Sandesh Jhingan has defended his coach David James and questioned the concept of marquee signings and its importance ahead of the new ISL season. Jhingan, in a candid interview opened up on the incidents that happened immediately after the end of the ISL season last year, with Dimitar Berbatov taking to instagram to criticize the long ball tactic of David James.

            Berbatov had a torrid time in India, scoring just 1 goal in 9 appearances for Kerala Blasters. He did not stick around for the Hero Super Cup, taking the first flight out of Kerala after the season ended. Jhingan, in a recent interview, talked about marquee players, Dimitar Berbatov and the importance of his partnership with Anas Edathodika. Here are the excerpts:

On the importance of Indian Players:

"I never believed in the concept of one player running the team. It is not a one-man show. This league is for Indian players. Whatever we do is to improve the Indian national team. For that, we need the Indian players to play more. I am very happy to see a lot of teams spending money at the grassroots level. I am always in support of having more Indian players on the pitch,"

On the concept of a Marquee signing:

"What is a marquee signing? A big name, that's it, right? I am not against it but sometimes things don't go too well. When we signed Aron Hughes, he was a top player. It is like a gamble. The tag of marquee player adds extra pressure."

On Dimitar Berbatov and his Instagram lash out:

"We signed Berbatov and it didn't work out well. He was not man enough to come and speak in front of the coach and posted on Instagram. If you are a man, you come up and speak. I don't have much to comment on that, he did what he had to do. It's okay, he came, did his best, did not work out for him and for us. We need good players, that's it."

Reflecting on last season:

"Last season was disappointing. We tried hard, especially after the third season where we lost in the final. We had a good pre-season in Spain, the boys were really sharp. Then to not make it to the semifinal is always heart-breaking. With Rene Meulensteen, it was a tough situation but credit to David James who came in and brought the team together really well.”

On the all Indian defensive partnership with Anas:

"As defenders, the more we play together, the better we become. `We have played together in the national team for two years. It is always a joy to play with Anas Edathodika. As I have always said, he is like my elder brother."

            The excerpts of this article are taken from goal.com who published this article first.

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