I want more people to come and support us: Taisuke Matsugae

by Kaushal Shukla February 20, 2015

Mumbai FC’s new midfield maestro Taisuke Matsugae has been in fine form of late and has been a shining light in their campaign so far. Bought in from Shillong Lajong Taisuke has seamlessly gelled into life at Cooperage.

We had an exclusive interview with the Mumbai FC midfielder ahead of his side’s game against Royal Wahingdoh and he portrayed a focused and a humble man striving to do his bit for his side.

Last week’s win was huge boost in confidence for everyone at Mumbai FC and Taisuke feels the win has brought a smile on the team’s face. “Everyone is happy. We won a match after a long time and it felt good. We are a happy bunch now”.

Mumbai FC have managed to gather four vital points at home. The Cooperage stadium, which saw top flight football return after a gap of five years, has had good crowd in the first two games. But Taisuke feels more people should come and support his side and fill up the empty seats in the stadium.

“This is my first season here, so I don’t know what the scenario was here before. But many a times I see that some seats are empty. I want more and more people to come and support us and fill the stadium”.

Taisuke was critical about his own performances this season, especially his last one against Salgaocar. “My last performance was not so good. In the first half, I misplaced four passes which is not good”.

It’s this critic in him that helps the Japanese stay grounded, helping him grow as a player.
Taisuke Matsugae will be facing familiar foes on Friday when Mumbai FC play Royal Wahingdoh. Taisuke who was at Shillong Lajong last season has faced Royal Wahingdoh before, but feels tomorrow’s game will be completely different as Royal Wahingdoh has changed a lot since his time in Shillong.

“I have played against Royal Wahingdoh many times in the past when I was at Shillong. But now they are a totally different side with a new coach, new foreign players and new Indian players too. So it will be a lot different since I faced them during my time in Shillong”.

As Taisuke settled into life as Mumbai FC player, he is still getting used to life as a Mumbaikar. “I like Shillong and Mumbai both. About Mumbai, I like some things and some I don’t. Mumbai is a big city, so travelling for training becomes a problem sometimes due to the traffic. But the city is nice”.

Taisuke has a huge role to play in this season’s I-League especially with Climax Lawrence struggling with his fitness. Whatever Mumbai FC goes on to achieve it is clear that Taisuke will have a big part to play in that. There is no doubt whatsoever that Taisuke Matsugae is a shrewd bit of business by Khalid Jamil and one which will serve him well as the season progresses.