Chennai: Strong title contenders in season two of the Indian Super League (ISL), Chennaiyin FC would be hoping to cash in on home advantage when they take on defending champions Atletico de Kolkata in the inaugural match of ISL-2, and their coach Marco Materazzi says the team is very well balanced, much more than what it was the last season.
Chennaiyin have kept their core together and that will be the big plus point going into the tournament as most of them know what the coach wants of them and how the team functions.
"I know my players very well. We are much organised this season compared to the last as we have kept the core of the team together. New players have come in but we did very well to keep most of our last team squad. That surely gives us an advantage," Materazzi told reporters in the pre-match conference here.
Chennayin manager-cum-player Materazzi had made sure that in his team at least two players are fighting for each position, which will give enough depth and balance to the side. Chennai have already gone one-up over ATK even before the kick off as they managed to get their star striker from last season, Fikru Tefera.
"I picked Fikru because he knows the tournament well. He has experience of playing in this league and his never-say-die attitude was the most important thing for me to get him here. I hope he contributes to the team's success," the former Italian defender added.
Home team Chennaiyin were easily the best team of the ISL in the league stages last time around as they took the top spot and Marco feels this time it can be their year as the players know him better by now.
"The players know me better this time around. They know what I want out of them. We have more quality this time in our squad," the coach said.
When asked if the regulation of playing maximum four international players in the team is harsh on the foreign players, Materrazi was quick to dismiss the suggestion by saying that it's an Indian league and Indian players should be given priority and opportunity to improve.
"It's ISL, so we have to play more Indian players. It won't be fair to the Indian players that more foreigners play. You just cannot play eleven foreigners when you know it's an Indian league and it has been started to promote Indian football," he added.
The good news for Chennaiyin fans is that the team is injury free and the coach will have the full squad to select the starting line-up from. "Everyone is fit and we have no injuries," he concluded.
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