Alejandro Menendez slams East Bengal team management for poor planning of logistics

East Bengal are set to lock horns against NEROCA on Tuesday afternoon but coach Alejandro Menendez decided not to train a day before the match as he feels his players must be rested after spending more than half a day on the road.

He also expressed his displeasure over team management's poor planning of logistics, which he feels will hamper players' performance on the pitch. 

"We are going to play three games in one week. Facing a tight calendar it is not possible to train every day but it is important to play in the match with fresh legs. We have been travelling to very far places so there is no time to train. I don't know about travel plans. It is made by the team management. We spent 15 hours travelling yesterday. 

"It is very difficult to play in these situations. It is not just about having good players and good training but in professional football it is very important to take care of other aspects like planning of trips, how to organise the timing, concentrating on the hotels, the food. If you don’t take care of these then the performance drops by more than 50%.," stated Menendez. 

When queried about whether he had any discussion with the management about these problems he replied in a single word, "No". 

But the former Real Madrid Castilla coach is confident of picking up three points in Imphal and eventually challenge for the tile at the end of the season as he thinks he has a better squad depth than last season. 

"I think we have a better squad than last season. The team-building process has been very satisfying. We are still trying to fix some issues. If we can fix those then it will be a very big season. We have played some games in the pre-season. We played some strong teams from ISL as well. The results have been good. The feeling has been even better. I think we are a strong team. And at the end of the season, I expect we will be fighting for the title."

East Bengal has made a comeback after conceding first in both the I-League matches they have played so far. But Menendez is not concerned about that since he has confidence in the forwards of his team. 

"It is a part of the game (on conceding first). We are convinced that we can score at any point in the game. So it is no pressure to come back after falling behind," concluded the Spaniard. 

The Red and Golds will miss the services of Mehtab Singh as the defender has been diagnosed with Chicken Pox.