ISL
'When I look up, he's already there'- Naorem Mahesh on link with Cleiton Silva
Out of the five assists Naorem Mahesh has under his belt so far, four have led to Cleiton Silva scoring.
Cleiton Silva celebrates with Naorem Mahesh Singh. (Source: East Bengal)
Naorem Mahesh Singh has really flourished this season for East Bengal. After initially struggling with injuries, the winger has taken to coach Stephen Constantine's words of advice and gone on to become the third-highest assister right now in the league.
"For me, goals and assists are the same. According to our coach's plan, us wingers, Suhair and myself, we need to put in crosses first before doing anything else," Naorem said on the disparity between his goals and assists so far in the campaign.
While Mahesh's crossing has improved and become an integral part of his play, his link-up with teammate Cleiton Silva is something magical. Out of the five assists under his belt, four has led to the Brazilian scoring!
"Whenever I look up, he (Cleiton) is already there. This helps me get better and makes the job easier for me," the winger said.
With only two goal involvements in 18 games last season, Naorem has improved a lot with his current numbers of six goal contributions in 10 matches. "The new people surrounding me, the players and the coach, have helped me to improve a lot from last season," he said.
After being under three different coaches last season, any player and his game would be left disoriented. Mahesh is no different. However, under new coach Stephen Constantine, he seems to have found some level of consistency.
"He (Constantine) doesn't talk much, but before games, he tells us small details, how to play against the opponents, how to reach when we score or concede. This is very important for all of us," Naorem said.
"Last season, we didn't play as a team. Many players didn't want to play, and even the coach seemed to give up. This season, we are more organised and have a sense of unity," he added.
While both Cleiton Silva and the coach believe that East Bengal might just sneak into the top six, Naorem has slightly more practical reasoning. "When we win a game, we go on to lose the next, or maybe two. If we win two, three games on the trot, we can get some points and then can do this," Mahesh concluded.
