ISL 2016: Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimaraes prepared for all kinds of surprises in his first season
Costa Rican, Alexandre Guimaraes has a resume worth talking about. He’s played for the Costa Rican national side that played in 1990 FIFA World Cup. He was the Costa Rica national football team head coach in Korea-Japan 2002 and Germany 2006 and has had positive runs with teams like Al Wasl in the United Arab Emirates. His son currently plays for Spanish La Liga outfit, Deportivo La Coruña.
Credit to Mumbai City FC for roping in a man with such experience to lead their campaign for a playoff spot in this season’s ISL. While Guimaraes has enjoyed a successful start with Mumbai with an unbeaten pre-season record to his name, he’s also had to deal with some setbacks in the form of non-availability of players and injuries.
His assessment of his side was as follows, “We did very well in the preseason. Now we know about the players more. The entire coaching staff has proposed a different style of play. Today morning I was watching the minutes that every player played in Dubai.”
Speaking about the setbacks he’s faced in his early days as coach of Mumbai, Guimaraes said, “I am crossing my fingers. We already have two players injured. I just have to think what I have now. But I am satisfied. The role that Diego Forlan will play is clear no matter which player surround’s him,” said the 56-year-old.
Every team in the ISL will play at least 14 matches in 2 months and the coach believes rotating the squad will be key- “It is impossible that we can play with the same 11 every game. It doesn’t matter if the tournament is short or long, most of the time the 11 that play in the opening game is not the same 11 that play in the final,” he said.
Udanta Singh and Lalchhuanmawai Fanai suffered injuries and will take at least 30 days to recover. “We now have 20 players with us. This is a good amount to start the league with. Right now it’s not a big deal because we have the players who are competitive. You have to always be prepared for surprises. Sometimes the surprises the nice the other times, they aren’t nice,” he concluded.