Petr Kratky had joined Mumbai City FC midway through the 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) season and led the Islanders to the ISL Cup, beating Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the final after albeit losing the race to the league shield in the last game of the season.
As the two sides prepare to get the 11th season of the ISL underway in Kolkata come September 13, the MCFC head coach sounded positive about his team’s chances.
“I am very happy to play Mohun Bagan in the first game as we have quite a few new additions in the team and I want to know how we are against the best. We will evaluate how we are against the best team in the league,” Petr Kratky told select media during a virtual interaction on Tuesday.
Mumbai City do have quite a few new faces to their team as well as to the league – Brandon Fernandes, Jon Toral and Nikolaos Karelis to name a few.
“Brandon is a very good player, good character, he works hard and that’s all you can ask for. I have seen him play in big competition games, he is doing great in training. I am very excited about Brandon and hopefully, he will contribute to the team, the same way he did in Goa,” Kratky said.
“We’ve got Vikram (Pratap Singh), (Lallianzuala) Chhangte, (PN) Noufal, Bipin (Singh), (Jon) Toral, (Gyamar) Nikum and Daniel (Lalhlimpuia). There are a lot of new faces that I am excited to introduce to the ISL this season with the youngsters,” he added.
The coach though had special praise for newly-appointed club captain Lallianzuala Chhangte.
“He’s a leader, he’s become captain for our team and his ability to lead the team by example is amazing. His role will be to help the team to achieve the goal would be what we set up before the season and hopefully, he will do so.”
Improving Indians for India
Petr Kratky though is also keen to work with young Indian players and utilise their potential in the coming season.
“One of that was one of the reasons why I did this, this job, you know, it’s my ability to develop and improve players,” he said.
“And now I’m here to improve Indian players and provide them the opportunity to play, you know, consistently on the best, best possible high level, you know, So that’s what I’m trying to do now,” he added.
When asked about quality players signing for fellow ISL sides ahead of the season and how competitive it will be, Petr Kratky said: “I think in this year, eight teams are in contention to make the final. I’m actually excited about it because in every game you need to play at your best.”
“And I think it’s exciting for the fans as well. It’s exciting to see the league is growing and getting better, but we just have to make the balance for Indian players also get an opportunity to play and develop. It’s an exciting time for us, you know, to see ISL growing and getting stronger and better.
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