ISL: Sergio Lobera's open communication made a difference, says Mumbai City FC's Vignesh Dakshinamurthy

“We are here to unleash the power of Indian football,” was one of the things that Chief Executive Officer  Ferran Soriano promised  during the event announcing the takeover of Mumbai City FC by the City Football Group (CFG). What he said was translated into actions immediately in the following season as Mumbai went on to clinch the Indian Super League (ISL) title along with and League Winners Shield in the 2020-21 season, with young Indian players leading the campaign from the front. Established names like Ahmed Jahouh, Mourtada Fall, Hugo Boumous, Adam Le Fondre, Amrinder Singh and Rowllin Borges were no doubt the mainstay of the side but they were excellently complemented by young players like Bipin Singh, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Mehtab Singh, Vikram Pratap Singh among others as Mumbai became the first ISL team to complete the double. One of the highlights of Mumbai’s successful campaign was the deadly combination on the left between Bipin and Vignesh. The masterstroke in forging the successful partnership was coach Sergio Lobera’s decision to convert winger Vignesh into a full-back. Vignesh, the 23-year-old footballer from Karnataka, began his professional career with Bengaluru’s Ozone FC in the I-League second division before signing for Mumbai in 2018. In the first two seasons, he made a mere five appearances. Last season, he played in a whopping 22 games. The ISL champion feels it was the groundwork that he did in the first two seasons that helped him make the big impressions in his third season at the club. “Last season was a great one for Mumbai City and personally for me as well as we won the double — league shield and ISL title. Also, the ticket to ACL Champions League. It was the best season for me so far as a player,” Vignesh tells Firstpost. “The first two years I see as my investment years in the team and the third season in 2020 was the return on the investment. The last two years (2018-2020) I didn’t play but it was an investment, the training that I did at the club and with some very good players, helped me to upgrade my game to ISL level.” Training toil forms the fulcrum of Vignesh’s rapid rise, but he has also benefitted hugely from Lobera’s excellent man-management and communication, helping him exceed the expectations. “He’s (Lobera) a coach who gives confidence to players and the space to talk with him openly. As a player, I never had the fear to knock on his door any time. So that space and friendliness made the difference for all the players. He is a great coach and makes things very easy for you to grasp. That made things easy in the last season,” Vignesh says. “No one gives that space to any player. He always wants to help the players, his motto is to help the Indian players and he did that last season. Many Indian players emerged, Mehtab (Singh), Vikram (Singh) and me included.” While Lobera certainly has had a significant hand in the rise of Vignesh, his family that includes numerous footballers are the ones that laid down the foundation for him at a very early age, to become a professional player. His father was a state-level player and his uncle Shanmugam Venkatesh represented India at the highest level. Family requirements curtailed his father’s footballing journey but for Vignesh, it’s an added motivation to aim for the “bigger” things. “I am from a football background family. When people talk about them to me that ‘your father, uncle are great players and we want you to be more than them’, those words from them inspired me a lot to become a footballer. My dad was a great footballer but he couldn’t do much in his career due to the family situation, so I want to achieve what he couldn’t. That’s one of the reasons I took up football and it’s going well. I want to make it bigger,” says the footballer. Great as the last season may be, it’s in the rearview mirror now, and Vignesh, who recently signed a contract extension till 2025 at the club, is already looking in the driving mirror, aiming to do much better next season. He has picked a few areas to work upon, one of them being strengthening his running muscles. “Next month we will start training with the team. I am currently training in my home in Bengaluru. Last year, most of the cramps I use to get during the end of the match. So, I am working on my muscle strength or do much better in the upcoming season,” he says.