Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 15 (ANI): Mumbai City FC head coach Petr Kratky is excited about his first home game as the Islanders host East Bengal FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Mumbai Football Arena on Saturday.
The Islanders played out a goalless draw against FC Goa in his first game in charge and the Czech-Australian will look for his first victory as head coach on Saturday.
“I’m excited to see the fans, the stadium. It’s been busy for me meeting the players and the staff but I’m excited for Saturday,” Kratky said during the pre-match press conference as quoted by ISL.
“I was very impressed with our team. They set very high standards of attitude and behaviour on the pitch. I expect them to show that every game. If we play to the level that we did in the AFC Champions League at our highest level, not many ISL teams will be able to stop us,” he added.
The 42-year-old feels the transition into a new league and the team has been made easier for him thanks to the common culture that the City Football Group share.
“The advantage of City Football Group is that we know how we want to play. That’s not going to change. It’s the CFG way and we believe in it. We know how to make it alive, we just have to stick to the processes. There are areas that we need to improve and once we improve then we will be even more dangerous going forward,” Kratky said.
The Czech-Australian head coach was bullish when it came to setting the targets but added that he wanted to do it by playing a brand of football that would make the fans happy.
“I always have the highest targets. The top position is my target. I will never limit myself because we always can do better,” he said.
“We want to play attractive football and win games. We need to bring people to the stadium. For that we need to perform, we need to win and we need to play attractive football, football that people enjoy,” he concluded.
Mumbai City FC defender Rostyn Griffiths accompanied head coach Kratky in the pre-match press conference. The Australian defender won the Hero of the Match in their last match against FC Goa. He was pleased to help the team keep a second clean sheet this season and is keen to improve their defensive record.
“From a defensive point of view, the two clean sheets have been really important. It’s good confidence for us and the goalkeeper. If we can roll that up with our attack, we will be very difficult to beat especially at home,” he said.
Griffiths was also delighted at the prospect of returning to the Mumbai Football Arena after a long time with their last home game being the 2-1 win over Punjab FC more than 40 days ago.
“Teams like Kerala Blasters FC, East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan SG bring some extra crowd and I’ve seen that it lifts our crowd as well. Our home fans are really good and the football that we are playing at the moment, I know they are going to be excited. East Bengal are a good team who like to attack. We like to attack as well. Hopefully, it should be an open game some goals for us and a clean sheet,” Griffiths said. (ANI)
