ISL 2022-23: We will be looking to carry the momentum from the Champions League – Des Buckingham

Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham has said that they will be to carry the momentum from the AFC Champions League. The Islanders had a good run in the tournament and they will be looking to tick the right boxes in the pre-season to prepare in the best possible manner for the Hero ISL.

Mumbai City FC defeated Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya by 2-1 on 11th April in the group stage of the AFC Champions League. Subsequently, they bested them by 1-0. With two wins, three losses, and one draw, Mumbai City FC finished in second place in the Group B of the 2022-23 season of the AFC Champions League with seven points.

Thus, this campaign must have given them a lot of confidence and they will look to be at their best in the ISL.

“We will be looking to carry the momentum from the Champions League. For me, it is about continuing from there. We’ve got a good base. We’ve got ten of the starting eleven that finished that Champions League game or started at Champions League game and we’ve retained a large core of the group,” Des Buckingham said while talking to Sportstar.

“One additional stuff we will look at is what worked last year and what we need to build on.”

On the other hand, the upcoming season of the Hero ISL will be long and the Briton reckons it will help the players in maintaining their fitness levels as they will have a longer gap between the matches.

“I think a longer season is great for the league. That’s what we want, the players want and this is great from the development point of view,” stated Des Buckingham added.

“In terms of offseason, the players have been given a schedule by our strength and conditioning coach [Danny Deigan] ahead of the season, to make sure that they are as prepared as they can be coming in here and that we don’t have to start from the beginning,” said the 37-year-old.

Meanwhile, the Islanders are known for the development of young players, and the likes of Lalengmawia Ralte (Apuia), Vikram Partap Singh, and Mehtab Singh have grown in stature and confidence. Buckingham added it is always exciting to work with young talents.

“The beauty of having them (young players) and working with them day in day out is you can see and track their development and as long as you’re clear on what you want to achieve and they’re very clear and how they work towards achieving that,” he said.