Des Buckingham: As a coach you want to coach against the best coaches, and this competition gives you the chance to that

City’s head coach also threw light on his team’s preparations ahead of the qualifier.

The AFC Champions League qualifier is on the horizon as Mumbai City and Jamshedpur buckle up for what is anticipated to be a battle of two giants, who are fighting for a spot in Asia’s biggest club football competition. 

Jamshedpur FC were crowned League Shield Winners during the 2021-22 Hero Indian Super League campaign, while Mumbai City FC similarly reigned supreme in the 2022-23 season, and hence as per the AFC slot system, a playoff has been scheduled between the League Shield winners of the aforementioned seasons to ascertain the team that will head to the group stages of 2023-24 AFC Champions League.

Ahead of the all-important fixture, Mumbai City head coach Des Buckingham and defender Rahul Bheke spoke to the media in a virtual press conference. These are the excerpts from the conversation.

Take on Jamshedpur

Despite having brilliant form in the league stage, Jamshedpur were one team, that Champions Mumbai struggled against. In both the games against Jamshedpur, Mumbai found it difficult to get results, and Aidy Boothroyd’s men posed a special problem for the City Blues. When asked how he plans to take on this challenge, here is what Des had to say.

"Jamshedpur are good team they have shown that throughout the year. They suddenly showed that against us twice, and then they showed that in the last 4-5 games they had at the end of the regular season, when they kind of found their groove and their way of playing. So it's a very simple one for us, they caused us problems because they are a good team and they got good individuals, they got a good coach in Aidy, so we have to be on top of our game, we need to do everything that we can to put ourselves in the position to do what we did in the league stage, which was to come away with two results, the first a draw at home and then finding a way to win it at their place. ", he said.

"We know last year Jamshedpur did really well to when the league and this year under Aidy, they are very effective in what they do. They have good players that when they have the ball can certainly cause problems for many different areas and yes defensively they are sound, they are well setup and they are very well organised, but that is the beauty of this competition. So, I am expecting a tough and exciting game against a very good team but again the focus will be in making sure that we do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position we can to come away with a result that we would all like.”, the coach added.

Des also threw light on his team’s preparations ahead of the game. "I think the preparation has been as good as it can be. We were obviously able to reshuffle a few things after the playoffs, and then we had five players go with the national team which is a wonderful achievement. It's always nice to be called up to the national team. So with the exception of those 5 that were away everyone is back in training and everybody is available and we train today and tomorrow before we fly out to play the game.”, he said.

Thoughts on the season

Mumbai City had a fantastic league campaign, that saw them crowned as the Shield winners of the ISL, and also maintain a fantastic unbeaten record until that point. When asked about his takeaways from this season, Des said, "I think when I look back across the last 12 months, we spoke about the team that wants to be successful and there are many different ways of defining success, but when I look back across the last 12 months, we finished second in a champions league group stage, we made to Durand Cup final, we won the ISL league by being unbeaten up to that point, and now we are putting ourselves in a position to try and go to the champions league again.”

“So for me it is has been a wonderful 12 months, but it's not one that we are finished with here. We have obviously this game and then the super Cup afterwards which we are looking forward to, so we're not quite finished yet, and it is a game that we know we have to be on top of and one we are very excited about playing.", he added.

How has the break helped your team to recalibrate ahead of this qualifier

Mumbai City enjoyed a short break after their semi final exit against Bengaluru. When asked as to how important this short break was for him and his team, Des replied by saying

"I think when you speak to the footballers and coaches around the world, it will be nice to be able to play this game on the back of a regular season. We've done everything we can to prepare ourselves, you know we had a small 5-6 day break after the semi final, but the players have been back in training now for the past 14 days, to try and do everything we can to get as ready as we can for what is going to be a very tough challenge.”

On the danger Jay Emmanuel Thomas can pose

Jamshedpur’s star player Jay Emmanuel has been in fine form this season, and is one of the biggest threats to Mumbai on Tuesday night. When asked about how he plans on neutralizing Jay’s threat, Des had this to say.

"Jay is one of many players that they have, you know you look back at his playing experience, he has played in the premier league. And to be able to bring players like him, and to be able to bring players of his calibre and his quality to the league, still while they are in there in prime, I think it is wonderful for the game here, you know he is one of the few players that we need to be mindful of because we know what he can do.”

On his eagerness to getting back to Playing Champions League football

“I have spoken on this before, the champions league is the highest level of club football you can play at and to be able to go and do what we were fortune to do last year, you know we are only the second Indian club to go to the champions league and we were the first team to win a game and not only did we win one, we won two and managed to get a draw, so we got three results in six games, so that allows us to show what the players from here can do”, said Des on how excited he is to once again playing Champions League football.

“It's a very exciting tournament to be a part of and it's one you know that the players that have played in it last year they are keen to try and do everything that we can do to put ourselves back in that position for next season, but we know it won't be easy as Jamshedpur will be trying to do the same thing, but it is a very exciting one for various reasons.”, the head coach added.

"I said last year before going to the champions league, as a coach certainly you want to coach against the best coaches that you can at the club level and do that you have to put yourself in and amongst this competition and same with the players the players want to compete against the best in Asia and do that this competition gives you the chance to that.", he concluded

The decrease in the number of goals lately

Off late, Mumbai’s goalscoring has emerged as a problem, and the team is somewhat struggling to get on the scoresheet. When asked whether he is concerned about this lack of goals, Des said the following.

"I think if scoring 54 goals in the regular season is a problem I don't know, I've got far bigger problems than that. So now I am not concerned I think we outscore the next nearest team by over I think 20 goals, so we know we have goals everywhere across the field so it's not a concerned it's just making sure that we do everything we can do to put ourselves back in those positions to create the opportunities and make sure that we take those chances as and when they come in."

On the conditions leading up to the game

When asked about how difficult is it to prepare for a one off fixture like this qualifier without much opportunity to build momentum ahead of the game, Des had this to say.

"I think it would have been difficult if we were starting the season, but we are not, we are coming off the back of a season so you know we have got the same playing group, we obviously extended our season a little bit longer with the two semi final games so I think it is a little bit easier maybe than what it would have been if it were the start of the season. We are trying to keep the players and the momentum that we did have carrying into this game and I feel we have done that. From a training point of view I can use last nice training session as an example, it was very sharp very good the players have got a clear understanding on what we are doing and trying to do."

Also, some additional questions were asked to Rahul Bheke

On getting himself together after the disappointing semi Final

When asked about how difficult it was to get back on the right path mentally after that Bengaluru loss, Rahul said, "We have been training for last 12 days and everyone is motivated and ready for this game. So this game is very important for us just like any other game and it's important that you win this game and get qualified for the champions league state so everyone is ready for that.”

On his willingness to once again play in the Champions League.

Rahul already has had a taste of Champions League football, and is also a goalscorer in the competition. He expressed his eagerness to play in the esteemed competition once again, and said the following. "Obviously as a player we all wanted to play at the highest level, and this is the one stage where all Indians dream of playing in the champions league so this year also we got that thing in our mind and that's what I said before we all are motivated and ready for this game because if even this game we will be again getting an opportunity to play in the champions league. So it is there in my mind that I want to win this game and get back to the champions league stage so that we can do well again."

"As I said before for the Indian players, Asian level is the highest platform and playing there is what each and every player once and obviously we got an opportunity write in front of us so it's important that we win this game and we get another chance to play there.”, he added