In our second edition of IN CONVERSATION, we have with us the Assistant Coach of the Mumbai Strikers SC Senior Men’s Football Team, Mr. Varun D’Souza. He forms the other half of the intellectually dynamic coaching duo along with Head Coach Maclin D’Penha. Both share their expertise in running their academy Football World in Thane. Since joining in 2018-19, he has contributed immensely towards the progress of the club. An ardent lover of reading books & Chelsea FC, let us get in conversation with him.

First of all, Congratulations on earning the AFC B license badge. Can you share your experience at the coaching course and what difference it made in your career?

Thank you so much. Doing the course under Savio Medeira sir (Head of Coach Education, AIFF), the country’s best coach educator, there was a lot more to learn. The content of the course was top class. The other good thing about the coaching courses is the other candidates from whom I got a lot to learn as well. Doing the course in Goa, a football obsessed state, I got the opportunity to watch the first home game of FC Goa, as we had to do a match analysis assignment. And by God’s grace, we were fortunate to have a guest lecture by Igor Stimac, the Indian National Football Team’s Head Coach.

The course has helped me tremendously in terms of managing a football squad professionally. Tactically, it has improved me & now I can observe the game in more detail and this will keep improving going forward. It was this course that helped me prepare in managing Mumbai Strikers along with Coach Maclin.

In your first year at Mumbai Strikers SC, how did you feel and how did you benefit after joining the club?

I was excited to join the club, because of all that I read and heard about the team. I knew it would be difficult, but never expected how the season panned out. Because of how our season ended, it would be easy to say that it was a season to forget. But it wasn’t. It was the opposite. My first season with the team was when I learned the most. I came with a pre conceived notion that it would be similar to managing a youth team. But there is a huge difference. Though the principles of coaching remain the same, the application of the same in youth football and senior football is very different. So I learned a lot from the first season, not only about coaching football but also managing players. This helped us a lot in the second season because of what Coach Maclin and I learned from the first season.

What do you think of the players that were available? Were you able to apply your learning and club philosophy in the squad?

Here is what makes coaches better. Unlike big PL clubs, where the coach has a budget to make the squad according to his philosophy and playing style, at Mumbai Strikers the challenge is completely different. As a coach you have a certain philosophy and style of playing, but you have to also see the players that you have, their ability and quality. Everyone wants to be a Pep Guardiola and play possession football with plenty of scoring. But we have to see if we can apply our philosophy with the players that are available. With Maclin leading, we both managed that fine line of our football philosophy and our player quality. We managed to play the style we wanted with the players available because our players were smart. They made the extra effort to learn something new and the results show.

Considering you have your own academy and you take sessions religiously, how different is it to train a team full of kids and one full ofadults? Which one is easier?

Though the coaching principles are the same, the application is different. With an U14/U16 team, the players trust you and are more confident with you on the ground. They support you in every step. But a senior team is different, here as a coach you need to convince the players what you want to do with the team and the players will be convinced only after they see results.

Youth football is more development oriented and senior football is more result oriented. So as a coach both are challenging. Because you want to win and develop players with all your teams, you have to balance it correctly.

And for me, Coaching is my passion & therefore both are challenging, but equally fun. So irrespective of the training or match result, I always want to get back on the ground the next day.

This year the season has come to an unfortunate break. With the stupendous run MS was having, how you think it would have ended under normal conditions?

Sky is the limit. But Coach Maclin and I didn’t focus on the table much. We were aware of the league table and our position on it, but we didn’t let it distract us and we focused more on the next game. Since Coach Maclin took charge, after every game, in the travel on our way back home, we would plan and strategize for the next game. We always believed that we need to do our things right first and then focus on the how the other teams are doing in the league. It is unfortunate that the season ended how it did, because we were very confident in the team and more important was that the players were confident in themselves. Whatever our standing would’ve been on the table is now over. But we have learned a lot from this season and we will work hard to do better in the next season.

How has the club management contributed to your decisions for the club on and off the field?

The club management has been very supportive. Because of the unpredictable schedules and events happening in Mumbai, sometimes Coach Maclin and I had to come up with solutions for the better of the team. But the best part is that the management supported in all our ideas and helped us make those ideas work. We are fortunate to work with a club with such a supportive management.

Who is your favorite coach of all time and why?

This is a tough question as there are so many to choose from. I always look to learn from all coaches, Guardiola, Klopp, Simeone to name a few.

But my favorite is Jose Mourinho and a close second is Sir Alex Ferguson.

Being a Chelsea fan, I actually started liking Mourinho a lot when he was with Inter and admired him when he won the champions league with them. Mourinho is a phenomenon. Like an elephant in the room. He brings a personality along with him to the club. Mourinho knew how to win. That’s what I liked about him. There are certain things about him which are not good, but that’s what makes Mourinho, Mourinho. He is tactically one of the best managers. What I like about Mourinho is that he knows what to say, when to say and how to say it; be it in the dressing room or in a press conference. Everyone says that Mourinho plays park the bus football. But, when the stakes are that high you have to just win. And Mourinho knows how to win.