Constantine's successor must understand players: Bose

India and Mumbai City FC player Subhasish Bose has had a dream journey in his short career at the top level. An integral part of the Indian team during the AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the defender feels that India needs a quality coach to take control after Stephen Constantine left following India's ouster in the group stages of the Asian Cup.

Speaking to IANS, Bose said that the team needs a coach who will prepare them to compete against the best in the business. While his admiration for Constantine is well known, Bose feels that it is time to move ahead and take the next step forward.

"Now that Constantine sir has left, we need a good coach to replace him and take our national side to greater heights. When the new coach comes in, he needs to understand all the players and hopefully he can teach us new things to help us perform well at the international level," he said.

Asked if an Indian coach can do the job and carry forward the legacy left behind by Constantine, Bose said: "I feel Indian coaches have improved and are really good now, but if we want to take Indian football to a different level, we need somebody who can teach us new techniques and different strategies followed across the world. We need somebody who can revamp our style of play so that we can gradually compete with anybody in the world."

India's next challenge will be the Kings Cup in Thailand, if the AIFF accepts the invite. While Bose doesn't wish to comment on the participation, he does emphasise on the need to play matches and improve India's ranking which has once again dropped out of the top 100.

"With a new coach, comes a new philosophy! Now, it's up to the management whether they can give the new coach enough time. For us, wearing the national colour is a matter of pride and we're ready to put everything on the line once we are on the pitch while representing a billion people. Whether we play the tournament or not, we'll try and do good things on the pitch that will help our ranking improve," he explained.

Mumbai City FC seemed set to win their maiden ISL trophy this season till a heavy loss against FC Goa in the first leg of the semis. Moving on, the defender now wants to focus on the Super Cup.

"After the loss in the first game at home, we bounced back to win the next one, but it wasn't enough to go through to the finals. We prepared really hard to turn things around, but it was a daunting task after a 5-1 defeat at home. So, we've shown signs of improvement and we all will hope to carry that momentum forward in the Super Cup as well," he said.

(Baidurjo Bhose can be contacted at baidurjo.b@ians.in)

--IANS

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