It was in March earlier this year when Delhi Dynamos (DDFC) were ready to take on Churchill Brothers at the back of a six-match unbeaten run in the Indian Super League (ISL). Churchill Brothers had finished second last in the I-League season while Delhi Dynamos had finished eighth in the ISL but by the end of the league, Delhi Dynamos had played like a much better ranked team.

They had flair, they had goals to show, they had the confidence of good performances and they went into the match as clear favourites against Churchill, who had won only five of their 18 I-League matches that season.

However, it turned out to be a nightmare for Delhi as Willis Plazas haunted them with a double, one of which came in extra time, and Delhi were ousted by the I-League minnows 2-1.

Delhi Dynamos team was devastated as was visible on their faces that day but Rohan Sharma, DDFC owner, revealed what happened backstage after their almost unimaginable loss.

Read - When Barcelona star Gianluca Zambrotta found Italian cheese in India and went crazy

"Last year, I'll be honest, we had the Super Cup fall-out and that's the worst we've played in our lives and I'm not even exaggerating. Everyone who was at the club was devastated. I was so mad, stunned. I was upset and I said I want team meeting," Rohan told indiatoday.in.

Rohan further told that the foreigners did not show up at the meeting but the Indian players did and they are the ones they retained ahead of the current season.

Delhi Dynamos players during a training session (@vinit_vr Twitter Photo)

Rohan spoke about what he told the players and how they reacted to his words.

"The foreigners didn't come but Indian players did, everyone who we retained, Chhangte, Romeo and we sat down. I said we're never doing this again and they were all crying, Chhangte was crying. Pritam was devastated, he hates losing more than anyone at the club. I said we're never doing this again whatever happened this season, we cannot repeat and Pritam looked at me and said yeah, we will not," Rohan added.

Rohan told how intricately they looked at everything they did ahead of season 5 of the ISL and shared his aspirations for the club this season.

"Last year was very very hard for us and we didn't like it and the Super Cup loss was a real punch in the face for me and that's why we took things far more seriously this year, from the foreign players to the coaches, everything had to be really done right. We couldn't be haphazard and sign anyone. We interviewed our players, talked to the coaches, made sure everything was being done right.

"That's why I feel better about the team this year, I see the effect and I'm hoping for good things this year. I wanna win the championship of course, and I think we can. We have the team, they're young, they're hungry and fast and we'll score better, people overreact but we'll be fine."

Also Read - How Florent Malouda had a laugh at the expense of Manchester United

Delhi Dynamos have a new coach in Spanish Josep Gombau this year. The club parted ways with coach Miguel Angel Portugal after last season, who is now the coach of Pune City FC.

Rohan exclusively detailed the process he and the club went through to get coach Gombau at the club and told exactly what he liked about his new coach.

"I will tell you the whole process we went through regarding the coach. We interviewed at least 15-20 coaches. We were down to a French coach but he couldn't get him because he got an offer in France itself from Ligue 1, we were very close to signing him. I was just sitting with my dad discussing that we have to do something about the coach thing, who do we look at again, who did we like and coach Gombau came up.

"You look at his resume and it's like coach in A-League and we are used to having big guys, we had Zambrotta who didn't coach before but that was Zambrotta and before that you had Roberto Carlos. Then we had Portugal, which was a joint decision between us and Aspire [Academy] and he was a Real Madrid Castilla coach and so he [Gombau] wasn't the sexiest name. But when he came to the meeting with the whole powerpoint presentation and videos about what all he had done in A-League and what he would do in Delhi and how he could impact our players, it was great.

"And his style of play is different. Portugal is still defensive but he is very aggressive and I like that because you are empowering our midfielders and strikers and wingers, which is our strength this season. This is why even when we drew against Mumbai, I know we should have won that game, but the whole team was attacking.

"They also get this system more this year, they are enjoying this system more when they are practicing, they are liking it, there is more freedom, there is less pressure. You are not thinking too much into things but are just looking to get to the ball which really helps us because we have speed," Rohan shared.

Read - Fouled, sleepy, exhausted: 'You cannot take a bad picture of Marcos Tebar'

Rohan is the fan of Real Madrid, who have won the last three Champions League title in Europe. However, this is not the reason he decided to stick with a Spanish coach, in fact he feels that Indian players are most suited for the passing style of play.

"I actually like Spanish football here [at Delhi Dynamos] because I think Indian players are more accustomed to it. I think it's more solid to watch as well than you know, long balls. I like coach Constantine and coach Coppell too but you look at Chhangte, Vinit, Nandha, how they thrive under that kind of passing.

"Vinit thrives so much more in our system than I think he does under Constantine's system. I think that's because it's a very good passing game. Most of the youngsters who have not had that experience of the national team, I think it really helps. I do crap a lot of Bengaluru but how they work on Udanta, they really brought that Spanish thing and I think if you do that with a lot of younger players early on, it's a lot more impactful," Rohan said.

Delhi Dynamos suffered a 2-1 loss to Churchill Brothers in the Super Cup qualifier (@vinit_vr Twitter Photo)

Delhi Dynamos is so much about Spanish football, Spanish coach and Spanish players that Rohan Sharma chooses to label it as a Spanish mafia.

"It is chemistry and when you enjoy what you are playing, it's good. We have all the players who know this style of play, even the foreigners. We have Gianni and then Marcos Tebar who has been here for 2-3 years now. Then Rene is a very creative guy, of course you can't say that he was hampered by John Gregory because they won the league, but here he has more freedom to pass. Everyone in this team has some degree of Spanish in team, we are very pro-Spain here, it's very funny. I call this the Spanish mafia."