ISL: "It is always enjoyable to win your first game," says Mumbai gaffer Buckingham

Mumbai City FC has started their 2021/22 Indian Super League season with three points after defeating FC Goa. The Islanders were too strong for the Gaurs and won comfortably by 3-0 on the night at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa. A brace from Igor Angulo and a debut goal from Ygor Catatau was enough to secure the first victory of the season.

Des Buckingham was in charge of his first game as the head-coach of MCFC and started on a very strong note. He has a tough job in store after replacing Sergio Lobera who guided the outfit to their maiden ISL shield and ISL trophy last year. The tactician however was very astute, got his tactics spot on and looks like a promising figure to lead the team.

Here is what Des Buckingham had to say in the post-match press conference. The gaffer had a lot of good things to say about his team's performance and more:

Experience after the first game

Des Buckingham was visibly pleased with securing three points in his first game in-charge at the ISL. Talking about the win, the gaffer was pleased with his team's performance and said that, "It is always enjoyable to get a win, especially in your first game. I won't say it's a marker, I will say it is a good start for us building on the back of what this club and team achieved last year. So it was important that we started well and it was pleasing to see for parts of the game, we played the style of football we wanted to play and we wanna evolve from last year. Very pleased with the start, but that's all it is."

Impressed by Igor Angulo and Cassinho

The Englishman also gave an account of his first impressions of debutants Angulo and Cassinho. He was quoted as saying, "Very happy, not with just those two, we had some changes in the game due to injuries we had to change (things) around, and I thought every player that had come on had a huge impact positively for us."

The first game in the Indian Super League

The 36-year-old is the youngest head-coach in the league and today was his first taste of the ISL. Talking about his experience post the game, he said that, "I really enjoyed it. I said at the start I was very excited to be in India, excited to take over this club and to continue building on the excellent work that Sergio Lobera had done last year."

Time to relax and reflect

The next fixture for Mumbai City FC is five days away against Hyderabad FC on Saturday. Talking about what is the plan for the upcoming days in between, Buckingham said that, "We will shut the players down now for a day or two to give them time to rest and recover. We have had a lot going on in the last couple of weeks so it's important that we assess where we are."

"I thought the referees dealt with things very well this evening." he further added while talking about the penalty decision that did not go their way in the first-half.