Mumbai City FC look forward to strengthen their defence under new coach Jorge Costa
Jorge Costa has been looking forward to increasing the strength of the defence strategies of Mumbai City FC ahead of the fifth season of the Indian Super League. Amrinder Singh has stated that the new team is like a family that looks after each other, a factor that was missing in the last season.
After finishing seventh and sixth in the first two seasons respectively, Mumbai City FC's management made big changes and got Alexandre Guimaraes as the head coach for the 2016-17 season. After the departure of players like Nicolas Anelka and Frederick
The third season can be called as the golden season for the club as they had a stable midfield, packing defence and an attacking forward. However, they went down Atletico de Kolkata in the semi-finals. The team continued their campaign under Alexandre Guimaraes in the fourth season, but they couldn't keep up with the form and
However, Mumbai City signed former FC Porto captain, Jorge Costa as the new manager of the team. Jorge is known for the 2003 Champions League title along with Porto under manager Jose Mourinho. He was one of the best centrebacks his club could ever have and Mumbai City FC has been expecting him to inculcate similar insights into the players of the new team ahead of the fifth season of the Indian Super League.
Jorge has stated that the team struggled in the previous season mainly due to the inconsistency among the defensive players. He also mentioned that with players like Lucian Goian and Amrinder Singh, he will try his best to get the best off the team.
“We had a good pre-season, winning three of the four games (in Thailand) and one draw. But we are far from perfection and have a lot of work to do. This is a new season, a new coach, some new players and we will start from the beginning. Of
Lucian Goian has been retained by the club due to his tremendous record with the team since last three seasons. He is the best foreign defender the team has in this season and he is accompanied by two other foreign defenders as well. The team has signed Uruguayan midfielder Matias Mirabaje from Delhi Dynamos and Portuguese international player, Paulo Machado. Senegalese winger Modou Sougou, who has also proved his worth in the pre-season games.
Subhasish Bose, who was the captain of the Indian team that won the SAFF cup 2018, is one Indian player to watch out in the Mumbai City FC team. Midfielder Milan Singh is also a part of the club. Amrinder Singh has also been a crucial part of the club and has won the best goalkeeper award in the 2016 season. He has been with the team throughout their journey and he believes that the new team is like a family.
“Last year you saw that the coach (Guimaraes) was a bit defensive. This year also, the new coach wants to have a strong defence. It is important to remain tight at the back and then go for the raid. So naturally, this season again our focus is more on defence. This year we are like a family. In football, this is very important. I am happy that every member of the team is looking after each other. Last time maybe this was missing,” he said.