By Debayan Mukherjee
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: India’s No 1 goalkeeper Subrata Paul feels there will be no clear favourites in this edition’s Hero I-League as it will be very tightly contested.

On the eve of India’s premier league’s start the 29-year old Salgaocar FC custodian often dubbed as ‘Spiderman’ between the sticks spoke to www.the-aiff.com on the League, his new club, Indian players and much more.

The semifinal of the Hero Federation Cup showed that you are in your usual fine form leading up to the I-League. How has the preparation been?

I prepare with my team so there is nothing special that I have done individually. Derrick (Pereira) Sir is the best Indian Coach at the moment and I have been associated with him since Pune FC. So needless to say that preparation has been to the utmost and we will put our best foot forward.

Both you and Derrick know a thing or two about your first opponents don’t you?

Pune FC is a club I and Derrick Sir have been part of. But as a professional footballer emotions come secondary. The team I play for is my first priority and I will give 100 % for that team. Pune is obviously well known to me but there Salgaocar is my club now and I am concentrating on doing well for them.

You will be part of the I-League from the beginning now after your stint Denmark stint. Have you set any personal targets and as a whole considering you have not won the League till now.

I don’t play football to just achieve anything. I play for the love of the game. Also the I-League is a long tournament with 20 matches to play home and away so I cannot spell out anything now. My goal is to winning matches for my club.

While Abhijit Das is your understudy, Karanjit Singh will also look to become the No 1 goalkeeper once he is fit. Do you take this as a healthy competition?

That is for the coach to decide who will play first choice. It is secondary to me if Karanjit is playing. It has to be for the good of the team and the team must win. We will train together and will try our best for the success of the club.  

The Hero Federation Cup brought to light AIFF Academy product Vishal Kaith for Shillong. What do you make of him?

India has always produced good goalkeepers. The names won’t end if I start. We do have some promising goalkeepers now like Vishal whom I liked during the Fed Cup. There is Shilton (Paul, Mohun Bagan) who has established himself to be a fine keeper Arindam Bhattacharya (Bharat FC) is also doing well. We have all seen how well Rehenesh TP did in the ISL for North East.

What’s your take on the sweeper-keeper role epitomized by Manuel Neuer. Do you think that is the way modern day goalkeepers should be brought up?

It varies from keeper to keeper. It also depends on the coaches. It goes without saying that Neuer is the best in the world and is a goalkeeper of exceptional quality. After Lev Yashin he is the only goalkeeper to make the top three of FIFA World Player of the Year Award.

My favourite though is (Iker) Casillas. I love the calmness with which he goes about his job. I like to stay cool and talk a lot to my defenders so my job is half done. A goalkeeper is as good as his defenders most of the times.

After your Denmark stint with FC Vestsjælland, how changed are you as a goalkeeper?

I have learnt a lot from there. The football culture there is amazing and I am certainly much wiser under the bar now after my six-month stint in Denmark. Training with the club has been a lifetime experience.

Who are the contenders in this season’s I-League?

There will be no favourites in this edition. The Hero Federation been so competitive and there will be little to choose from. I congratulate Bengaluru FC for their first Fed Cup triumph.

They have really improved by leaps and bounds since coming on board and they have shown that by just doing the right things you can reach the pinnacle. It’s great for Indian football that more such clubs are coming up. Bharat FC is the new club this time I’m sure they will do well too.

Are you expecting more new faces hogging the limelight this I-League?

There are so many new faces now which augurs well for Indian Football. I’m sure they will exploit the platforms like the ISL, I-League to showcase their talent and take Indian Football to the next level.