ISL 2017/18: Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimaraes expresses 'honest' opinion about referees

Ever since FC Pune City coach, Ranko Popovic was handed a four-match suspension and a heavy fine for expressing his opinion about the referee, coaches in the ISL have been reluctant to openly talk about the substandard officiating in the league.

Case in point being the latest game between Jamshedpur and FC Goa during which the official incorrectly awarded a penalty to Goa despite Jamshedpur's defender, Bikey clearly winning the ball when he tackled Brandon Fernandes.

Ahead of their crunch game against Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City FC head coach Alexandre Guimaraes was tight-lipped when asked about the situation. He suggested that he has nothing to complain about the standard of officiating in their own stadium.

He said, "Honest? I always come here to say what I think. Like I said before, at least in Mumbai City, I am not talking about other teams, in our previous games, I have nothing to say against the referees. They did well. Honest!"

The coach revealed that he did watch videos of their last encounter against Kerala Blasters in Mumbai. The Costa Rican reckons his side has made huge strides since that game where they thumped the Blasters 5-0. Diego Forlan scored a hat-trick back then.

"I was curious to see the last game we played against Kerala and how our team has developed after that. Since then, we have developed a lot. I am pretty sure tomorrow we will play a good game like in our previous games They have a good defensive line, so let's see how we can penetrate them," he explained.

Asked if he thinks Mumbai can finish on top of the points table at the end of the league stage, Guimaraes said that he was confident that a top 4 finish at the least is on the cards.

"Yes, when I keep looking back at the way the team is playing, I am very confident we have the resources and the players to fight till the end, to be there in the top four, that is for sure," he signed off.