Mumbai City FC will be eyeing a win against FC Goa at the Mumbai Football Arena on Saturday after losing 2-0 to Bengaluru FC in their opening fixture of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18. The Islanders were strong at home last season and head coach Alexandre Guimaraes made it clear that he’s delighted to be back playing at home after the loss on the road against Bengaluru. 

“We are glad to be playing back at home. Like you said, we did fantastic last year, here. Our fans are great, it’s always full capacity, they encourage our players to play how they play. We have a tough game because Goa did well against Chennai in their first game. We have to improve our performance from the first game. Every team has their struggles in the beginning but for tomorrow, we are more complete in our squad compared to the first game and of course, we will go for the win,” Guimaraes told the media at the pre-match press conference.

Mumbai weren’t much of an attacking threat in their last game and Guimaraes believes injuries to key players contributed to their failure in the final third. “I think the analysis we should take from the first game in Bengaluru is that there were many situations in attacking areas that don’t make us look very strong. We have some key players like Balwant (Singh), injured, after 12 minutes Leo Costa, (was also) injured. With these situations in the last game, we knew it was tough to play an attacking game. So, we tried to do other things, but we struggled to find the final pass or the last shot. But like I said, tomorrow we have the whole squad (so let’s see),” he said.

The Costa Rican also revealed that he expects Achille Emana to take on the mantle of being Mumbai’s leader from Diego Forlan in Hero ISL 2016. “We have experienced players like (Forlan), we have Emana who’s a very experienced player and has played in top level teams. He has come here and will try to guide (the team). So, we’re glad that he is with us and I am confident that he will do the best he can to improve the team with his football which is different,” Guimaraes said.

When asked about the youngster in his squad after Abinash Ruidas’ outing in their last match, Guimaraes added: “I think one of the reasons we’re here, the international coaches, is to support the young Indian players. The main task is to encourage (them) and last season we tried and this season we (will) continue. And like I said, for our first game we have a good mix of players, the possibility for the younger players is more (this year) than last year. Let’s see what happens.”