'I can take criticism positively' - Csaba Laszlo confident of success at Chennaiyin

Chennaiyin have scored the least number of goals (10) so far this season as they head into their clash against ATK Mohun Bagan on Thursday.

However, the team coached by Csaba Laszlo has also kept as many as five clean sheets this season, having played out a goalless draw against the Mariners in the reverse fixture and another 0-0 result against a 10-man East Bengal side in their last match.

In fact, in all the five games that Chennaiyin kept a clean sheet, they also failed to score.

"We are working every day and we are organised from the back to the front. If you are not organised at the back, you are not organised in midfield and offensively. If you don't play offensively, you cannot create chances. We are not just kicking the ball away from our goal. We know that we have not scored many goals and we must be more clinical up front," Laszlo accepted.

"With how fast the games are coming, you don't have much time to show the players many tactical elements. I'm not unhappy about what we are doing but unhappy that we are not scoring many goals. We are working to use our time properly," he added.

Chennaiyin are currently tied on points (15 from 12 games) with NorthEast United in the mid-table cluster and the Romanian-Hungarian manager is adamant to extract the best from his players.

"Every coach must know what you can take out from your team and what can make you strong. I think I have a lot of experience to figure out what can bring success. The most important (thing) is results but if you win 1-0 by luck, I don't like to talk about luck but how well organised my team is. 

"I'm really proud about my team that understands our way of work. I can take every criticism positively because it's not important to be hurt from criticism. Sometimes you know 100 per cent what your team is capable of and you have to make the best out of your team," he said.

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Laszlo went on to admit his team's shortcoming in the centre of the park against East Bengal.

"If I analyse the game against East Bengal, we were not so powerful in the midfield. We didn't create much and the ball possession must be better. We know that Rafa (Rafael Crivellaro) was a very important piece of the puzzle in our system. We are working and we know where we have to do a little bit more. 

"A lot of times we have to recognise what we have to do better. I have a fantastic staff and fantastic players. For this reason, we have not conceded many goals and had a lot of good games. Many people criticised us after the East Bengal game that we played more than 60 minutes against 10 men and didn't create many chances. But to play against 10 men is also not easy and East Bengal also more or less have a good experience to play with 10 men because this was not the first time they played with 10 men.

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While backing his underwhelming displays of his strikers, the Chennaiyin tactician also conceded that they may need a different approach against ATK Mohun Bagan.

"I'm 100 per cent sure that our strikers have the skill but sometimes just their luck is not there. I believe in these players because I see how they are working everyday. They are not machines and psychologically we have to push them in the right way and extract more out of them. It's not a long season. Some players take a bit longer but now we have eight games to go and we can reach our target. If we win every game 1-0, it will be enough.

"ATK Mohun Bagan is a team who stays organised and doesn't concede many goals and play very good counter-attacking football with three to four good offensive players who can change the game. So in this way, I think the game development will be different from East Bengal. So our tactic will also be different. We could use some fresh legs also because we have a game after a few days," he concluded.