The Mumbai City coach reiterated the importance of having a strong squad…
Owen Coyle took the Indian Super League (ISL) by storm when he turned around the fortunes of a then beleaguered Chennaiyin FC and guided them to a runner-up spot last season. Over the summer, he jumped ship to join Jamshedpur FC and after suffering a defeat in their season opener to Chennaiyin FC, they have been unbeaten in their last four outings.
On Monday evening, Mumbai City FC will come up against Jamshedpur FC and coach Sergio Lobera has urged his team to be guard and not take any team lightly. On being specifically asked about Coyle’s impact last season in ther ISL, Lobera replied, “We need to go step-by-step. I think the past is the past and we need to focus on the future. Every team is different but I think it’s possibly going to be similar to facing Chennaiyin FC because Jamshedpur has a very competitive team. They are a good team with and without the ball. They are a dangerous team because when they have the chances, they usually score goals. So we need to work on the balance on the offensive and defensive aspects because it’s very important for tomorrow’s game.”
The games are coming thick and fast and Mumbai will be playing their third game in eight days, which makes it paramount for coaches to rotate the squad. Lobera agrees that recovering players in such a short time is difficult and hence, he would have to rely on the depth of his squad.
“It’s not easy. We have a big challenge every day in this season and we have to adapt quickly. The most important thing is that I have a good squad and it’s not only about the 11 players who played in the last game.”
Mumbai are in a rich vein of form as they have won three games on the bounce and are gunning for the fourth win. But the former Las Palmas manager believes that his team still has room to improve.
“Obviously, we need to improve day-by-day and game-by-game. Winning four games in a row is not easy. Now in a normal situation, we are probably at the end of the pre-season. Obviously, as a team, we need to improve a lot.”
Lobera also informed that Mandar Rao Dessai is yet to join the squad after he had to leave the bio-secure bubble due to personal reasons.
Japanese midfielder Cy Goddard is enjoying training under the 43-year-old tactician and has adapted well to Lobera’s style. But the footballer expressed his displeasure over having a short pre-season as it made matters complicated heading into the fixtures.
“I’ve grown up watching Spanish football. So for me, it wasn’t so hard going into this style of football and I’ve enjoyed it very much. We get on very well off the pitch which makes it easier for us to develop a relationship on the pitch and I think it can only get better. I wouldn’t say that the style of football makes it harder but the style of football that we play probably makes it easier. This is because we’re the ones trying to be in possession of the ball and the other team will have to do more of the work as we dominate the game.
“I’ve enjoyed my time very much. Of course, it’s a difficult situation being in the bubble and without fans but the group has treated me well. We had a short time together (in pre-season) and all of a sudden we were thrown into the fixtures straight away. So that was probably the hardest part,” stated Goddard.
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