Mumbai City FC has at least four players who can go on to play for the Indian national team in the future, head coach Petr Kratky said on Tuesday.
“I’m looking forward to introducing them to the Indian Super League (ISL) this year, or the next, but they will come and shine soon,” Kratky told the media in a virtual round-table interaction.
Kratky, a player-turned-coach from Czechia, joined the ISL outfit in December 2023. He succeeded Des Buckingham, who had guided the side to the League Winners’ Shield in the 2022-23 season.
Despite taking the reins of the club in the middle of the season, Kratky did well to finish second to Mohun Bagan on the points table, with just one point separating them.
“One of the reasons I took this job is my ability to develop and improve players. I’m here to improve Indian players and give them opportunities to perform consistently,” he said.
One youngster who has taken every chance given to him by the scruff of its neck is Vikram Partap Singh. The 22-year-old racked up 23 appearances last season and had 12 goal contributions, which included eight goals.
Vikram, who bagged the ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, is proof of Kratky’s tripartite philosophy. The Czech tactician keeps winning games as his top priority. What follows is playing an attractive brand of football. Then comes developing Indian players and giving them more chances.
“That will never change. I will always try to help the young players break into the first team. It’s one of the hardest things for them, and for me too, because timing is important. It’s all about them being resilient when they are not playing, not getting selected. We’ll try to have them in training, and have individual plans for them,” he explained.
‘It’s an exciting game’
When asked about his top three picks of teams who can contend for the title along with Mumbai, Kratky named Mohun Bagan.
The defending ISL Cup champion Mumbai opens its 2024-25 campaign against a familiar foe in Mohun Bagan Super Giant. The two sides met in last year’s final in Kolkata which saw the Islanders prevailing over the Mariners in a 3-1 win.
MBSG is coming into the new season after reaching the final of the 2024 Durand Cup. While the domestic cup competition gave most of the first-team players in the Mohun Bagan camp some game-time under their belt, Kratky doesn’t go back on the club’s decision to send its reserves for the tournament.
“We chose to play our pre-season in Thailand where we had some good games. It’s difficult to say whether playing the Durand Cup (with the first team) would have helped. The tournament did help us to understand the opponents but I don’t think it will be a big difference for us,” he said ahead of the season opener.
The Mariners had a busy transfer window, which saw the exodus of names like Greg Stewart, Jorge Pereyra Diaz, Alberto Noguera, Apuia, Rahul Bheke, and others. The head coach acknowledges that players wanting to leave is something out of his control, but he seems excited to see how his new wards fare on the field.
Experienced India international Brandon Fernandes is a new name who is set to don the Mumbai City threads.
“We are excited about him, can’t wait to see him play. He’s doing great in training and hopefully he will contribute to the team as he has done at FC Goa,” Kratky said.
Syrian defender Thaer Krouma, who captained his national team’s 3-0 win over India in the Intercontinental Cup, will also spend one more year with the Islanders after he signed an extension last month.
“That’s why he is here (Krouma). He’s a leader, he works hard. Unfortunately, he played against India, which lost. He has a lot of ability, and we’re happy that we have him,” Kratky said, heaping praise on the Syrian centre-back.
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