Chennaiyan FC players speaks on hardships faced early in his career

Chennaiyan FC is having a mixed season in the ongoing season of the Indian Super League 2022-23. After playing nine games, they won four, lost as many, and drew one. They are in seventh place in the points table with half of the season gone by. Meanwhile, the team’s star defender, Gurmukh Singh has opened up on his journey in the game.

Singh said that he started with East Bengal’s U18 side and then made it to the senior team after a while. During his stint, he claims that he was told that the coaches don’t like him. He added that he had almost quit playing and was looking to focus on his studies.

“My first club was East Bengal, I’d played there for the under-18s. That’s where I started and now I’m here,” Gurmukh Singh said.

“Problems in a player’s life come by quite a bit. It feels normal. There was a time when I had stopped playing football. It was when I was with the East Bengal under-18s. They had taken me up to the senior team and I practiced with them for a year.

“In the end, they told me directly that the coach didn’t like me. I left it there and there was nobody to tell me what to do. I started to feel that I wouldn’t be able to play, and was more inclined towards studying after that. That would have been my hardest time.”

Players don’t get a good platform to show their talent: Gurmukh Singh

The defender further added that it is important for a player to get enough chances and cited his example of not getting enough chances.

“They don’t get chances. And chances are the most important thing. There are lots of good players but they don’t have a good platform to show their talent. Take my own example.

“Sometimes, if practice goes bad, our self confidence tends to drop. That’s why you need to believe in yourself and keep working hard.”