Midfielder Serginho Greene started his first match of the 2015 Hero Indian Super League for Delhi Dynamos FC against Kerala Blasters FC earlier this week and impressed one and all in a 3-3 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The 33-year-old Dutchman shared his thoughts on his league experience. Excerpts.
What pushed you to come to India after having spent almost all of your career in the Netherlands or Europe?
I have been out of Holland for almost seven years now but still spend a lot of time there. It’s like 50-50. I saw this as an opportunity to see India. I know Hans Mulder very well and he was here last season as well. I spoke to him and then decided to come here.
From whatever you've seen so far, how do you rate the league in terms of quality?
I think most of the teams are right up there “ there is little to choose between them. I think the league is not on the level where we want it to be but these things take time so as the years go by, the quality will get better.
In the future, do you think the league can attract European players and will they want to come and play in India?
Most of the players have kids and if you're going to make it a big league (9-10 months), you're going to need schools. I don't know what the situation is like regarding that. But if you want to attract bigger players, you also need to think about things outside football. I think it's possible. Look how the MLS started. I think, for a lot of players, it's interesting to come here because it’s a change and it's not too long.
This is a much-shorter league. Is it good for the players since it gets over quickly or is it the other way around since there is a lot of travelling?
If the league is this short, it's difficult for the coach to teach what he wants to. Sometimes it takes longer. Because it's so short, players go and come every year. It's difficult. For some it might be nice, who like to play every three days. Some like it and some don't.
How do you keep yourself motivated on the bench?
When you're on the bench you want to show that you should be in the starting team. The coach makes his choices and you have to accept them. But we have to prove our point with our game. For me, that's my motivation.
How has the experience been playing in Delhi?
It's been great. It's different from Holland. We had a lot of away games in the beginning so now it's nice to play home games. Home games are home games. In Holland, you have buses that go with the team to away games. In India, it's obviously not possible. But we do have the supporters here, they're there for us. The stadium is not full but it's a 60-000 seater, it's very difficult for it to be full. Even when we have 20,000, it's a lot of people but it looks like it's empty.
