‘Backline has to be in top shape’
The defensive solidity of Jamie Day's boys in red and green have enjoyed a solid reputation but ironically, the British gaffer is facing a tough challenge to assemble his playing eleven, with the inexperienced backline remains his primary area of concern among all three departments, ahead of the World Cup and Asian Cup Qualifiers starting from June 3 in Qatar.
Following the absence of some key players like Bishwanath Ghosh, Yeasin Khan, Saad Uddin, Mahbubur Rahman Sufil, Nabib Newaj Jibon and Ashraful Islam Rana due to injuries or off-form, Day will be heavily relying on the superior experience of central-back Tapu Barman to lead the backline from the front, and inspire the whole team by extrapolation.
"I know I must take additional responsibility in the backline as the senior and experienced defender, to encourage and facilitate effective organisation and communication among defenders," Tapu told The Daily Star before leaving for Qatar last week.
The lanky defender strongly believes that the key to defeat Afghanistan and India is through compact defending, and is optimistic about the probable decisive impact of the new players.
"We are accustomed to playing a tight, defensive game and in order to win the upcoming ones, the backline has to be in top shape along with the goalkeeper, and when and if that happens, our forwards will definitely perform better," said the Bashundhara Kings defender.
"New players may not have much international exposure but they are regular starters in their respective club sides. Also, we believe we can beat both of our opponents if we can display our peak performance in all departments on the given days. Plus having played them of late will help, where we lost narrowly 0-1 to Afghanistan and surrendered a lead to draw 1-1 against India in away matches," said Tapu.
"In my view, Tareq Raihan Kazi is now the best right back and his performance in last three league matches was really positive. Rahmat Mia is going to play at left back as usual while Riyadul Hasan Rafi and Rimon Hossain have also played really good in Nepal, so they can step up to fulfil the vacuum," said Tapu, who played only one of five World Cup Qualifying matches, against Qatar last December, upon recovering from a long knee injury.
Nevertheless, the forwards must find the target if Bangladesh is to win and Tapu Barman is willing to bank on youth upfront, in absence of experienced Jibon and Sufil.
"I really like Suman Reza's confident movements around to the opponent box, and his speed with the ball and shooting are commendable. So I believe Suman, being the highest scorer among locals, can be decisive even with a limited international experience," Tapu added further.
"If you look at the wing, there are Matin Mia and Rakib Hossain, who I think is the best performer among local wingers in the league. Rakib also scored six goals, which shows that the strikers and wingers have been in goal-scoring form and now if they can carry their momentum into the matches ahead, we can produce the results in our favour," Tapu concluded.