Des Buckingham’s Mumbai City FC have been in a horrible run of form of late, picking up just 2 points from a possible 15 in their last 5 games. After a flying start to the season, the Islanders have been left slumped down to the 5th position in the table.
Head Coach Des Buckingham faced the media ahead of their next encounter against bottom-placed NorthEast United FC tomorrow. The two sides played out a frenzied 3-3 draw not too long ago where Deshorn Brown punished Mumbai’s defense with a hattrick. Here are the excerpts from their pre-match Press Conference.
The Islanders have had two games canceled since they last stepped onto the pitch against Bengaluru FC on 10th January.
“We’ve had 15 days between tomorrow and the last game that we played. We were expecting to play against Kerala and the game against Jamshedpur as well. We had prepared for both those games, and it has allowed us to continue training. We are very much ready for tomorrow.”
The Mumbai-based club have signed Diego Mauricio after releasing fellow Brazilian Ygor Catatau from the club. The 30-year old striker played for Odisha FC last season, headlining their attack with 12 goals and 2 assists in 21 games. He has extensive experience across some top leagues in the world like the first division of Brazilian and Korean football.
Quizzed about Mauricio’s attributes, Buckingham opined, “Diego was able to showcase his qualities here with what he did for Odisha last year. He is not only a goalscoring threat but can also link up and combine with others in the attack. He is a fantastic addition to the players that we have in the final third. We are looking forward to working with him once he gets out of quarantine.”
Their opposition NorthEast United FC surprisingly find themselves in a similar vein of form, having picked 2 out of the last possible 15 points. However, they are rooted to the bottom of the table ever since SC East Bengal replaced them at the 10th spot. New signings have been made in the likes of Marcelinho and Marco Sahanek, who made their debut in the uninspiring 2-1 loss to Chennaiyin on Saturday.
“I watched their last game and was impressed with how they played. I think they should’ve come out of the game with a result. They had a lot of chances and you can see the impact that their foreign signings made. So, we are very much aware of them.”
Des Buckingham on Ygor Catatau’s departure from the club
“Firstly, he is a wonderful person and a wonderful player, but we were looking at a place in our group that we felt we needed some difference. We felt that Diego gives us more of that. So that was the reason behind making that move.”
The match between the sides promises to be a thrilling encounter. NorthEast United have been reinforced with their new foreigners and have a very good shot at getting all 3 points from the game as Mumbai find themselves in their worst run of form in the past two seasons.
However, the reigning Champions will look to turn the tables around as soon as possible, as time is slowly running out for them with every point they drop. An exhilarating game of football awaits us at the Fatorda Stadium as the plot thickens with every game in the Indian Super League.
Kick-off is at 7:30 pm
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