Mumbai: He has never seen Sunil Chhetri in action but Mumbai City FC's star player-cum-manager Nicolas Anelka is confident that the Indian national team captain will prove to be a "big plus" for the team.
"Everybody told me he (Sunil) is a very good player. I don't know him personally and will try to speak to him. He will miss 1-2 games initially (because of couple of World Cup qualifiers). We are happy to have him in the team. I think he will be a big plus for the team," former Chelsea and Real Madrid star Anelka told mediapersons on Saturday.
Delighted to be back at Mumbai City FC in a dual role, Anleka wants to help the Ranbir Kapoor co-owned franchise win the second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) starting October 3.
"I am happy to be back. We have a bigger and better squad this season. Last season, we had a good team but were a little bit unlucky -- like injuries (to key players). This time the players' desire is to do better (than last year) and my personal desire is to reach, at the minimum, the semis," said the former French international.
The 36-year-old player, who represented top European clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid in his illustrious career, said he was looking forward to the extra workload as manager of the Mumbai ISL franchise this season, insisting it added no additional pressure on him.
"As a player, you concentrate on the game (only), but as a manager you have to do a lot more. It's going to be more work for me. I have been working with a lot of managers and I know how to speak to the players, keep them confident and also take out the best from them."
Anelka was happy that this season the team would be able to rotate its players, including strikers.
"We have a big squad. We have a better squad this season and have a lot of strikers. We will be able to rotate our players. I would like to say to every one -- if you are playing today you may not play the next game, but don't feel sad or bad."
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