The Jamshedpur FC Reserve Team will be participating in The Durand Cup in August 2019. Mr. Kundan Chandra, Head Coach – Reserve Team, shared his thoughts ahead of the tournament. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On the preparation for The Durand Cup…
We have played a lot of matches in the last few months. We have started at low intensity with JSA Premier League and JSA Super Cup which also had some good teams like Babulal Soren FA, Tata Steel and Tata Motors. It has given the boys a good number of competitive minutes on the pitch. And we will also be playing a few friendlies before we travel to Kolkata for The Durand Cup.
On their style of play…
The main aim of the Reserve Team is to feed talent to the senior team. We aim in keeping ball possession and move up the pitch with a build-up play. Playing tournaments like The Durand Cup would properly test the abilities of the players in the squad and adapt to the club’s style of play.
On the exposure for the players…
Yes, ofcourse! With so many ISL and I-League teams participating in the tournament, it gives the boys the perfect opportunity to know where they stand. As I said, the main aim is to reach the senior team and for that they need to continuously improve their game.
The tournament will give them a lot of competitive minutes and this is very valuable in Indian Football. We will also be playing more matches in some All India tournaments later this year so that the boys are well prepared ahead of the 2nd Division I-League.
