The eagerness amongst every football lover as well as the clubs, has significantly gone up as the new season of Hero Indian Super League is only a few days away from its kick-off. Just like the other teams of the league, the Jamshedpur squad and staff too began their pre-season training in full swing and have been giving their best both on and off the pitch.
Under the tutelage of Owen Coyle, the newly upgraded side of the Men of Steel have been busy at work, preparing on the training grounds and refining their skills ahead of the upcoming season. “With so many talented players that we have signed for the upcoming season, all I can say is that they are young and hungry to do well on the pitch. With that needed fire within them, I believe that we are going to have a decent and well-composed squad for the season,” said the Gaffer in an exclusive interview with Times of India.
The new signings along with the existing players have gelled well together and have been building up on the team chemistry and a strong game plan which would help them unleash their true potential as a whole this time.
With the players arriving in Goa in the beginning of October, the whole squad, along with the staff had clocked in more than one month of rigorous pre-season training under their belt before they stepped up to the pitch to face the other league clubs for the pre-season friendlies. The Jamshedpur squad was scheduled to play 6 pre-season friendlies before their 2021-22 Hero ISL campaign kicked-off. The teams that Jamshedpur faced were NorthEast United, Bengaluru FC twice, Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blasters FC on two occasions.
The first friendly against NorthEast United FC ended with Jamshedpur FC walking out victorious (2-0) with Jordan Murray scoring both the goals for the first time in the Men of Steel kit. Jamshedpur FC then faced Bengaluru FC for their second friendly match which resulted in a draw with both sides scoring one goal each; Jordan once again registered his name on the scorecard. The third friendly against last season’s defending champions, Mumbai City FC, was abandoned due to bad weather conditions, 15 minutes after the kick-off whistle. The last two friendly fixtures were played against Kerala Blasters FC, out of which the first meeting was comfortably won by Jamshedpur FC (3-0). The second fixture which was played 3 days later on the Tuskers’ turf, ended in a tough draw after both sides stood strong against each other; they scored a goal each and called it a day. The final pre-season fixture against Bengaluru FC, which was also an away game, turned out to be the first defeat that Jamshedpur FC faced in their pre-season friendly schedule, with a full-time score of 1-0.
After a pre-season full of tough training and preparation, combined with the tons of positives and a good amount of game time under their belts, the Men of Steel are now more than ready to walk onto the pitch and face the battles with all their might to get their hands on the prestigious trophy of the Hero ISL finally.
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