ISL 2018-19: Mumbai City FC coach Jorge Costa praises Subhasish Bose for adapting quickly to new position

Mumbai City FC coach Jorge Costa praised Subhasish Bose after the defender put in a solid display with centre back partner Lucian Goain in the Islanders’ win over FC Pune City. A natural left-back, Subhasish played as a centre-back in Mumbai’s 1-1 draw to Kerala Blasters and started in the same position on Friday. The former Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC man was instrumental in keeping Emiliano Alfaro and Robin Singh in check as Mumbai kept their first clean sheet of the season. [caption id=“attachment_5414551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Subhasish Bose. ISL[/caption] Costa was impressed with Subhasish’s performance and praised the defender for fitting in quickly despite joining the squad late in the pre-season. “Subhashish didn’t make it to the pre-season with us. My thought was to play him at left-back. After some injuries and the rule which says I can only play five foreign players, I decided to put him at centre-back. I am happy with him (as centre-back) but I will take it game by game. “I also have to look at the options I have. If nothing goes wrong before the next match, he will start with Goain. It is very important for them (Subhasish and Goian). They need some games and time to know each other better and today there were better than the last games. It (centre-back pairings in general) is not like marriage, but very similar to it,” Costa said. Pune City FC coach Migel Angel Portugal rued his side’s missed chances and said that his team deserved more from the match. “We deserved more. We had a lot of chances to score, but today was not our day. We made a mistake and they scored after that. That was the key moment in the match,” he said. Portugal also defended ‘keeper Vishal Kaith. The Pune custodian misjudged the flight of the ball in the build-up to Mumbai’s first goal and also had a role in conceding the second penalty late in the match. “Kaith is a good ‘keeper. Mumbai had a lot of chances and they scored only two off them. You must remember that Kaith saved the second penalty. He is an important part of our team,” said Portugal. Pune next play Bengaluru FC at home on Monday before travelling to Goa next Sunday. Portugal said that the loss to Mumbai wouldn’t have an impact on his preparations for the clash against Bengaluru and said getting players to recover in time was his priority. “It is impossible to train in two days for the Bengaluru match. Recovery is the most important thing for us. I am only thinking about Bengaluru from tonight and after that I will think about Goa.” Portugal also played down the severity of Ashique Kuruniyan’s injury. The Pune winger limped off in the first half after landing heavily on his left knee. “Ashique’s injury is not a big problem. Given enough time to rest, I think he can play against Bengaluru,” the Pune manager said.