Mumbai City FC captain Amrinder Singh has heaped praise on their coach Sergio Lobera, who had earlier propelled the Islanders to the top of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 points table.
The City goalkeeper has lauded the winning mentality of Lobera and claimed that the former FC Goa coach is the best he has played under.
“Sergio is the best coach I have played under. He is fantastic, with a winning pedigree. He has had a great impact on the team since the first day and injected the winning mentality. The way we made a comeback against Kerala Blasters after our loss against NorthEast United was just fabulous,” Amrinder was quoted as saying to TOI.
Lobera was a former youth and assistant FC Barcelona coach before managing clubs such as Las Palmas and Moghreb Tétouan. The 44-year-old’s possession-based brand of football transformed the Gaurs into one of India’s most attractive footballing teams.
“We have all seen what he did with Goa. His footballing philosophy is quite similar to Barcelona and Manchester City. He likes possession-based football, and so far, we as a team have tried to execute his plans on the ground. His style of play is new to Indian football, but players have also adapted to it quite successfully,” Amrinder added in the interview.
Several former FC Goa players, including Ahmed Jahouh, Hugo Boumous, Mourtada Fall, and Mandar Rao Dessai, followed Lobera to join Mumbai.
“The new signings have boosted our strength. Players like Mandar, Hugo have played under Sergio and understand his style, which has also helped us hit the ground running,” he said.
Mumbai currently sits two points behind league leaders ATK Mohun Bagan. The Cityzens need to defeat Bengaluru FC to leapfrog the Mariners, and as a place at AFC Champions League is at stake, things may go down to the wire.
“We know the importance of finishing top of the table. It will get us the automatic qualification to the AFC Champions League. Trust me, every individual in this squad is motivated to finish the league on top,” said Amrinder.
The Indian football team goalkeeper has been in brilliant form as he has kept eight clean sheets in the ongoing edition of the ISL, and he is just one behind ATKMB’s Arindam Bhattacharya (nine).
“Personal milestones don’t matter to me that much. Yes, I am satisfied with my performance, but my team’s success comes first. As the leader of this talented group, I would like to end the season with the silverware,” he stated.
Feature image courtesy: 2021 Indian Super League
