"We just didn't play" - Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham after their loss against Kerala Blasters FC
Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham expressed his disappointment after their 3-0 loss to Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Sunday.
While Ivan Vukomanovic's side made an incredible statement with the victory, the Islanders looked out of sorts in the final third throughout.
.@sahal_samad, @AlvaroVazquez91 and Jorge Diaz were on the score sheet as @KeralaBlasters stunned 10-man @MumbaiCityFC with a fine attacking performance!
#MCFCKBFC #HeroISL #LetsFootball https://t.co/5NfDMr7OIp
Buckingham admitted that it was an off-night for Mumbai City FC, whose four-match win streak was shattered by the Blasters. In response to a Sportskeeda question about whether the game was lost in the tactical department, the 36-year-old said during the post-match press conference:
"I don't think we lost the game tactically, we just didn't play. I was happy with how we played in the first six games, even in the game we lost against Hyderabad FC. But today we just didn't play well."
In the second half, Mumbai City FC went down to 10-men after Mourtada Fall was shown a second yellow. However, Mumbai managed to restrict Kerala's forward line even after going a man down and created a few chances for themselves. Asked what he thought of the reaction from the players, Des Buckingham said:
"Yes, the players adapted after going down to 10 men and we went three-at-the-back. They played well but we cannot get ourselves into such positions and we need to be better."
Although Mumbai are still sitting on top of the points table, Sunday's performance, more than the loss, comes as a massive blow to the defending champions. Buckingham opined that results like these are part and parcel of football, and so one has to take it on the chin and move on.
"They (his players) will not need any picking up. They are a very motivated group of players and this is football, it happens sometimes. But you can't take it too hard. We've got eight days for a turnaround and it's important we come back and do well," Des Buckingham said.
View the ISL 2021 schedule here.
"We came out tonight with motivation" - Ivan Vukomanovic after the victory against Mumbai City FC
Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic lauded his team's incredible overall performance. He opened up about how they had worked for months on their strategies as well as their mentality and tonight's performance was all of that coming to fruition.
"We'll come back stronger in the next matches."
@AmeyRanawade shares his thoughts after @MumbaiCityFC slumped to their second defeat of the season.
#MCFCKBFC #HeroISL #LetsFootball https://t.co/aTASvzDgga
Before tonight, Mumbai City FC's forward line had scored against all their opponents this season. Upon being asked how Kerala came away with a clean sheet, Ivan Vukomanovic said:
"First of all it's due to the use work that these boys have been doing. We have worked on changing their mentality of wanting to win and committing to victory. Especially being strong even late in the game and not conceding goals. We came out tonight with motivation wanting to press them high and neutralize their key players, forcing Mumbai to build up with their other players."
While the Indian football fraternity heaped praise on Kerala Blasters' performance, Ivan Vukomanovic was still not entirely pleased. The Serbian felt his players should've tried to go for the kill after Mumbai went a man down.
"I wasn't happy with the second part of the second half. We should have been more calm on the ball, more patient, and more decisive with the final ball."
With the win, the Tuskers have now catapulted to fifth in the ISL points table. Asked how he felt about their league position and chances of getting into the top four, the Kerala Blasters boss said:
"I have to be honest and admit that I am more disappointed about the two points we lost against NorthEast United FC and also draw against SC East Bengal in the last game where we had two goals canceled. We're missing those points and might have been higher with them."