Want to build on the success we had last season: Des Buckingham

Des Buckingham also heaped praises for Lallianzuala Chhangte.

The 2022-23 season was one to savour for Mumbai City FC, as they had an illustrious campaign that saw them lift the ISL Shield for the second time. Mumbai’s exploits on the pitch, and their attainment of some remarkable feats, compelled the club towards offering their tactician Des Buckingham a contract for a longer stay at the club, which the Englishman gracefully accepted. 

The mastermind behind Mumbai City FC’s success - Des Buckingham became a fan favourite ever since joining the club, and his philosophy and style of play is something which enhances the quality of football that is played here in India.

Ahead of the start of the new season, Des tiptoed in India to begin their pre-season campaign in Thailand from the 16th of July. The coach also spoke to selective media, and shedded light on Mumbai’s preparations and plans ahead of a new season.

Plans moving forward

Coming off an incredible season, Des Buckingham stated that his team needs to ‘adapt and evolve' this coming season, and also claimed that this term would be very competitive.

“Last season was very successful for us for many reasons, and we were able to do what we did. We need to recognise what went well and we don't want to throw it all out and change everything. We want to build on the success that we had.

"But we need to adapt and we need to evolve and that's the beauty of the approach that we've taken. We've gone out and made sure that we secure the players that we have, our young players in particular, to long-term contracts, and that's where we've focused our time and attention to start with, to make sure we tie them down for now and for the future,” he exclaimed.

On his squad this season

Speaking of the number of young players that Mumbai City FC have recruited, the manager said, “It's a very young squad, but they will all try to get the best of that. They will train with us every single day and they'll get opportunities to play. And those who do show the things that Phurba, Mehtab, Apuia, Vikram in particular have displayed, will go on and get an opportunity to play. Then it's up to them to show what they can do.”

The mentor also spoke on how he thinks Yoell van Nieff and Tiri will fill the void left behind by the departure of Mourtada Fall and Ahmed Jahouh. “From the moment I landed at this football club and in India, Fall and Jahouh couldn't have done any more to help me settle and understand football in this country.”

“The first thing is to recognise what they've done, but as is life, things change and things move on. It was important that we replaced those two players with two very good players and I'm very happy with the signing of Tiri. I think he's the longest serving foreign player in the league. He has shown what he's capable of doing, and we looked at may be 100 players in detail for the sixth position where Yoell's come in (Des chuckles) and we're very excited about the differences and what he can bring to our team,” he added.

Looking forward to AFC Champions League

Having qualified for the 2023-24 AFC Champions League, Mumbai have a big task in front of themselves, to represent the nation at the continental stage. Speaking of the same, Des Buckingham said, “I'm looking forward to it. The draw is not until the 24th of August, so we don't know who we're going to face. But what I will say is we know this may be the last time an Indian club gets to go to the AFC Champions League for a period of time.

"We want to build on what Goa did the first year and what we did last year, to try and showcase Indian football firstly, and secondly, what our players are capable of doing. Because we want to be a club that provides a platform for players to move outside of India as well, and I see the AFC Champions League as a wonderful window for some of these players,” he added.

Thoughts on Chhangte’s performance

Lallianzula Chhangte has had a remarkable season with Mumbai City FC and the Indian national team. The player won the ISL Player of the League, and was also awarded with the accolade of the AIFF Player of the Year. When asked about his thoughts on the player, Des proudly said:

“We were fortunate to take him from Chennai in January of last year. I'd say it probably took him six months to adapt to this environment and learn how we wanted him to play within the style of football we wanted. And once he learned that, he was able to really demonstrate it.

"But I can't stress enough how hard he works, away from, on the football field to start with, but how well he prepares himself, looks after himself and tries to develop himself. And I'm excited about what he can continue, hopefully trying to show, going into next year."

Goals for the coming season

When asked about what goals he is setting for this coming season, Des Buckingham said, “Everybody wants the Shield and everybody will say the same thing, but I won't. For me, winning a trophy is the cherry on top of what we ended up seeing - which was the playing style and players being able to showcase what they can do.”

“We've shown that that can bring the results that we want, and that's what we had last year. So it's about just trying to get better on them this year. We have to get better this year, because again, we can't do the same as what we did last year. Because not only other teams know what we have done, but also they have grown stronger and will come at us in a different way,” he concluded.