It’s about showing consistency over longer periods: Mumbai coach

Defending champions Mumbai City FC were ruthless in their 5-1 victory over a good ATK Mohun Bagan side in the Indian Super League (tie) on Wednesday.

After Mumbai’s shocking 31 loss to Hyderabad in the previous game, the win over the team from Kolkata came as a relief to new coach Des Buckingham. As the Islanders gear up to face Bengaluru FC on Saturday, Buckingham said he wants his team to show consistency over longer periods of time.

Answering a Free Press Journal question on whether he’s satisfied with the way his team have played their three games this season, Buckingham said, “I would like to see us have more, I would like to see us be more consistent in the way we want to play. You know, I've seen glimpses of it in the first game (3-0 win over FC Goa),” he said .

“And I've seen a lot more consistency in the second. And then for the large parts of the first half in the last game. For me now it's about trying to show that consistency over longer periods of time. And that's not just with the ball but without the ball as well,” he added.

“So am I happy? I'm happy enough, but there's still a lot of work to do,” he said . With

two days rest, Mumbai face a motivated Bengaluru FC side who haven’t been in the threatening form they are known for.

Buckingham says he knows that he cannot afford to take them lightly. “I think it's going to be very tight. You look at the games that they’ve played so far, they've got some very good players and they play a very good style of football. And if we don't prepare ourselves as well as we need to, they will cause us problems,” he said.