Mumbai City FC has proven in the past that they don’t require the strongest team on paper to perform on-field. With what was a fairly underrated side last term, they managed to reach the playoffs before bowing out to FC Goa. This time they have made some shrewd signings and looks set to be an exciting team to watch.
SQUAD
- Have allowed 5 of their last season’s foreign players to leave, but have signed some really dynamic and exciting attacking foreigners
- Even in the case of Indian players, have brought in better replacements for the players that they sold
- The team look quite balanced but Anwar Ali’s unfortunate health problem might affect their team combination
PRE SEASON RESULTS
TACTICAL SYSTEM
- Jorge Costa usually prefers to play an attacking 4-3-3 formation
- Last season however, to find the balance he had to often play a 4-2-3-1
- However this time having brought in the players to suit his preferred system, we could see them play a very attacking brand of football
- In this system, we can expect both fullbacks (possibly Souvik Chakraborty and Subhasish Bose) to overlap quite a lot
Expected lineup (4-3-3): Amrinder; Souvik- Pratik Chaudhari- Grgic- Subhasish; Rowllin- Machado- Raynier; Chermiti- Sougou- Larbi
KEY PLAYERS
#14. Rowllin Borges (DMF)
- Mumbai City FC replaced their first-choice defensive midfielder from last season Sehnaj Singh with the much more composed Rowllin Borges
- The Indian international was in superb form last time for Northeast United and will definitely be a key player for Jorge Costa’s side
- With the fullbacks likely to overlap a lot, the system requires the defensive midfielder to be ever-present as a cover for the defense line
- In addition, the defensive midfielder would also be required to drop deep and initiate buildups
- As the radar plot data below suggests, Rowllin’s all-round game can help him do that role maybe better than Sehnaj
- Rowllin has a better passing range (short passing accuracy of 89.33%) as well as impressive defensive figures of 2 recoveries per 90 minutes and 4.22 CBIs per 90 minutes
Rowllin v Sehnaj (2018-19 season)
#28. Modou Sougou (CF)
- The Senegalese striker top-scored for Mumbai City FC with 12 goals from 18 appearances
- He had 2 hat-tricks, one against Kerala Blasters (scored 4 in the match) and one against ATK
- He is one of those players who is not too physically imposing nor too dominating in the air but more of a quick and clever finisher with good poaching and positioning skills
- As the graph below indicates, his overall involvement is not quite high but he still managed to have a goal conversion rate of 26%
- With some really good creative players around him this season, he would be hoping to replicate his form from last season
Sougou Key Stats (2018/19 Season)
SPORTSKPI WILDCARD PLAYER
#11. Raynier Fernandes (CM)
- The former Mohun Bagan midfielder had his breakthrough season in the ISL last season making 17 appearances in midfield for Mumbai
- Having got a National Team callup since then, the 23-year old would be looking forward to making a mark this time too
- His ball carrying quality is what makes him a real asset to the side, as he was successful with 55 of his dribbles attempted
- With a passing accuracy of 84.05% and 54 defensive actions per 90, he can be a true revelation this season alongside Rowlin and Machado
Raynier Fernandes Key Stats (2018/19 Season)
SEASON PREDICTION
- Playoff Possibility: Likely to fight it out for the final playoff spot
- Mumbai City FC have a very exciting team this season and with some really dynamic players in the lineup this season, they will likely be the 4th side to make it to the playoffs
Article by our Senior Football Analyst – Mishal Thanveer
