Vinit Rai Mehtab Hossain Delhi Dynamos FC Jamshedpur FC ISL season 4 2017/2018

ISL 2018-19: Vinit Rai - I love working with Spanish coaches

Vinit Rai was an important player for Miguel Angel Portugal at Delhi Dynamos last season. He was one of the few players who earned regular first team chances under the Spanish coach.

His performance for Dynamos resulted in his maiden call-up to the Indian national team in June 2018.

The 20-year-old central midfielder is hoping to have another great season for the Delhi-based club in the Indian Super League (ISL) and is confident of adapting quickly to the change in coaching staff. 

“I have played under Stephen Constantine in the Indian camp and I adapted very quickly. And talking about ISL, last year also there was a Spanish coach, so it will be helpful. It has been just three days since I joined the team and I am adapting quite well.”

Delhi Dynamos ISL 2018-19Delhi Dynamos

The Lions replaced Miguel Angel Portugal with Elucidating on playing under a Spanish coach once again, Vinit said, “Spain is known for tiki-taka. Our coach is Spanish so we will definitely try to keep the ball more and score more goals than last season. If we are playing for the first time under a Spanish coach, it is quite difficult.

“Like last year in the first half (of the season), we could not adapt to it and in the second half, we adapted really well. This season, it is another Spanish coach who is doing really well. The style is also similar to last year and we are adapting very well.”

The Dibrugarh-born midfielder also mentioned that playing under Spanish coaches suits his style as he loves possession-based football. He said, “I always want to play with the ball and I want the ball as much as I can. So I love playing under (working with) Spanish coaches. From my childhood, I always wanted to play short passes and I am really enjoying it since last year. I just want to win the trophy now.”

Rai further suggested that it makes him happy to see other players from the north-eastern part of India prospering. He said, “It feels good when other north-eastern players do something good. Although most players are from Manipur and Mizoram, there are four-five players from Assam as well. Halicharan is more famous than me, I am not that famous. A lot of work is being done at the grassroots so there is a steady flow of players.”

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