teams in football who are losing a lot of games and after winning only one, they recover so well. So we need to give credit to the boys and the staff to improve everything,” Grant added.

The 62-year-old was unwilling to set a specific target for the club with six league games remaining.

“I think the realistic target is not to speak too much about what we can or cannot do. To be realistic, when I came, we were not in a good position. So we need to improve our game and I think we did it. Till one month ago, we scored only in one game from eight matches and now we are scoring in almost every game,” Grant said.

Grant was also pleased with January signing John Mosquera’s performance after he scored the second equalizer on the night.

“John is a very good player. We bought two very good players - John and (Maic) Sema. Sema didn't play today but he is a better player than most of our other players. John is a good striker but he didn't train in the last two months so his fitness is not so good. So we used him for 30 minutes and he scored. He (John) did his job,” he said about the Colombian midfielder.

“I know that we don't have a lot of time but we have a lot of games till the end of the season and I'm sure that he (John) will help us,” Grant added before signing off.