ISL 2018-19: "Jose Mourinho was a big influence in my life," says Mumbai City FC gaffer Jorge Costa

Mumbai City FC became the first team to stop the NorthEast United FC juggernaut this season. The victory was a tactical masterclass displayed by their coach Jorge Costa who admitted that his mentor Jose Mourinho influenced him a lot early in his career.

Mumbai took a leaf out of Jose's playbook and put it to good use against a team which loves to play possession-based football.

"I am privileged to work with someone like Jose Mourinho, Carlos Queiroz and others early on in my career and that has helped me a lot," said the Portuguese gaffer of Mumbai City FC regarding his tenure with Mourinho. He also went on to explain that having worked with such legendary figures has helped him learn a lot in football, and also learn what not to do in football.

Speaking about the brand of football that his side displayed on the pitch he said that given the situation it was what they planned to do. "This is football, not a ballet, and there will be contact." He did defend his team for playing a hard tackling game and doing what was needed to ensure the three points.

Costa also mentioned that despite what people felt he felt that Mumbai had more of the chances in the game and that he wasn't entirely happy with his strikers as they missed a lot of easy opportunities.

Eelco Schattorie, on the other hand, believes that the goal that Mumbai scored was from a handball and went on to state, "I am 99% sure that there was handball, if the ball crossed the line or not I cannot say it at the moment because I have to see the replay, but I am sure there was a handball."

Eelco Schattorie [Image: ISL]

The Dutchman did mention that the loss didn't hurt him much but the way they lost "pained" him as he felt only NorthEast United tried to play football while Mumbai was busy play acting.

Eelco said: "When I was a coach in the I-League even then it was the team from Mumbai who used to waste time a lot and now in the ISL also it is the same scenario with the team from Mumbai, and I mean it with respect." He went onto add that, "They were acting like they were about to die on the pitch."

The former East Bengal coach did praise his young players even in defeat and said that Puitea and Redeem were excellent throughout the game while he was forced to play Leudo in defence given the circumstances he faced.

Speaking about the referees, he said that while it wasn't correct to speak against referees, there are times when one just cannot forget and let go some of their decisions.

The coach stood by his decision to play Pawan Kumar ahead of TP Rehenesh in a crucial encounter and said that the goal which they conceded today had nothing to do with Pawan Kumar. He also went on to add that since Rehenesh made a mistake in the first game, there was no guarantee that Rehenesh would keep a clean sheet.