When ATK roped in Manuel Lanzarote for the new season of the Indian Super League (ISL), the football enthusiasts were concerned whether Lanzarote’s exit will have an impact on FC Goa striker Ferran Corominas’ form.
After all, last year, Corominas — who is fondly called Coro — and Lanzarote shared a wonderful chemistry. While Corominas bagged the Golden Boot, Lanzarote scored 13 goals and had six assists to his name.
But speaking to the reporters at the ISL Media Day event on Monday, Corominas played down the impact of Lanzarote’s departure on the team. “Even if Lanzorate is not there, we should be fine. The other players can come in and take the place. We are not worried about that. It is not necessary that you have to score three or four goals in every game to win, even if you score one or two, you win, that’s sufficient,” Corominas said.
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Talking about the 2017-18 season, where the team played attacking football under head coach Sergio Lobera, the striker said it would be important to maintain the gold standard, this time too. “Last season, we created a lot of opportunities because of the way we played. That’s why we ended up scoring so many (goals). Lenzorate and I had a few goals among us, but ultimately, it is (about) the side we have,” Corominas said.
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Having played for the team last year, Corominas knows things quite well. And that, he says, will help. “The experience always helps. Having played in these stadiums, you know the players and people and also the players you are coming up against. Personal objective will be to try and help team win and take a step further and do well. I will want to do better,” he said.
This time around, the ISL will have three mid-season breaks, and the striker admitted that it is not a great thing to have breaks in between. “It is not great for a player to stop for matches but ultimately you have to adapt. Adaptation will be the key this year. The teams which adapt best will go far.”
Making it clear that they will have to play as a unit, he said: “I don’t want to focus on individual names and we have to be strong as a team. Football, ultimately, is a team game. A player can do well individually, he can score 20 goals but there is no guarantee that will help the team. We have to play as a unit.”
But being someone who is not too comfortable with English, how does he communicate with the team-mates, most of whom are Indians? Corominas says that he is learning English to communicate better. “We know each other sufficiently well to be able to communicate by gestures. I am also trying to learn English for better communication. I speak to them in English in the dressing room and on the field, we are all aware of the keywords,” he said.
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