Carles Cuadrat: Ashique Kuruniyan can be a very good left-back

Ashique Kuruniyan has been deployed as a left-back by Carles Cuadrat this season and the Spaniard believes that the Kerala-born player has the potential to be the best in this position.

Nishu Kumar parted ways with Bengaluru FC in the summer and since, Kuruniyan, who is also known to play as a winger, has been asked to fill that role, a position in which he played sparingly last season.

“Ashique, when he plays as a winger, the pitch becomes too short. But when is playing from a little behind he has metres to run. He has been getting better and he is getting two-to-three opportunities in every game. I believe he can become a very good left-back,” opined Cuadrat.

Bengaluru FC are up against Kerala Blasters on Sunday evening in what promises to be an intriguing battle. Due to COVID-19, the Indian Super League (ISL) is being held in Goa closed doors and hence, fans will miss the chance to support their teams in person.

“Blasters need the points. They have just two (points). We have a plan and we will try to get three points. I’m feeling sorry for the fans. They enjoy this kind of matches. I am sure it will be a game of passion,” said the Bengaluru boss.

The Blues have scored five goals in four matches with Juanan Gonzalez leading the charge with two goals. Cuadrat highlighted that a shortened pre-season hasn’t allowed his team to gel as a squad given that there are a few new faces this time around.

He also mentioned that the Bangalore club haven’t had luck with their overseas strikers in the past, partly due to injuries.

“I think we are working well. We will be getting more points. We have six points but we could have eight or 10. We have to be mentally and physically strong. Some teams had more pre-season but they were not able to take three points. This is something we are working on and we will eventually get there.
 
“The team is carrying out all the plans on the pitch. We are improving every day. We played well against Chennai and week after week we are getting better. I am very happy with the strikers. In the last two seasons, we were missing foreign strikers for half of the season.

“Miku was out for nine games and Onwu for nine games as well in the previous season. But now we have to adjust. We have a plan B. To put in Sunil (Chhetri) in a number nine will not be apt as he will be able to give more to the team in a different position. We have got three number nine foreigners. They are getting ready game after game. Cleiton (Silva) has got good chances and they are getting close. Just because he is not getting the goals, he is getting criticised,” reasoned Cuadrat.

Critics haven’t been kind to Bengaluru FC this season and Cuadrat pointed that while a team like Hyderabad FC, who incidentally have the same number of points as them, have been praised, the yardsticks to measure a ‘good performance’ have been different for his side.

"It (what needs to improve) is always about little details. ATK gave away an easy penalty yesterday (against Hyderabad). But these details decide the game. Talking about foreign strikers, they are not winning duels. When they are going up against experienced defenders they are not winning duels. But in two weeks they will be able to win those. In defence also, when you arrive in 70-to-80 minute mark, you are physically down and you commit a mistake. We go with a match plan and most of the time it is working for us. 

(Apparently) Hyderabad is having a good season and we have the same points as them. If we win tomorrow's match we will be same with NorthEast on points,” he stated.

Cuadrat was once again questioned on the importance of set-pieces and the Bengaluru coach explained that his players are still adapting to a new system he has deployed. He reiterated that the new players in the squad would need more time to get accustomed to his style of play.

“It is a game of topics. People say that we only live for set-pieces. That we are missing some players and we are not the same team. (But) We have been working well in all the seasons.  It was very clear that we are starting a new system. My idea was to give opportunities to Ashique and Udanta (Singh) and give advantage to the strikers by utilising the crosses.

“It was not working well for us at the moment but it can work well in the future. We have a plan b and plan c. We came back to a 4-3-3. It helped us to get more offensive. I am very happy. As  a coach and players, we have to take pressure and we can take the criticisms. To answer every conference about set-pieces is very funny.

“I am very proud of the players. Give 20 minutes a week and get the result. We are creating chances. We had 21 shots in the previous game. It will take some time to understand each other as we have new players. We are one of the favourites, we are happy with that but we are not happy with the topics. Football needs time.”