'Delhi Dynamos need more time to settle down'

Delhi Dynamos FC, languishing at seventh among eight teams in the Indian Super League (ISL) standings, have to be look beyond initial disappointments and require greater time to become a proper footballing outfit, Sameer Manchanda, chairman and managing director of Den Networks that owns the football franchise said Friday.

"Our team is new. The set-up is new. The club is just four months old. It is still early days, the inaugural tournament is still evolving. We are hopeful that we can turn this situation around," Manchanda said here at a press conference.

Dynamos have only managed a win out of their six matches so far, having drawn two of their three home games and lost two successive matches on the road, accumulating six points to be placed at the seventh spot, just above FC Goa.

The team have often looked disjointed on the field with the gulf between Indian players and foreign stars visibly apparent. But Manchanda said that he wasn't too perturbed by the performance of the home-grown players.

"Since training for ISL began, Indian players are performing above their potential with performances going up by 30-40 percent," he said.

He said with Indians receiving enhanced facilities in all aspects of football including nutrition, physical training, infrastructure and exposure ISL is bound to take Indian football forward.

He hoped that Dynamos' tie-up with Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam would bring about the desired result of unearthing footballers who will take the game forward in the country.

"Feyenoord have the best youth academy in the Netherlands. They are renowned for their youth development policy and that is why we have entered into a collaboration with them in our commitment to develop Indian football."