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Mumbai, often hailed as the city of dreams is a place which spurs you on to dream big. Such is the fabric of this city that it also bears the opportunities for your dreams to take off at every corner of it. But there’s one dream, that’s presented the troubles of sleepless nights even to the city that never sleeps in recent times. The dream of escalating to the pinnacle of Indian football has been broken shattered and even wiped off at times, since Mahindra United brought the football faithful in the city the ultimate joy of being the champions of India.
Since then the city’s footballing fraternity has been flirting with extinction from the nation’s elite leading to a diminishing zeal for the beautiful game. But last season came the ISL and Ranbir Kapoor’s Mumbai City FC seem to have given the city another reason to dream. But it proved to be a continuation of the series for football in Mumbai, as Mumbai City failed to impress in the inaugural ISL campaign only to earn some saving grace by not finishing last.
Fast forward to 2015 and Mumbai City have built from strength to strength and with the capture of national team captain Sunil Chhetri in addition to promotion of French superstar Nicolas Anelka to become the club’s new player-manager, there is renewed verve among the football fanatics in the city who have begun to dream again.
Squad
Mumbai City have made some shrewd additions to their ranks for the season two of the Indian Super League while retaining the services of some of their finest in marquee player Anelka, goalkeeper Subrata Pal and hat-trick hero in his very first appearance for the club in Andre Moritz.
Chhetri dominated the headlines when he attracted a whopping 1.2 crores bid from Mumbai City FC to secure his services. Chhetri’s signature was no less than a marquee signing for the club. He is a revered figure in India and his presence in the side must have lifted the moods of other Indian players. The talks of a Chhetri-Anelka striking partnership are already doing rounds not just across the city but also all over the country.
Apart from the Chhetri, Mumbai City FC managed to pull off yet another coup, which somehow slipped under the radar. Haiti International Sony Norde was one of the best players in the I-League last season as he helped Mohun Bagan end a 13-year wait for the I-League title.
The Blue Devils as they have been known to be called by their fans, did well to keep Czech defender Pavel Cmovs at the club as they added the services of Franz Bertin, former PSG midfielder Selim Benachour and ex-Celtic defender Darren O’Dea.
Ranbir Kapoor's outfit has also got their hands on some good Indian players in local boys Keegan Pereira and the versatile Ashutosh Mehta. The latter has impressed with his performances for Mumbai FC and FC Pune City last season and will also give coach Anelka plenty of options. Bengaluru FC’s Lalchhuanmawia Fanai who is on a loan from his parent club has caught the eye of his coach, having earned the nod at left back for most of Mumbai City’s pre-season games.
Subrata Pal is expected to start between the sticks for the Mumbai-based club but faces tough competition from Debjit Majumder who had a fantastic season for champions Mohun Bagan in the I-League. Debjit will have his part to play when Pal is away on national duty.
Brandon Fernandes, who is one of the emerging talents in Indian football, is Mumbai City’s U-23 player along with Albino Gomes who is set to remain in the shadows of the two top goalkeepers.
Goalkeepers: Subrata Pal, Debjit Majumder, Albino Gomes
Defenders: Pavel Cmovs, Franz Bertin, Ashutosh Mehta, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Keegan Pereira, Darren O’Dea, Kingshuk Debnath, Rowlinson Rodrigues, Aitor
Midfielders: Andre Moritz, Juan Aguilera, Pratesh Shirodkar, Brandon Fernandes, Sony Norde, Gabriel Fernandes, Selim Benachour, Christian Bustos, Sampath Kuttymani, Lalrindika Ralte
Forwards: Nicholas Anelka, Sunil Chhetri, Subhash Singh, Frederic Piquionne
Expected Starting XI: Subrata Pal; Ashutosh Mehta, Franz Bertin, Pavel Cmovs, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai; Brandon Fernandes, Juan Aguilera, Andre Moritz, Sony Norde; Sunil Chhetri, Nicholas Anelka
Likely Formation: 4-4-1-1
Strengths
Mumbai City FC are full of goals. Anelka has been finding the back of the net all across the world and will be aided by the presence of India’s all- time highest goal scorer Chhetri around him. With Andre Moritz and Sony Norde expected to be deployed in midfield, there is no shortage of goals from midfield.
With such kind of firepower in their ranks it is almost certain that the team facing will have to score at least two goals to get anything from the game most of the times.
Weakness
Mumbai City have been chopping and changing their midfield combination all throughout pre-season. With Moritz and Aguilera most likely to start in the midfield, it appears a bit lightweight and there are question marks about their defensive abilities.
On the other hand, the Mumbai City FC backline has hardly been tested in pre-season and so we don’t know what to expect from them.
Coach
Marquee player Nicolas Anelka has been vested the responsibility of being the manager of Mumbai City FC this season. Despite being one of the most decorated players in world football, there have always been question marks about Anelka’s temperament, making his appointment as a manager a tricky one.
But Anelka does have little experience of management prior when he similarly took charge of Shanghai Shenhua as player-manager. He is a player of great stature and will command a lot of respect from his players. It will be interesting to see how he shuffles from being a player and a manager effectively – that will hold the key for him and Mumbai City FC.
Owners
The team is owned by Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh. Ranbir is an admirer of the beautiful game and is a Barcelona fan. Football runs through the man’s veins as he also plays for local side All Stars FC which features other stars like Abhishek Bachchan, Dino Morea and Arjun Kapoor.
Ranbir is very passionate about his football and his game impressed the Mumbai City FC player-manager, Nicolas Anelka. “I think he can play. I have seen him play and he is quite good,” said the Frenchman during a press conference in Mumbai. Ranbir was ever present in the stands whenever Mumbai City FC played which attracted more and more fans to the venue and cheer for the men in blue.
Team Anthem
Mumbai City FC managed to get a decent crowd turnout in the first season, despite the stadium being on the outskirts of the city. Here is the anthem of Mumbai City FC which may have played a big part in getting the fans there.
How far will they go?
Mumbai City FC perfectly qualify as the ‘Dark Horses’ in the ISL season 2. With the talent at their disposal, it is safe to they can give anyone a real hammering on their day, but uncertainty over their midfield and an untested defence means they fall just short of the favourites tag. All teams have strengthened well ahead of season two and it is going to be one hell of a battle to finish in the top four places.
The goals will come for Mumbai City and if they can keep the lid at the back closed then they are a certainty for the semi-finals. Mumbai City play five home games consecutively after they kick off with two away games, and if they can get something out of these away games, Mumbai City will give themselves a great chance to qualify.
The ultimate prize might be a step too far for Mumbai City FC this season, but a semi-final berth is the least what Ranbir Kapoor will be expecting of his boys.
