Progress and points pleases Khalid Jamil

by Kaushal Shukla January 25, 2016

After two consecutive stalemates, Mumbai FC finally discovered the winning formula when they secured a battling 2-1 win over Salgaocar in a Sunday afternoon I-League clash at Cooperage. The Mumbai FC attack which looked slightly listless in the opening two encounters showed some spark, albeit in patches, but that was enough to see off a spirited Salgaocar side.

Mumbai FC Head Coach Khalid Jamil reflected on his side’s maiden win in the competition and his words reflected his satisfaction with the way the things have panned out so far. Five points in three games, sees his side’s unbeaten run in the I-League stretch to ten games. Despite the air of invincibility that currently surrounds the Yellow Submarines, it was the failure to conquer their opponents that played down this long unbeaten run.

But with the defeat of Salgaocar, Khalid Jamil has a reason to be smiling again. “I am very happy with the performance of the team as well as the three points that we needed from the game today. The team worked very hard for this win and I couldn’t ask for anything more from them,” Jamil opined after the game.

Things got slightly complicated at the end for the hosts after Salgaocar halved the deficit and despite a wealth of attacking riches on the field, Jamil opted for a safety first approach as it’s been for the years gone by. Khalid Jamil admitted that his side isn’t on the top of their game yet, but feels his troops are headed in the right direction. “We got a bit defensive at the end after we conceded, but importantly, we got the three points. There is still a long way to go in the I-League and I don’t feel it’s the time to panic. We are working on making our game better and so far I’m happy with the progress,” stated Khalid Jamil as he refused to entertain notion of a lack of a complete performance from his team.

Having gone with three different line-ups for three different game so far, Jamil agreed to the claim that his players are yet to form the cohesive playing unit as he would like, while pointing to the return to fitness of certain players and the flow of games that his side are facing. “If you see, every game we are playing a new player and many players are playing in different positions in the matches. So we are trying a few things and it will take some time for all our players to get used to each other,” Khalid Jamil expressed.

With the game against Bengaluru FC just two days away, change would once again be a constant when it comes to the team line-up, but Khalid Jamil would love if his side could continue with their habit of not losing games, and perhaps go a step ahead and embark on a winning spree.