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Mumbai City FC face bottom club Kerala Blasters in the Hero Indian Super League game at the Dr. D.Y. Patil stadium needing to win all their remaining games in order to have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ISL.
Mumbai City FC, however, come into the game on the back of two demoralising defeats at the hands of NorthEast United and FC Goa which has left them five points adrift of the semi-final spots with three games left.
Anelka still harbours hope of qualifying
Speaking to the media ahead of this crucial home game for Mumbai City FC, manager Nicolas Anelka conceded that his side are in an extremely hard situation, but will continue to fight on the pitch as long as the semi-final spots aren’t mathematically out of reach.
“We are in a very hard situation. We had the expectation to make the semi-finals but now it is going to be very hard to do that. But as long as mathematically we have a chance we are still hoping to qualify for the semi-finals,” said the Mumbai City FC player-cum-manager as he gave his assessment of Mumbai City FC’s situation in the ISL at the moment.
However, the Frenchman refused to look to ahead as he felt his team must focus on the job at hands and felt he will take it game by game from here on. “We have three more games, but we are concentrating on getting the three points against Kerala Blasters, then we will think about the Chennaiyin game and see what are possibilities are,” Anelka added.
The former Chelsea striker, though, had no complaints about the situation which Mumbai City FC find themselves in and felt the position that his team find themselves in is a reflection of their performances.
“If after eleven games you are at a particular position then you deserve to be there. You may be surprised at your position in the table after 2-3 games, but if we don’t qualify after fourteen games, then it is because we haven’t been good enough. This is the time when we have to show our character and fight hard on the pitch,” stated the Frenchman.
Difficult to be a captain while playing as striker, says Anelka
Talking about his team’s combination and his role as a player and manager, Nicolas Anelka admitted that he has found both the roles difficult to manage and admitted that his team has performed well when he hasn’t played and been on the touchline.
“As a striker it is difficult to manage the team as it becomes difficult to judge what is going on in defence and you have to concentrate on creating chances. If you see our results, they have been better when I haven’t played and I think I need to concentrate more on managing especially in these last three games,” Anelka said as he quite frankly swallowed the bitter pill.
After an explosive press conference after the NorthEast United, Nicolas Anelka seemed to have gathered back his thoughts and made all the right noises before their game against Kerala Blasters.
His team have won three games in a row before and probably Anelka seems to be in a right shape again to guide them towards repeating that feat which could still see them be a part of the semi-finals.
