ISL 2017-18: Forced rotation doesn’t go as planned for Lobera

“They (NorthEast United) played very differently today (as compared) to the rest of the games,” said FC Goa coach Sergio Lobera in the aftermath of a 2-1 defeat. 

To claim that NorthEast United FC played differently would be going overboard. The Highlanders more or less played in the same vein however, this time they did manage to find the back of the net. Mind you, this isn’t taking away credit from Avram Grant, whose presence would have surely lifted the spirit, but to attribute his presence to have made a tactical shift in the north-eastern outfit’s game is surely an overstatement.

For the first time this season, Goa had to play two matches in four days. Lobera had no choice but to rotate his squad against NorthEast United. Mind you, the former Las Palmas coach hasn’t altered his line-up in six of the eight matches. The only other alternations came against Mumbai City FC, a game they lost, was because Brandon Fernandes had a knock and in came Manuel Arana and Chinglensana Singh.

However, this time around Lobera made four changes. Mandar Rao Dessai, who has been featuring as a left-back, in the pre-season games, looked off colour with both goals coming from his side of the pitch. Even towards the later stages of the match against FC Pune City, Mandar played as a full-back and it was his clearance which fell on a platter for Jonatan Lucca to score the second.

It wasn’t that NorthEast United played differently; it was more a case of Goa allowing them to finally find the back of the net thanks to the personnel deployed. A pertinent question at this stage would be why was striker Adrian Colunga not even on the bench in their last two matches. Wouldn’t the former Brighton striker been helpful as they were chasing the game?

Lobera has plenty of questions to answer as FC Goa, who were deemed favourites for their attacking brand of football, have picked up a point from a possible nine. Their goals too have dried up with a mere two in over 270 minutes of football.

Their next match is against a tough Jamshedpur FC side which is built on defensive organization, something which FC Goa clearly lack.