Desperate times call for desperate measures: Three ways Reid can get Mumbai scoring again

Peter Reid needs something radical — a complete overhaul of his system, his personnel or the mentality of how his team starts a game. Mumbai City FC, probably the strongest team on paper in the Indian Super League, haven’t managed to score a goal in their last four matches — a woeful record that has seen them claim only three points from a possible 12. The string of results has resulted in the team falling to seventh place with four matches to go. For Reid and co, the game against Delhi Dynamos on Friday should be treated as a must-win and to state the obvious, you can’t win without scoring goals. Reid is vastly experienced, but there are three glaring areas of of his side that need to be corrected if they want to stay in the hunt for a semifinal berth. [caption id=“attachment_1826289” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Peter Reid and his team during the loss against Kerala Blasters. ISL[/caption] Mentality: After every scoreless draw, Reid would praise his defence for not conceding. “I will take a 0-0 and a cleansheet rather than concede goals and lose,” he said after Mumbai came through a their third 0-0 result in a row. This was the match against FC Goa at the DY Patil on 17 November. “If we were not creating chances in these (0-0 results), then I would be worried — but we created a lot of them and just couldn’t put them away,” he added, before pointing out to a journalist that there was nothing else he could do. The explanation was that his team were putting them all away in training, but failing to execute in a match situation. In the next game against Chennaiyin, his team not only failed to create chances but also conceded three goals. Reid praising his defence is good but he hardly criticises his attack in public. The explanations after poor results have been the same: “We can’t let our heads down. All we can do is keep working.” It reminds you of David Moyes in a way. To be fair to Reid, injuries have hit his team but forgiving them for poor results is not his style. He is a fiery personality but that hasn’t trickled down to his side. There seems to be a lack of hunger, which is uncharacteristic of a Peter Reid team. Tactics: The loss against Chennaiyin was coming. Mumbai City would start games slow, get a foothold and then fail to capitalise on their opponents’ mistakes. They didn’t start quickly off the blocks. FC Pune City would do the same in their initial matches before Franco Colomba asked his team to go gung-ho in the first 20 minutes of matches. Mumbai City have fast and tricky players who allow them to hit teams on the counter, but there a need to stop waiting to get the ball and take control of the match instead. Reid was asking his full backs to dissect the midfield and play in Lalrindika Ralte through the wings first time in the match against Kerala. The long ball system failed and the ball hardly reached Kerala’s box. By taking the midfield out of the equation, the system allowed Kerala to exert control through the middle and punish Mumbai City. Against Delhi tonight, this needs to change. Mumbai need to take the game to the opposition despite being away. A system which crowds the midfield and plays wingers through the channel will be the best way, rather than play it long and hope for the best. Reid said before the game: “Scoring goals has been a problem. I have to change the objective of the team. If tomorrow night we go one down, I will change the game because we need points.” But here’s the big question – why wait till you go 1-0 down? Starting XI: Mumbai have been hit by injuries to Nicolas Anelka and Andre Moritz. However, Freddie Ljungberg is back and Subhash Singh and Lalrindika are talented forwards. Maybe Francisco Luque or Ram Malik should play from the off. Some of the regulars need to be dropped to show them that their performances haven’t been acceptable. A few changes will freshen up the team and pose a problem for Delhi Dynamos too — their manager must have surely seen the regular Mumbai XI enough to find gaps in the side. Mumbai have a solid defence, but going forward, a few surprises wouldn’t really harm.