Curious case of a misheard question? Why Mumbai City's flamboyant coach Bruzon left club

When Mumbai City’s now ex-assistant coach Oscar Bruzon was asked to analyse player-manager Nicolas Anelka’s performance in the 4-1 loss against Atletico de Kolkata, he spoke at length about how the team was united behind the Frenchman and that Anelka was the one making all the final decisions, which the team respected. This exchange took place at the pre-match press conference before the Indian Super League tie between Mumbai and Delhi Dynamos (which finished 1-1). [caption id=“attachment_2500936” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Oscar Bruzon. Sportzpics[/caption] As soon as Bruzon finished speaking, the reporter repeated his question, politely saying that what he had asked was an analysis of Anelka’s performance, to which Bruzon said: “I am the assistant coach and will not analyse Anelka’s performances. He is the ISL’s best player and is working very hard and it is the team’s duty to close file around him, help him and make him successful.” It was curt, but a respectful answer. However, a Times of India article titled ‘Is all well within Mumbai City camp?’ says that Bruzon surprised the press with his initial answer of unity. “When Bruzon was asked a simple question: “How do you analyse Anelka’s performance as a player?”, his reply left everyone surprised. “There was a lot of noise about Nicolas playing and managing. We are all united. All the decisions he is taking are right. He is our leader, our inspiration,” said Bruzon,” This is important because sources told Firstpost that Anelka happened to see the article before discussing it’s contents with the team management. It eventually led to Bruzon not being in the technical area during the match against Delhi and two days later, the team parted ways with him. But was it a case of a misheard question? Firstpost was at the press conference and given Bruzon’s grasp of English, it is totally understandable that he didn’t realise what the question was. It was clear that he was miffed with reports of who is really managing the team – and the mention of the word ‘Anelka’ may have triggered a reaction. Bruzon later clarified at the end of the press conference that he had read reports of disagreements between himself and Anelka and that he didn’t want such reports to come out because everything was not like the press thought it was. Questions on the exact roles of both Anelka and Bruzon have been asked before as well, especially with former’s reluctance to attend press conferences before and after matches. The three wins after a poor start quelled the speculation for a while before the loss against Atletico, a game in which Anelka played. The other thing to consider is the personalities of the two coaches. While Anelka is to the point and slightly reclusive, Bruzon wears his heart on his sleeve. He is full of expressions and uses a lot of metaphors. Talking to him about tactics is going to get you a long detailed answer, full of passion. While Anelka’s interactions with the media so far have been few, he has never dodged a question. In training, Anelka leads the tactical talks while Bruzon leads with drills. Sources tell us that there were selection dilemmas as well. When Anelka spoke about tactics for the first time after the draw against Delhi, he was honest about wanting to play a defensive model and counter when the team had the chance. He said that the compact and narrow approach was planned. Bruzon always advocates attacking football with lots of possession and pressing. There is a hint that he was not pleased with natural centre-back Franz Bertin in midfield, his preferred choices being between Cristian Bustos, Selim Benachour and Juan Aguilera. These sorts of disagreements are common in football though, and up until now, Mumbai had coped. They are currently fourth in the table, having spending some time at the bottom in the early part of the season. So Mumbai had a potentially misheard question, tactical disagreements and selection dilemmas. At the end, the more expressive man left. With all Bruzon’s knowledge of Indian football, Mumbai City will hope this does not backfire. The writer tweets @TheFalseNo9