Pleased with what I saw today, reaction was great, asserts Petr Kratky

Kratky went all praise for Gurkirat and Vikram.

Mumbai City FC faced Chennaiyin FC in a high octane match where the tides were in favour of The Islanders, who sweeped past Chennaiyin with a convincing 3-0 victory, thanks to their talented Indian players.

Petr Kratky, on the sidelines, looked untroubled and rather shy, as if he knew that his team would clinch the victory against The Marina Machans. The team now sits on the 3rd position in the league before they take a month long hiatus from ISL.

Let’s take a look on what Petr Kratky had to say in the post match press conference:

A resounding victory

The team ended their first half of the season on a high note, beating Chennaiyin FC 3-0 and securing the 3rd spot in the league standings. When asked about the ambience of the dressing room, the coach replied,

“It’s always positive when you finish high and you win the game, especially going into the break. I’m very pleased with what I saw today. The reaction was great(from the players and staff).”

Second half motivation

The team rolled their sleeves in the second half, after Chhangte missed a penalty. The Czech tactician highlighted on the talk he addressed the players before the second half. He said,

“I am obviously very happy with the first half. Credit to the opponents, they play man mark, and it’s always difficult for us to play against man mark, so we tried to find solutions.”

“We still created some chances in the first half. We had a penalty, another goalscoring opportunities. Stick to how we want to play, which is to do it quicker, and the second half was much much better”, he added.

Gurkirat and Vikram

It was an all Indian show, as the scoreboard consisted of domestic players like Chhangte, Vikram and Gurkirat. When questioned how happy are you with the latter’s performance, the coach replied,

“This is what every coach wants. It’s not about starting eleven or fifteen players, it’s all about all the players you have in the team. We gave the opportunity to Gurkirat and he took it. His performance was excellent, but he needs to keep working hard.”

He also compounded, “From where I come from, I don’t really care where you come from.

Top Notch Defence

Though attack is the talk of the town for The Islanders, but the defence too was top notch, helping the team keep a clean sheet. Petr emphasised the importance of the same and said,

“Our defence has been solid whole season, even before I came. So our defence was working and we have to reinforce it. Obviously, the people changing in a back four, but we know exactly what we want and how to defend. This is the power of the team we have.”

Words on the fans

The Islanders fans truly matched the quality of the team on the pitch. The coach applauded the fans with his words. He resoonded, “This is why we play football. This is why I came to this country, to help the club in Mumbai. I love the game and it’s good to see the people with the passion. The home should be like this.”

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