Packed crowd is extra motivation to do well, says Mumbai City FC coach Petr Kratky

Petr Kratky’s dependable lieutenant Rahul Bheke also revealed some of his pre-game rituals.

Mumbai City FC are all set to take on the mighty Mohun Bagan in the ultimate ISL final. The Islanders have had quite a positive season, wherein they missed out on the ISL Shield by the closest of margins. 

Peter Kratky and his men however, would be more motivated than ever, to take revenge against Mohun Bagan, and it will be a fierce battle between the two sides on Saturday. 

Ahead of the tie, Mumbai City FC head coach Peter Kratky, and skipper Rahul Bheke addressed the media. Here are some of the excerpts from the conversation. 

Approach for tomorrow’s game

With a title rematch just two weeks on from their defeat in the final league game, Mumbai City FC head coach Peter Kratky is coming to this game fully prepared, and to rectify the mistakes he and his team made last time around. 

“We need to keep our approach a little bit different because it is the final, but I think we have learnt from our previous game. As I said before, I think we started a little bit differently than how we wanted to in the last game and it got us in the end. Now we will come here to play our football (brand) from the first minute. The approach will change a bit because we are here to compete and try to win the game and try to win it in the first 90 minutes and if it goes beyond that, then the boys are strong and fit,” he mentioned.

Talking further about his plans, the Czech said, “Our plan is to play our game. We know the threats of Mohun Bagan, we know the quality they have and they showed it to us in the last meeting. They can score goals and are a very dangerous team, so we will try to do our best both in defence and attack. I am quite confident.”

Nerves ahead of the big tie

A fixture of this stature can easily make the most calm and collected ones feel uneasy and nervous. When Peter Kratky was asked regarding the nerves he feels ahead of tomorrow’s fixture, he said, “I’m relaxed because I believe in this group and I am enjoying this moment. We have trained well and we are physically ready, so I just want to enjoy this moment and there is no pressure for me at this moment. Maybe a bit later, but not now. We have fantastic footballers and they have shown how good they can be.”

Talking about the pressure from the home fans, the mentor also said that the crowd is ‘extra motivation’ for him and his players. 

“I don’t think it is a pressure for us. The players want to play in front of the full stadiums so I think it is extra motivation to do well because that’s why we play football. We come here to play football and to play it our way and if we focus on what we need to do, then everyone will enjoy it,” he added.

On Yoell van Nieff’s absence

Yoell van Nieff has easily been one of the most influential figures for Mumbai City FC, and his absence will surely leave a void that will be difficult for Kratky to fill. 

Talking about how he plans on coping with van Nieff’s absence, Kratky said, “We will do exactly what we do all the time, because this season we saw that we have a lot of good players on the bench who can step up. Yoell van Nieff is a good player and we will miss him but we have players who can step in and do the job for us so that is what I am excited about. As you saw in the game against Goa when we played away, we had only one foreign player on the pitch and the Indian players performed and took the game to another stage.”

The tactician also added that Akash Mishra won’t be available for the final due to his injury against Goa. “We will miss him (Akash), but it’s something that we can’t change and we have to deal with that,” the head coach stated.

Reminiscing about the season

Petr Kratky reminisced the time he spent with Mumbai CIty FC, and remarked the season to be ‘quite successful’ for him. 

“I am satisfied with the performance during the season but I am also sad because we didn’t win the Shield. But overall, I have been blessed to come here and help these good players and the whole team and put them where they are. For me, it has been a very successful season overall.”

Rahul Bheke on facing Mohun Bagan’s illustrious attacking contingent

Mohun Bagan have the most terrifying attacking contingent in the entire league. The partnership of Dimitri Petratos, Jason Cummings, Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh is something that has haunted each and every defence throughout the league.

When asked how he plans to take on such a strong force, Bheke said, “We have faced them three times this season so we know how they are. Obviously, it will be tough for both sides; even for them it won’t be easy. We are prepared for it. Same as last game, the aim is to keep a clean-sheet as a defender. So obviously, it will be a tough game, but we will make sure that we keep a clean-sheet in tomorrow’s game.”

Rahul’s pre-game rituals

Rahul Bheke also shared the pre-game rituals that he likes to follow ahead of such crucial ties. 

“Normally for the whole season I have a set of prayers which I use for only matchdays and some songs or inner wears. So those are the things I only use for the matchdays. I don’t use them for training so that’s one of the things I do,” the skipper revealed.

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