ISL 2022-23: We want to develop the best Indian players: Mumbai City FC’s Des Buckingham

Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham has stated that they want to develop the best Indian players in the ongoing Hero Indian Super League 2022-23. Buckingham has got the best out of the players at the club and they have been consistently improving under his umbrella.

The Islanders have qualified for the playoff stages and they are currently at the numero uno position in the standings with 12 wins and three draws in the season. Thus, Buckingham’s men are yet to be beaten in the ongoing season of the league.

Meanwhile, Mumbai City FC will face Jamshedpur FC on Friday at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, both of these teams had shared the spoils after the match had ended in a 1-1 draw at Mumbai.

“I think the last time we played them; they (Jamshedpur FC) took a point away from our home and took two more (points) from us. They’re a good team and got a very good coach in Aidy (Boothroyd). We’ve watched their games and it’s not that they’re playing poorly, maybe it’s just they haven’t been taking their opportunities,” Buckingham said in the official pre-match press conference.

“We’re expecting another tough challenge the same way we did against them in the last encounter when we were (at) home, but we’re a very different team to what we were when we played them then. I’d like to think we’ve been able to showcase our type of football more often,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mumbai City FC had won their previous encounter against NorthEast United FC by 4-0 and had a six-day gap. Buckingham shed light on how the team has prepared for the Friday match.

“We know that every game will pose its own challenges. We’ve got different ways that we can approach games now. We’ve spent the last eight days firstly recovering and resting the players from the previous games because we had two games in four days,” Buckingham said.

“So it’s nice to have that time between, because if you can do that, not only do you get more time to recover, but you get more time to plan and prepare for games. And I think when the fans come to the stadium; they see players performing at a higher level because of that,” added the coach.

Speaking on the team’s philosophy and strategy in the ongoing season, the Englishman said, “I think we were a club that wants to develop the best Indian players, let alone young players. And to secure the services of (Gyamar) Nikum, he was the one who really interested me from the match we played against Rajasthan (United) in the Durand Cup.”

“We’re looking now not just to build for this season, but to try and build beyond. When I look at our team that finished the game last week. For the final 20 minutes of the game, we had only two foreigners on the pitch and our front three was not only an all-Indian front three but a young front three with Gurkirat Singh at the left side. We had Ayush making his debut (playing) down the middle; he’s young 18 years old and Vikram was on the right-hand side. So it doesn’t matter what age they are, it’s about if they’re good enough, then they will have the opportunity to play here. But it’s also about making sure that we build this club for the future as well,” he added.