Lalitpur City FC seeking comeback against Dhangadi FC

Lalitpur City FC find themselves  in uncharted territory as they face a resurgent  Dhangadi FC in the National Super League Thursday at Dashrath stadium.

Contrary to expectations,things  are moving  in the wrong direction for Head  Coach Pradeep Humagain so far. With 1 point, they are languishing at the bottom of the table,which to me is unbelievable.

Going by the performance,  it is fair to say that they have clearly underperformed. It has been a familiar tale of struggle and mediocrity to this point.

They just have not  been able to work as  a unit and perform as planned. When a team is poorly performing, the onus is on the coach who is expected to turn things around.  

Surely Coach Humagain has  assessed and analyzed the situation. He knows the areas of weakness and strength and figured out what went right and what went wrong.

Perhaps the system or tactical approach  or formation or team selection is not working. Let me not get into the technicalities of the game, I am not an expert, by any means. I am just a keen  observer of the game trying to give  my perspective based on the team’s performance.

A competent and qualified Coach  like Humagain has been through a  similar phase before. Sometimes no matter what you try to do, nothing  seems to work.

He must  motivate and inspire the team to achieve better results going into the next match. The way the competition is shaping up, there have been plenty of surprises  already results and performances  wise . With that in mind,they still  can climb up the ladder.

In the last match against FC Chiwan, Lalitpur FC squandered a golden opportunity to earn full points .Instead  they had  to settle for a point, after conceding injury time goal. Also Anjan KC’s spot kick miss proved costly.

Lalitpur City FC  cannot afford to let complacency creep into their performance at any  stage of the game against formidable Dhangadi FC.

They must regain the lost mojo,play  smart and well drilled football with  more  consistency, control,purpose ,confidence and grit.And above all, they have to improve finishing skills to convert scoring opportunities into goals.

Not forgetting that  they have to cope with an opponent riding on momentum, following their impressive win over Kathmandu Rayzrs. Players must rise to the occasion ,play to their ability and deliver  result.Else, they may have to swallow another defeat.

Eyeing  top spot in  NSL standings, Dhangadi FC  are looking to complete another victory. After  a losing start, they made an impressive comeback, beating Kathmandu Rayzrs in the second match.

They played well and dictated the tempo of the game throughout.They dominated exchanges and made good use of open spaces and flanks  to create a wave of goal scoring opportunities.

Striker Olawale Oladipo Afeez,adjudged super player in the last match  did the job .He used  his pace,strength  and size to great effect,scoring  two goals. He will be the danger man for Lalitpur FC.

I will not be surprised if Head Coach Fuja Tope sticks to the same game plan and  tactical strategies  that earned  him success in the previous match.

Coach Tope expects his team to play  a hard pressed, consistent, attacking and constructive football. He knows that style of football can only win games.Whether his team successfully executes his game plan or not ,is yet to be seen. 

Dhangadi FC goes into the match against Lalitpur city FC with the favorite tag. That said, the Patan outfit does have the potential to prove me wrong.