ISL 2015: 'There is no point scoring goals if you can't defend', says Nicolas Anelka

Nicolas Anelka has returned to Mumbai City FC as the team’s marquee player-manager for the second season of the Indian Super League (ISL). This is not the first time the controversial French striker has taken up a role of player-manager. The 36-year-old former France and Chelsea striker, who scored two goals for Mumbai last year, took on a similar role in 2012 for the Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. Firstpost caught up with Anelka, at Mumbai FC’s kit launch in Mumbai where he spoke about changes he’s made to his game as he’s grown older. [caption id=“attachment_2404950” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Nicolas Anelka in action in the 2014 ISL. AFP[/caption] “When forwards grow older they tend to play a more withdrawn role. You know, as you grow older you have to be clever. To be clever is to know your body and to know that you are not able to do what you could do. If you are clever and you have the quality to drop a little bit you can prolong your playing career.” “It’s what I did last season. and I want to do this even more this season. We have a better squad, we have the ability to rotate players this year,” he said. The ageing forward however was no longer a sullen interviewee as we’ve seen in the past. He was open, cheerful and optimistic about his new role for the team. “Everyone will take care of defensive coaching this year. Oscar, me and Nishant will speak a lot this year, we will communicate and watch a lot videos and even if I am a striker I know a little bit of defense, besides that we will decide our tactical approach and decide on your defense. Attack is as good as our best defense. And first you have to be able to defend well before you attack and get the goals in. There’s no point scoring the goals if you can’t defend them.” Anelka who is yet to meet the squad has said that communication will be the key factor in getting the team up to scratch. “We have a great squad this season so we are going to give our best out on the pitch. We want to do better than last season. We want to win this year’s ISL. The new head coach role will be tough (for me) but we have a big squad and a better team this year,” Anelka said. “We have games every 4-5 days so we have to be able to understand everything and we have an advantage since our players do have the experience of playing at a high level.” His managerial style however, remains a bit undecided. “I don’t know what kind of a manager I will be, because I don’t know yet what the team will need from me. I don’t know what will happen, especially during the friendlies in Dubai and we will see where they need me to give my input. What to do and where to concentrate.” Losing for Nicolas Anelka however is not an option. “In football there is no strategy, you never know what might happen. You may have a great squad but you could always finish last on the table. But I think we have a strong squad right now. We try our best to win game because the most important is to win games. If you play well but you lose then what’s the point? I’m not quite happy with that approach and we will see what happens game after game.” Anelka and Chhetri along with last year’s star forward Mortiz are seen as the big three or the game-changers for the Mumbai squad. The club’s owners have high expectations, and the fans even higher. But this is not something the French forward hasn’t dealt with in the past. “You know when you play in professional football fan expectation is something you get everywhere. It’s not only the Mumbai fans even last year’s champions Chennaiyin’s fans want their team to win. Everybody wants to win. Be it a league in India, in Spain, in England, every fan wants their team to win. Nothing changes. We will try our best when we’re on the pitch and after that what happens happens. As long as you try your best, that’s all you can do.” Nicolas has not yet had time to gel with the team. They meet on the 25th of this month in Dubai for pre-season training but he is optimistic that they will get along. His last parting shot, “Football is not a race it’s a marathon you’ll see in the end what happens.”