ISL: With good balance of youth and experience, coach Bozidar confident of CFC's chances

Chennaiyin FC head coach Bozidar Bandovic believes a good combination of youth and experience will lead his side to produce good results in the upcoming 2021-22 Indian Super League (ISL) season.

"We have a good balance of youth and experience. We have some domestic players who are at a good level and have played for the national team. It's a good team and now we need to work hard. We need to make players play in their preferred position so that they can give their best for the team," an experienced Montenegrin said while addressing the media during a virtual press conference ahead of the club's pre-season.

The current Chennaiyin FC squad boast of experienced players such as Rafael Crivellaro, Ariel Borysiuk, Mirlan Murzaev and Vladimir Koman alongside some exciting young talents such as Anirudh Thapa, Davinder Singh and Ninthoinganba Meetei in their ranks.

"We all know that they [youngsters] are good players but in football making progress you need to work hard and they will work hard. I see the space where they can improve. We will work together tactically to improve them because they can do it. With the good work they can make a good career. They are the future," he added.

The coach further stated that the club has the quality and ability to score goals, and the upcoming season will be better.

CFC will begin their pre-season training on Sunday in South Goa which will be followed by few friendly matches. "As a coach I don't agree with a long pre-season. I think eight weeks are enough to make them run for 90 minutes and be refreshed at the same time. I spoke to the club about having 6-7 friendly games but because of the difficult situation, we need to see which teams are free and when it's good for us to play the matches," the 52-year-old tactician said.

Chasing the coveted trophy for the third time, Chennaiyin FC will begin their campaign against Hyderabad FC on November 23 as the 2021-22 Hero ISL set to kick off on November 19 in Goa.

( With inputs from ANI )