Bangalore: The year gone by brought with it exciting times for football in the city. I-League debutants Bengaluru Football Club have been doing everything right from the start of the season and have shored up the football culture here.
FC has also come in with a wealth of foreign expertise, starting with its coach Ashley Westwood.
Adding to its international repertoire, the I-League table toppers have roped in Turkish man Ali Uzunhasanoglu as the goalkeeping coach.
Ali after 15 years as a player in Turkey, moved to England after marriage and began his coaching career with third division club Scarborough FC in 1996-97.
Speaking about his Indian sojourn, the 53-year-old said, “I know Ashley as a player and a coach. When I was offered the job, I preferred to come to India, to see what they do. I’m happy to be here. The climate is lovely, people are nice and it’s a developing country like Turkey.
My aim is to improve the goalkeepers as much as I can. The club is new and they’ve done well until now. They’re pretty ambitious as well. I hope it will continue and fits my ambition.”
Having watched over a hundred Indian football matches on Youtube and seeing BFC train for five days, the football scene in the country has left Ali impressed. “I don’t exactly know the culture but I like these goalkeepers. They give the game everything they got. Of course they have a few things missing, which is an easy job for me to set right.
Size-wise in UK, we look for bigger goalkeepers but they are okay, they are decent-sized. I’ve never seen them in a game yet. Of course you can judge a goalkeeper by the game he plays and how consistent he is in it. We’ll see in time though. They are working hard and listening well, which is very important.”
The BFC boys have a long way to go, but Ali believes, there’s nothing a little bit of training can’t change. “They have technical issues. Stuff like they don’t move their feet well enough, their takeoff time is wrong. But they are good lads. Ashley’s a very intelligent guy. When I had a talk with Ashley, he told me they start playing football from the back… it’s possible. We’ve got three goalies,” said Ali who will be with the team till the end of the current season.
Ali, boasts of an impressive portfolio, but only time will tell whether that experience will help BFC claim the title this year.
“I’ve worked with very good goalkeepers. One of them is playing for Norwich, John Ruddy. I coached him, I taught him everything.”
Ali, who has a wife and two children back home, hopes to make his stay here a successful and worthwhile one. He will be put to test soon as BFC gears up for the Federation Cup which kicks off on January 15.
