Churchill Brothers rolled over Mohun Bagan for the second time in a fortnight and the former Mohun Bagan players are fuming. While Prasun Banerjee said that it was very sad to see Odafa Okolie toying with the Bagan defenders, Subrata Bhattacharya said it was the collective failure of the coach and the players to spot his predictability that allowed the Churchill striker to wreak havoc.
After stamping his authority in the IFA Shield final at Yuba Bharati Krirangan (YBK), Odafa once again took the meek out of Deepak Mondal & Co in the Durand final at Ambedkar Stadium, this time scoring a hat-trick.
“He (Odafa) is a fantastic player, probably the best foreigner to play in India after Majid Baskar. If he can maintain this consistency for two more years, he will edge past Majid. Still I think it’s the Bagan players’ performance, or rather the lack of it, that made things a lot easier for Odafa. It wouldn’t have been a stroll in the park for him against the likes of Sudhir Karmakar or Subrata Bhattacharya, or Manoranjan Bhattachrya, or GS Parmar,” Banerjee, a former India captain told this daily.
“I was saddened to see the Bagan players laughing even after such a rout. They don’t have the pride to perform,” he added.
According to him, the Kolkata giants are in for a tougher time in the I-League. “It’s time to change the approach and look beyond the old guards. Jose Barreto is a great player but he is not getting any younger. It’s time to move over Barreto. The Durand final showed that Barreto can no longer be a matchwinner at the top level. Bagan need Odafa-class upfront and a quality centreback if they want to be competitive in the
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