Category: Feature

WILLIS IS KIND OF PLAYER WHO PLAY FOR YOU – KAMO

KOLKATA, 4 March 2018: New signing Bayi Kamo Stephane says he is excited to play alongside Trinidad & Tobago international Willis Deon Plaza.

The Ivory Coast striker, who joined the Black Panthers from Gokulam Kerala FC during January  Transfer Window, said: “Willis is a great player, I know what he is capable of. He is a player who has a hunger for victory.”

“It will be a pleasure to play alongside him. It’s very good that he is with us. I hope to be able to form a good partnership with him,” Kamo added.

Kamo intends to provide more ammunition for Plaza and look adapt his game into a more supporting role.

“I have always liked to create goals and give assists. I had to change my game at Mohun Bagan and play as an orthodox striker because Agogo (Ansumana Kromah) was there at the same position.”

“However, Willis is kind of player who play for you. He can score, but he also give good balls for you to score. I would like to play good football at Mohammedan Sporting Club. My motivation is to win every game and take the team to I-League.” Kamo signed off.

 

WHY WILLIS PLAZA WILL SUCCEED AT MOHAMMEDAN SC

KOLKATA: All eyes will be on Willis Plaza when Mohammedan Sporting Club kick-off their I-League 2nd Division campaign in March.

The jury is out as to whether the Trinidadian is the right man to lead the line for the Black Panthers, but there is quiet optimism at the 127-year-old club.

There will be an obligatory heap of pressure riding on Plaza’s shoulders. This will no doubt be amplified by his past experience in Kolkata. The striker, despite making a blistering start at Indian soil scoring 5 goals in first 8 matches, failed to breakthrough at East Bengal during his one-and-a-half year long stint.

As a result, it is imperative that the 30-year-old hits the ground running for the sake of Mohammedan SC, and his own career progression.

The best way to do that, of course, is by rattling in the goals and Plaza won’t be fussy over how he justifies his status as top marksman.

His critics will raise questions about his work rate by saying that he scored only 7 goals this season in 17 appearances, but statistics don’t always tell the full story.

It’s a fact that strikers will always be judged on how many goals they score. Goals win games and that is why they are always the most important players in the squad.

However, the modern game has changed. Strikers have to do more than that in most tactical systems and Plaza’s ability to play as a lone forward, or with a partner up front, makes him extremely attractive.

Strong in the air, technically sound and quick enough to cause panic, Plaza can play for a team that looks to dominate teams through possession. He can either play on the shoulder of the last defender, or with his back to goal. He can be a link man as well as an out and out striker.

The Trinidadian has never lacked ambition or self-confidence and he can surely match up to the best, now this is his chance to prove that.

JITEN BETTER THAN MANY FOREIGN STRIKERS – BISWAJIT BHATTACHARYA

KOLKATA: Mohammedan Sporting Club Head Coach Biswajit Bhattacharya believes Jiten Murmu will only improve and would play a crucial role for the team in remainder of the season.

The gaffer feels Jiten has all of the physical and mental attributes that are needed to become a successful striker, as he told mohammedansportingindia.com: “Jiten is mentally very strong and he is very sure of himself.”

“He is very technical on the ball and he has lots of endurance. I would say he is probably better than many foreign strikers playing in Kolkata right now. I want more and more from him because he has all the qualities for that,” he added.

Jiten signed for Mohammedan SC from East Bengal ahead of Calcutta Football League this season. Though the 22-year-old previously spent three seasons with East Bengal, but truly flourished at Mohammedan SC and emerged as one of Mohammedan SC’s outstanding performances with 5 goals and 4 assists in 7 appearances.

The striker was criticized for somewhat lackluster performance against Mohun Bagan last week, however turned up in style against his former employer and delivered again for the Black Panthers when he scored and claimed an assist in a 2-2 draw yesterday, which ended East Bengal’s 24-match winning streak in CFL.

Nonetheless, Coach Bhattacharya insists Jiten can handle the pressure and will improve, regardless of the attention he gets following his recent exploits.

“He’s been about long enough now to handle the pressure. He is still growing. He’s going to fill out even more. His knowledge of the game and his game intelligence will continue to grow and he will keep learning. I believe, with his talent he can accomplish amazing things.” Coach Bhattacharya concluded.

THE BEST IS STILL TO COME SAYS DIPANDA

KOLKATA: Mohammedan Sporting Club suffered a 4-2 defeat to Pathachakra Club in Kalyani on Sunday, when Joel Sunday, Manotosh Chakladar and Babun Das (2) scored for the debutantes after Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka had equalized for the Black Panthers with a quick-fire brace on his club debut.

Dipanda was disappointed by the result in their 2017/18 Calcutta Premier Division – A opener, but the loss did not break the striker’s confidence and he predicted afterwards that the Black Panthers will compete on four fronts this season.

“We have to accept Pathachakra deserve to win the game,” Dipanda told mohammedansportingindia.com.

“But we can take a lot of positives from the game. The league has just started and there is no time to be upset, we want to be contenders for the title,” he explained.

“We have an exciting and very young squad with a ton of potential. I am convinced that the best is still to come and I am looking forward to it because I know that we can do better. We are going to keep working very hard and try to achieve our goals.” the 28-year-old continued.

Speaking about club’s next game against Tollygunge Agragami Dicka said: “We are ready for Tollygunge and they will be ready as well. We have to respect them because they have a very good team. They are going to be difficult to beat but we don’t want to give away any competition. We are going to fight and we are going to improve.”

“In every position, we have good players, so I am optimistic for the future and let’s forget about the Pathachakra game. I know it’s difficult because it was the first game of the season. The game has gone for Pathachakra for the small details and we are going to improve on that.”  The Cameroonian concluded.