Mumbai City FC head coach Sergio Lobera knows he has plenty of options on the bench every game...
Mumbai City FC thrashed East Bengal 3-0 in the Indian Super League clash at GMC Stadium in Bambolim to climb to the top of the table.
Sergio Lobera's side played attacking football as they created ample chances in front of the goal and outclassed their opponents.
The combination of Ahmed Jahouh, Hugo Boumous and Adam Le Fondre worked wonders for Lobera. Boumous provided an assist to Fondre to open the scoring for Mumbai City in the 20th minute. Lober, however, refused to single out players for praise.
"I don't like to speak about individuals. I think the most important thing is to work as a team and when you're working well as a team, it's possible to shine. Obviously, Boumous is a very good player but I have a very good squad and this is the most important thing for me," Sergio Lobera said after the game.
"If you want to win games you can have a very good first eleven. But if you want to win the league you need a very good squad and I have a very good squad. Every day the best first eleven is not the same," he added.
Lobera started with Le Fondre ahead of Bartholomew Ogbeche and the decision turned out to be a good one as the English forward struck twice in the gqme. The 43-year-old is happy with his balanced squad and the problem of having plenty of options to choose from.
"It's an amazing problem. I have a very good squad," Lobera said.
The table-toppers will now take on Odisha on Sunday.
East Bengal were outplayed by Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League fixture as they lost 0-3 at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Tuesday. It was the second consecutive loss for Robbie Fowler and his boy after they registered defeat against traditional rivals ATK Mohun Bagan in their inaugural match.
East Bengal looked sloppy throughout the match as they failed to match their opponent's tempo. The Fowler-managed side also displayed individual lapses which resulted into a heavy defeat for them. Congolese midfielder Jacques Maghoma was the only silver lining in the all-round failure for the Kolkata giants as he looked to create plenty of chances through his quick runs in front of the goal.
The former Liverpool striker was critical about some of his Indian players, without mentioning their name, as he suggested that it looks like they have never been coached. Fowler also mentioned that he will look to train the Indian players to make them better.
"We played two great teams and when you commit mistakes they will punish you. We will learn from that and we will soldier on. There is a little bit of work to do on the training park," Fowler said in the post-match interview.
"We will coach the players because in all fairness few of them have probably never been coached before and that is what we are doing. We will try and make our Indian players better and that takes good coaching and I don't think they had had that in the years gone by," the Englishman added.
East Bengal were dealt with a major blow as they lost their star defender Daniel Fox in the seventh minute of the play owing to an injury. Fowler suggested that it changed the tempo of the game for his side and highlighted that they need to work on concentration. The 45-year-old, however, mentioned that he has no clue on the injury status of Fox and if need be then he might change the formation for the upcoming match.
"We looked ok. I mean when you have got the team and the type of football we are looking to play and when you lose your captain and one of the main players early in the game. I think the quality was at times ok. I think indvidual lapses cost us. We have to do better in terms of concentration. Concentration level in football is huge. I think we need to learn quick at that," Fowler said in the post-match interview.
"I haven't got a clue. We will access Danny. I'm not sure to full extent. It's fairly obvious that there might be a few changes in terms of personnel. We will work on a few things"