In reasoning his decision of naming an all-Indian squad for the Super Cup, Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham yet again underlined what he believes is a significant part of his job profile at the club: “We want the best Indian players in this club, and if we don’t have them, we want to develop them.”
The Englishman reckons the ongoing Super Cup provides a big platform for the club in that process, and will therefore field an all-domestic lineup in all of Mumbai City’s matches, a rare sight in an Indian Super League (ISL) team.
Of course, it helps that they’ve accomplished most things they’d set out to do at the start of the season. Durand Cup finalists, Mumbai City won the ISL League Shield in some style before booking a second straight AFC Champions League group stage spot by beating Jamshedpur FC 3-1 in the one-match playoff earlier this week. The Super Cup, which offers an AFC Cup slot, thus gives Buckingham a chance to shift the goalposts a touch, and for the club’s domestic talent to cash in on it.
“It’s different for us, because the foreign players do make a difference,” Buckingham said on Sunday ahead of Mumbai City’s opening game against Churchill Brothers on Tuesday. “We’ve spent two years working with most of our Indian players now. They understand what we do and how we do it. But we haven’t yet seen it if we can do it without the foreign players, despite these players having contributed to the success that we’ve had. I’m excited to see what these players can now produce with more opportunities to develop, and for some of the younger players to get more game time.”
Mumbai City’s rich foreign flavour—the likes of Greg Stewart, Jorge Diaz and Ahmed Jahouh—blended into a splendid ISL season for the team that sealed the Shield unbeaten and lost the semi-finals on penalties. Their Indian presence though was equally effective, contributing 27 of the record 54 goals Mumbai City scored in the league. Among the standouts were Lallianzuala Chhangte, Bipin Singh and goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa, who also earned a maiden national call-up.
While the core will start—“we want to field the strongest side and then feed game time to the younger players”, the coach said—where the all-Indian call would potentially make a difference is to someone like Vikram Singh. The 21-year-old played 314 minutes across 19 matches this season “waiting patiently”, as Buckingham put it, behind Chhangte. “That’s limited Vikram’s time. But any time he’s come on to the pitch, he has made a difference. Now, he will have a great opportunity to have more time and more impact. And that goes for most other young Indian players,” Buckingham said.
For the 38-year-old coach who has worked with New Zealand’s U-20 and U-23 national teams while leading the former to the Round of 16 of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the Super Cup presents an ideal platform in his domestic pool developmental plan. And while that can only help in the larger scheme of Indian football, Buckingham acknowledges not every club can have the luxury to do the same.
“I know teams will and can approach this (Super Cup) with different purposes,” he said. “What this tournament gives us is some extra games. Before I came to India, I used to hear stories of the league being just 2-3 months. But we’re now 10 months into the season with some more games to come. The beauty of that is it gives you an opportunity in not only looking at the players that you have, but also for the players to showcase what they can do. Because you can train as much as you want but to compete, and compete against your peers, in any competition is where you’re really tested. That’s what I’m really looking forward to.”
