ISL 2022-23: I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do – Mumbai City FC’s Des Buckingham

Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham was proud of what his team achieved in ISL 2022-22 after their campaign ended following their defeat on penalties (after 2-2 on aggregate) against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday.

The Blues won 9-8 on penalties after Mehtab Singh couldn’t score against Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and then Sandesh Jhinghan was able to score from the spot kick.

However, the Islanders had an amazing run throughout the season, winning the League Shield after winning 14 matches in the league stage. Mumbai City remained unbeaten for the first 18 matches on the bounce and created a new record in ISL history.

The team came up with a collective show throughout the season and the players were able to come up with a fine performance.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do. I look back across the last 10 to 12 months, we started in the Champions League and what we’re able to do. Not just in terms of results, but in terms of performance and showcasing the type of football we wanted to play on this stage. And then we look at the Durand Cup final and then I look at the 18-game unbeaten streak that won us the league,” Buckingham said in the post-match conference.

The English manager feels it is heartbreaking to exit in such a manner but at the same time, he is proud of the players for their consistent performances.

“We thought we had enough to come here and we did what we needed to do. They won at our place, and we’ve now come here and beat them at theirs but it wasn’t enough and it went to the penalties. It’s a bit of a heartbreaking way to exit the playoff stage. But overall when you put it over the last 10 to 12 months, very proud of what we’ve been able to do and that includes the season, but more so how we’ve gone about playing to do that and also achieving success. So we’ll be back, build upon what we have, and be ready,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mehtab Singh missed the penalty and Buckingham showered praise on the youngster. The gaffer added that the team will back the 24-year-old after his disappointing miss.

“Mehtab knows what I think about him, firstly as a player and secondly as a person. The way he came on in my first 12 months of this club and developed himself and the way he’s gone about what he’s done this year, has been fantastic to see the growth in him as a person, see the growth in him as a player and across the league, for me, he’s probably one of the best young Indian centre backs coming through. He’ll be disappointed tonight and he’ll feel that there’s some fault on him but there isn’t. He knows exactly what the group think about him and we’ll get around him and look after him. And when he reflects back upon his season, he’ll realize if he doesn’t already how extremely well he has done,” he said.