ISL 2018-19: Mumbai City's run reminds me of us from last season, says Chennaiyin FC manager John Gregory

Mumbai: Ahead of their clash in the Indian Super League, Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory said that Mumbai City FC reminds him of his side’s performances from last season. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gregory said that the current Mumbai side and his Chennai team from last year had a winning mentality which saw them win matches even when their performances were not particularly good. “They remind me of us last year. They have not played particularly well in some games but have ended up winning them and that is a sign of a good team. We did that quite a bit last year. We worked hard in matches and didn’t play particularly well but still ended up winning matches and I think Mumbai have been similar this year,” Gregory said. [caption id=“attachment_5414141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mumbai City FC have been a tough side to crack for ISL teams so far this season. ISL[/caption] “Mumbai were a little bit fortunate in their last match against Delhi Dynamos. Delhi made a lot of chances and should have scored more goals. In the second half, in particular, Mumbai played much better and ended up winning the game,” he added. Jorge Costa’s Mumbai have kept five clean sheets this season, the most by any team so far. They have also let in just 10 goals from their nine matches. Considering FC Goa put five past them in one match, Mumbai have ended up conceding a measly five goals in their remaining eight matches. According to Gregory, Mumbai’s turnaround after the Goa thumping has been admirable and praised his counterpart for his defensive structure and the balance in his Mumbai team. “Mumbai have been tough defensively and have kept the most clean sheets. I think Jorge probably learned a lot after they conceded five against Goa. Since then they have been defensively strong and it’s hard to score against them. “It’s a fairly well-balanced team. There are not particularly weak in any area and play well together making them tough to beat. There is no flowing football. Mumbai aren’t like Goa. But in situations where Goa will concede goals, Mumbai won’t. Jorge has got it right that way. Whenever he has made changes or changed the formation, move one or two of his players around, it always seems to work,” Gregory said. Whereas Mumbai have been solid and boast of a balanced team, Gregory believes that his side is lacking a vicious streak and called on his players to be ruthless if they are to salvage anything from the season. “There is not a vicious streak in us. We are quite a nice team to play against. We lost a couple of our tough guys in Dhanpal Ganesh, Henrique Sereno and Bikramjit Singh. We lost that little bit of edge and that is probably playing its part. We need to be a lot more ruthless,” he concluded.