Mumbai City FC’s head coach Alexandre Guimaraes is upbeat about the understanding he struck up with marquee player Diego Forlan, the striker from Uruguay. The coach has given his captain the freedom to assert himself. MCFC will play Hero ISL’s first home match at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday, facing in-form NorthEast United FC, which recorded two wins from two matches so far.
Despite being marked and denied possession for long stretches, Forlan set up Mumbai City’s match-winner against FC Pune City in the opener in Pune. Guimaraes spoke about the Forlan effect on his squad and the realisation of taking the load off his prized striker. “Forlan’s leadership is growing with each day. We are also working on solutions so that pressure is taken off him, as far as offence is concerned,” said the coach. “Players of his level and quality want to play in every match. It helps the team,” he added.
The strike force is short on big names. Sony Norde is away on national duty for Haiti, Sunil Chhetri is playing in AFC Cup, Jackichand Singh is recovering from injury and injured Gaston Sangoy, the highest scorer in pre-season, is ruled out for Friday’s tie. “NorthEast deserved to win the two games. We need to play better and work harder,” said Guimaraes. NEUFC head coach Nelo Vingada, riding on wins against Kerala Blasters and FC Goa, said: “Playing against Mumbai City will be our third game in six days. Some of my players are more tired than others. This is football, I am not making an excuse,” said the Portuguese.
He rated the display against FC Goa highly. “Believe me, the contest (NorthEast vs FC Goa) was a very good game in any league in Asia. There was intensity, both sides created scoring opportunities and there was a lot of emotion. We were lucky to score twice and our goalkeeper (Subrata Paul) played well,” said Vingada, expecting a tough time against MCFC away and at a new venue for both sides. ISL will make its debut at Mumbai Football Arena.