ISL 2022-23: "We aspire to bring the ISL Shield and the trophy back to the club" - Mumbai City FC's Phurba Lachenpa underlines the ambitions ahead of new season
Mumbai City FC's Phurba Lachenpa joined Indian Super League (ISL) outfit Mumbai City FC on October 23, 2020. The former Shillong Lajong custodian has since made eight appearances for the Islanders.
Lachenpa was always the first-choice goalkeeper at Real Kashmir FC. However, things were different in the ISL. While he had initially put pen to paper, the Sikkim-born boy had competition in the form of Amrinder Singh, who was then the captain of the side. Singh joined ATK Mohun Bagan the following year but Lachenpa's place at number one was yet to be guaranteed.
He was up against Mohammad Nawaz but, with time, Lachenpa proved himself and earned the spot. In the recently concluded Durand Cup 2022, he proved himself to be the rightful contender for the position, with the ISL now in sight.
Having lost out in the century-old tournament to eventual winner Bengaluru FC, Phurba Lachenpa and his Mumbai City FC teammates have set their sights on the upcoming ISL.
Shedding light on his journey to becoming the club's number one custodian in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Lachenpa said:
"This is one of the top clubs in India. Every goalkeeper who comes here, irrespective of their numbers, is good at what they do. Every day we have to give our best in the training sessions and finally, only one can be chosen, based on the coach’s plan."
He added:
"We have to train well every day to earn our place. This is a club where goalkeepers can improve because they all push each other to bring out the very best they can. I am where I am today because of my colleagues and the coaches who kept me grounded and helped me develop as a player."
Mumbai City FC's Durand Cup campaign ended on a disappointing note despite the club dominating proceedings throughout the tournament. Summarizing his experience at the coveted age-old tournament, the Mumbai City FC goalkeeper said:
"It was a very good experience because we got to play a lot of matches as a team before the ISL. We've got to build relationships amongst ourselves and improve our fitness, all of which will come in handy in the ISL."
With the ISL knocking on the doors of every club, Phurba and his teammates are eager to make up for the disappointments they've had to face as a unit. On that note, he said:
"As a team, we aspire to bring the ISL Shield and the trophy back to the club. But whilst trying to do that, we also want to keep our coach’s philosophy intact and implement his ideas to the best of our abilities during the matches."
"He is a very tactically sound coach"- Mumbai City FC's Phurba Lachenpa shares his experience of working with Des Buckingham
Phurba found his place in the first team after the arrival of current head coach Des Buckingham. Commenting on the coach's impact on him and his teammates, Phurba said:
"This is his second year with the club. The experience has been pretty good. He is a very tactically sound coach. Every day he approaches each and every player individually and tries to get them on board with his ideas.
"He also tries to make us better individually so that we can add to the group and I think all of that has been evident in the way we play."
The Mumbai City FC custodian added how the ambience of football lovers fuelled his love for the game. He also stated that German footballing legend Oliver Kahn was one of his idols growing up. But nowadays, Lachenpa prefers to keep an eye on every goalkeeper to aid his development as a player.