ISL 2014: Pride more than playoffs on Delhi Dynamos, Mumbai City FC minds
Much of Mumbai's chances depend on how Syed Nabi performs.
Delhi Dynamos have a very little chance to make it to the semis of the inaugural ISL. (Source: ISL)
They were slaughtered at home. Their marquee player and star striker are unfit. Barring their win against Pune, Mumbai’s form in front of goal has been woeful. Anelka and Moritz aside, none of their forwards have looked like scoring. So far, Mumbai FC have had 65 shots on target, but have managed to score only 8 goals. Apart from their non-performing forwards, defence has also been a major cause of concern for Peter Reid’s troops, especially after the mauling they received at the hands of Chennai, leaking three goals.
“When you’re struggling to get goals, it’s important you don’t make errors at the back and give away goals. defensively we were all over the place in the last 10 minutes against Chennai,” said Reid. He added the need to cut out mistakes at the back is even greater when the goals aren’t coming at the other end of the pitch, more so when Mumbai have failed to score in four games.
The former Manchester City and Sunderland manager also spoke about his team’s inability to convert chances. “We have managed to create chances, but on most occasions, we have failed to convert them,” he said. Reid refused to use injuries as an excuse, after André Moritz was forced off in the first half against Chennai after picking up a knock and star striker Nicolas Anelka went down with a groin injury, saying in such an event, the onus lied on the other players in the side to step up their game.
Much of Mumbai’s chances depend on how Syed Nabi performs. The defender has had a forgettable outing against Chennai and echoed his coach’s sentiments on his team’s inability to convert the chances that were on offer. “This is football, we have created chances but have not been able to score.” Nabi added he was open to playing in any position and was not restricted to being a defender alone. “I will do what my coach says. If he asks me to be a goal-keeper, I will do that as well,” he said.
The Delhi Dynamos, meanwhile, are on a high after beating NorthEast at home. Coach Van Veldhoven’s move of not playing a regular striker against Ricki Herbert’s side proved to be a masterstroke. Ahead of the duel against Mumbai, he played down talks of marquee player Alessandro Del Piero not being in the team’s scheme of things going forward. “Alessandro is an important player for us and he is working hard and will be crucial in all the remaining matches for us.”
Alessandro or not, Delhi have very little chance of making it to the semi-final of the inaugural edition of the ISL, which has had one million fans watching the matches from the stands, making it the best attended football tournament in Asia and fourth in the world. But winning their remaining two games, beginning with Friday, they could at least try and make a match of it.
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