Petr Kratky opens up on Mumbai City FC's performance, lack of goals and January transfers

Mumbai City FC (MCFC) head coach Petr Kratky admitted he wasn't happy with his team's performance in their 1-0 home win over Chennaiyin FC (CFC) in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday. In a closely contested match with limited but clear-cut chances for both sides, Nikolaos Karelis' decisive goal secured a vital three points for Mumbai City FC, propelling them to fourth place in the standings. Kratky disclosed he was not happy with how the team lost the ball but was positive about the result following a second straight victory.

"No (I wasn't pleased with the performance), to be honest. I was looking for football (where we) kept the ball. We would like to have control of the game. And at turnovers it was happening, I was not happy. It was cheap turnovers which put us under pressure. Those are the areas where we need to improve because I want our guys to play good and attacking football. We tried to play, but sometimes the cheap turnovers (put us in trouble) and sometimes I got very frustrated about it. Under pressure, I take that. Without pressure, it's very difficult for me (to accept that). So we tried to work on it. Obviously it takes time. The most important thing is the boys tried to do their best, so we tried to adjust to the players abilities and characteristics and how we try to play football," he said in the post-match press conference.

"We need to work. It's a very important three points for us in our journey. Clean sheet. 1-0. When we were sitting here a couple of weeks ago, we had a lot of draws, we had a lot of goalscoring opportunities. In terms of opportunities and how many chances we had to score goals and ended up with draws. So what do you get? Maybe less scoring opportunities. But you get the three points and the goal. So for me, it's a different type of a story now. Okay, we have created less chances but we scored a goal and we were able to win a game, which is very powerful for us," he added.

This was the third straight 1-0 win for the Islanders, who have now been unbeaten in their last four games. The Islanders have netted just 15 goals across 12 games, the lowest tally among teams in the top six.

When asked if he was concerned about the lack of goals, Kratky replied: "Not really (goalscoring concern). What is important is the three points. We are creating chances and goalscoring opportunities. Yes, we ticked the box. Yes, we scored four goals only but how many points did we get in the last four games? It's very important for us. I would like to win every game three or four nil and have time (to see out the game), but that's football. You have to go game by game. I am happy with how we are progressing, slowly slowly. Yes, we had a slow start to the season but there is a big journey still in front of us. So we need to build on what we have and do the right things consistently. We can't sleep now. So we need to regroup and get ready for the next game."

Kratky also shared his thoughts on the January transfer window and potential transfers. In the game against Chennaiyin FC, Jeremy Manzorro, Thaer Krouma, Jon Toral and Daniel Lalhlimpuia were not part of the matchday squad. Defender Akash Mishra remains sidelined as he builds up his fitness. Meanwhile, Ayush Chikkara and Franklin Nazareth were included in the squad after recovering from their respective injuries. Kratky opened up on the injuries within the squad and if the team needs more players.

"Firstly, we have to assess what we have at the moment because there are a lot of injuries. There are a lot of things which we have to assess in 10 days, where we will be having our next game. What's happening? Now its a very busy period to assess what we have and what we can do to improve the team going forward for January. But at the moment, we are focusing on what we have, as you can see. The footballers come, they perform, do their best and are getting points as a team. So that's the strength for me. Even when we are missing players, we are capable of winning. It's tough, it's hard but we are capable of winning with the players we have," he revealed. (ANI)