Jorge Costa: I am confident that we will finish in the position we want

The Mumbai City FC head coach also revealed that he is proud of his players.

On the back of another disappointing result against ATK, Mumbai City FC head coach Jorge Costa claimed that he is more than confident about his team’s chances of finishing in the position they want at the end of the season. On the night, although the home side began the game on the front foot, they were soon put under the cosh by relentless attacking from ATK. Two first half goals were enough to seal all three points for the visitors, as Mumbai City are hanging onto fourth place by a thread, as all the teams below them have played a game less.

Jorge Costa was asked regarding his team’s dip in intensity after a strong start to the game. “Let me start from the beginning. We started the game well and for the opening 20-25 minutes, we played well. After that we made one mistake and they scored and before the end of the half we conceded another one," he said.

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"Second half, we changed a lot, we worked, we pressed and we had lots of good chances to score - enough chances for the game to have finished with another result," the Portuguese added.

On Performance

Despite the result though, the tactician was able to keep a positive outlook on the rest of the season. “Yes, we have lost three points, but I am proud of the players and the work we have been doing from the start. I am confident that at the end, we will finish in the position that we want,” Jorge Costa quipped.

The Mumbai City head coach was quizzed about the fact that ATK started the game with a 4-3-1-2 formation, rather than their usual three at the back. “As soon as they took the lead, they changed and went to a back five - not a back three, a back five. I was not sure that they would start with five at the back, so no, it was not a surprise,” Jorge Costa remarked.

On Refereeing

The 48-year-old then issued a statement about the refereeing situation, so as to avoid any further questions on the subject.

“From the beginning, I have been a nice person, with you, with people from the league and I have been trying to help the league. I tried to help the referee with a yellow card decision and I saw a yellow card. Yes, it’s true that I cannot move from my area, so maybe after my yellow card, he sends me off, I deserve it. So, I will try to help my players and myself because I cannot help people who don’t want to be helped,” he said.

On His Half-Time Talk

Jorge Costa was also asked about his half-time talk, because it had a visible impact on the team in the second 45. The Portuguese tactician responded, “It was nothing special, just according to the game I saw in the first half. I asked the full-backs to help more in attack, because they had a lot of space down the middle, while we had space down the flanks. I think we had a few chances and enough to have finished the game with a different result."

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"Yes, we are upset, because it was a game we weren’t supposed to lose, but we are in the top four and now we have to fight for this position,” he said.

When asked about his suspension for the next outing, Jorge Costa jokingly said, “We play the game with eleven players and we have already played eleven matches, so they know what to do.”

The Portuguese tactician was asked if the problem was the referee or his decision when he replied, “I will not give publicity to people that don’t deserve it, I will give publicity to my players; the ATK players; the ATK coach, who is doing a wonderful job. I will speak about good things - in ISL we have amazing players, the organization is top-class, amazing coaches, amazing matches. For other aspects though, they have to do better.”