ISL 2022-23: We can make noise this year: Odisha FC head coach Josep Gombau

Odisha FC head coach Josep Gombau has expressed confidence stating that they can make some noise in the upcoming edition of the Hero Indian Super League. Odisha FC was one of the busiest clubs during the off-season and Gombau will look to get the best out of his players in the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, Odisha FC finished at seventh position in Hero ISL 2021-22 standings with six wins and a total of 23 points in their 20 league stage matches. Thus, they failed to qualify for the semifinal stages and they will be determined to turn the tables in the forthcoming season.

The Kalinga Warriors recently signed the services of veteran goalkeeper Amrinder Singh.

While speaking to the Odisha FC media team, Gombau said, “We have a very good team, we got three good keepers now that we’ve signed Amrinder [Singh], who is someone who comes with a lot of experience and is one of the best keepers in India. We have Mawia [Lalthuammawia Ralte] and a young keeper in Niraj [Kumar] that will help us. We have a balanced team with good players in each position – good defense, midfield, and attacking players. I think we can make noise this year and we understand that every single game, we need to bring our 100-120% on the pitch and we need to be competitive.”

In fact, the signs are promising for the Juggernauts as they had a good run in the Durand Cup, winning four out of their four matches in Group D of the tournament to finish at the top of the group. However, they were knocked out after they were beaten by eventual champions Bengaluru FC by 2-1 in the quarterfinal clash.

Gombau said about the team’s Durand Cup campaign, “For us, it was a positive experience. We had a long pre-season in which we played five games – four group stage matches and one quarter-final. Everything was well arranged, the training pitch had good quality. I’m happy with my team, and I think, for us, it was difficult for us to play the final games of the pre-season.”

He added, “It is not easy to find the level of teams to play such friendly games and to play in the Durand Cup brings us a long time between games which allows us to train and also to have the quality games for our team to play in the preseason. We’ve spent five weeks in the tournament and I’ve liked the tournament, it was our first participation, and we should be playing this [Durand Cup] next season too.”

Odisha FC will kick off their Hero Indian Super League 2022-23 campaign against Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur on 11th October.