'I don't have 11 players in my team, I have 25', Jorge Costa talks about Mumbai City's squad depth ahead of the match against Odisha FC | ISL 2019/20
A few days ago, Mumbai City FC drew with Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League, despite the latter partly enjoying the better of the exchanges. Yet, the grit and determination displayed in that stalemate only embodied the doggedness the club has adopted under the stewardship of Jorge Costa.
On the eve of the game against Odisha FC, the Portuguese opened up on a variety of topics, thereby providing those in attendance a clearer picture of what transpires in the tactician’s mind.
Speaking about the quality existing in his squad, Jorge remarked,
I don’t believe that I have only 11 players in my team, I have 25 players who all have the quality to be useful for the side. Also, I have immense trust in my group that they will get the job done on the pitch.
When asked about the recent injury crisis to have engulfed Mumbai City FC and the high-profile departures in the off-season, the Portuguese replied that he didn’t like to think about those who left or those who might be unavailable, instead trusting the players he has at his disposal.
Talking about new acquisition Rowllin Borges, the coach said,
We did a lot of research in order to get him [Rowllin] on board, with respect to the assets he would bring to the table and how he would fit into our system
The Portuguese also seemed quite impressed by the performances Amrinder Singh had been conjuring so far in the season as he continuously talked about his supreme goalkeeping ability.
However, Jorge Costa hardly wanted to rest on his laurels, quipping that he wasn’t 100% happy with his defence and that there still remained a few flaws to iron out. Moreover, they would be missing the services of Souvik Chakrabarti, who picked up a red card against Chennaiyin FC in Mumbai’s previous fixture.
On being quizzed about how his side would cope with the defender’s absence, Costa opined that he had a solution in mind; an answer that might help them offset the loss.
Additionally, the Portuguese talked about how he had gotten slightly more used to the surroundings in the ISL as opposed to last term, thereby directly contributing to a better start this time round.
Thus, as the press conference drew to a close, Costa, despite acknowledging the current deficiencies, boasted an air of confidence, which one reckons, would invariably rub off on his bunch of footballers.
And, after 4 points from 2 tricky away games, one wouldn’t be too unreasonable to expect Mumbai entering tomorrow’s encounter in high spirits.