“We are ready for the kick-off” – Pele’s coach

TIMES INT'L

By Akeem Greene

Gregory “Jackie Chan” Richardson ended the first half with 11 goals and is expected to be a key figure for Pele yet again
Gregory “Jackie Chan” Richardson ended the first half with 11 goals and is expected to be a key figure for Pele yet again

Coach of the Pele Football Club, Justin Bentick, has revealed that his unit is ready to do battle come Friday in the Guyana Football Federation’s Stag Elite League.

Speaking to this publication on Wednesday, Bentick disclosed that, “I think we are ready for the kick-off, everything is going great so far. Pele is always a team that approaches their first game of a tournament very seriously and we don’t underestimate opponents, the confidence is up.”

In the early stages of the league, Pele turned out to be the team to beat with a fleet of dominating performances, but strangely with about four games left, began to look a unit lacking cohesion.

In reflection, coach Bentick explained, “At that point, I was a bit disappointed, reasons were we had some internal problems with the heads of the club and it reflected on the players. In this second half, things will be better since we ironed out all the problems, we know our strengths and we know our weakness.”

Talented striker Gregory “Jackie Chan” Richardson was a bright light for the team up front and torn in the defense of opposing teams.

The former Golden Jaguars player was the league’s second leading goal scorer with 11 goals and coach Bentick sees the striker as a vital player in the set-up.

“He is very important to Pele; he is our leading goal scorer and is the most senior and experienced player so he motives the team as the other players would look to him; so he is every important to the current team,” Bentick posited.

The club made some transfers ahead of the restart of the league, but the coach explained that they were mostly youth players from some Linden sides.

Pele ended the first half in second place on 27 points just one point behind Slingerz FC; they played 14 matches and won eight, lost three and drew three.

Pele FC play their first game on Friday at the Guyana Defence Force ground against Slingerz FC from 17:30h.

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