ISL 2019-20 | Pressure to win is on both sides, says Jorge Costa
Mumbai City head coach Jorge Costa has stated that both Mumbai and Kerala have an equal amount of pressure when they face each other at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti who is the top scorer for Mumbai this season expressed his delight in playing for Mumbai.
Mumbai City FC will host Kerala Blasters at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. Both teams are winless in their last five games and The Islanders have lost their first two games by conceding four goals each. However, Costa's boys only win came against Kerala Blasters in Kochi by a solitary goal of Amine Chermiti. Mumbai City head coach Jorge Costa believes that both Mumbai and Kerala have an equal amount of pressure to end their winless run.
“Both teams have an equal amount of pressure. We do not know about the opponents, but I can be clear in saying that we have played under pressure and I’ll tell you why. We need to be closer to the place in the league table that we want to be and we deserve to be in. But this pressure is a part of football. Football is all about the pressure and we must know how to deal with such pressure.” Jorge Costa told reporters at the pre-match press conference, ISL website reported.
Jorge Costa coach then lamented about the mistakes made by his boys this season but praised his team’s versatility in their last two games against a strong NorthEast United and ATK. Both difficult away games ended in a 2-2 draw. Costa said, “It’s always a problem in between games when you lose points over individual mistakes. But the thing that we must take from these last two games is that we are playing as a team.
"We are fighting. We have a lot of quality in our game. We just need to be more focused, to work and to fix these small mistakes. The most difficult thing is to perform well, and we are doing that. As a team, I’m very happy with the performance of my team over the last two games.”
Mumbai City's only win of the season came against Kerala Blasters in their season opener. And Costa is not carried away by it and said. “Well, it’s a different game now. Our first game of the season, we won against them away from home. It was a good game, but Thursday’s game will be a different game and a very important game for us.
"They are one of the best teams, because I respect all the teams and I think there is a good balance between all the teams. But they are one of the teams that make a great effort. We must respect them. We must try to not make more mistakes and fight until the end for the three points,” he said.
The defence is a concern for Mumbai City as they conceded 12 goals in 6 games and 8 of them were conceded at home in two games. However, coach Costa refused to blame any individuals. “Firstly, people see football like this – if we don’t score its Amine’s fault. If we concede it’s Amrinder’s fault. But I don’t see football like this. I see football like a team game, so if we don’t score it’s not because of Amine, it’s because we didn’t play well enough.
"Similarly, it’s not the fault of any of the defenders if we concede. This is a team, we must play as a team, and we are playing as a team. We are working on the individual mistakes. I’m here to try to do the right things.”
Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti who has three goals to his name this season attended the presser with the coach and expressed his happiness to play or the Islanders.“Very happy to be a part of this team. It’s very important for a striker to score. I try to give my best to the team. Whenever you come to a new club, communication can become an issue. But I would like to thank everyone in the team because they have helped me integrate.”
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