New Delhi: For any footballer, it’s a curse to be on the sidelines with long-term injury. Unable to be in the thick of things, one can only keep an eye on the proceedings and take mental notes on what to do when it’s time to return to action.
Akash Mishra is doing just that during his ongoing rehabilitation programme from an anterior cruciate ligament injury with which he limped off with in April during Mumbai City’s away Indian Super League clash against FC Goa last season.
Before injury struck him down, Mishra had been one of Mumbai’s regular players with 26 appearances across competitions on his first season with them and 28 games as left back for the national team since his debut in 2021.
Just when he was gaining ground to be India’s first-choice left back, injury cruelly derailed his plans, forcing him to watch matches from afar, though he is still keen to use them to stay abreast of the current situation.
“I feel there is only one way. You have to watch and learn since I am not playing at the moment. I am following all matches of the ISL, the national team, UEFA champions league and European leagues and watch how modern left backs are playing and learn from them,” the 22-year-old tells in an interview to News9Sports.
Rehab of ACL injury a time-consuming process
Now midway in his rehab process, Mishra hasn’t set any time frame for his return to the pitch, though he would ideally want to be back before the end the ongoing 2024-25 season.
“ACL is a long-term injury and I am working on the rehab phase now. The rehab training involves stage by stage progression. You can not really put a time frame on return. Usually it take 6-9 months to heal. But it varies from individual to individual.”
After making his name as an attack minded full-back with natural ability to float in crosses from the left flank, Mishra joined Mumbai last season after a bidding war with Mohun Bagan, joining hands with Des Buckingham and then Petr Kratky, the present Mumbai head coach.
“One of the reasons for joining Mumbai City was how they play. Under Des I was given freedom to move up and down the left flank,” explains Mishra.
“Under Petr too I have been given similar freedom, but of course, both said as a defender the first part of my job is defending, so I have to do that and then if I cam help the team in attacks then that is like a bonus.”
For a defender like him who likes to join attacks willingly, license to love forward is essential to thrive. Mishra is grateful that he has been given permission to move up by all the coaches he has played under so far in the ISL.
“That freedom players like but we have to use it in a positive way for the benefit of the team. It pushes players to improve and how coaches speak on and off the field too help,” he says.
श्लोक47: कर्म करो और फल की चिंता मत करो pic.twitter.com/NN1EUYfSVi
— Akash Mishra (@akashmishra_4) August 8, 2024
Benefits of similar coaching philosophy
It is where Buckingham, Kratky and Manolo Marquez, who brought him to Hyderabad from Indian Arrows in 2020, are similar, though as personalities they are different.
“There are many different aspects to coaching. From the outside it seems Des is very calm, doesn’t show much passion and speaks calmly on the touchline,” Mishra, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur, said.
“From a players’ point of view though their ideology and way of playing football is almost the same. They want to play with the ball and not rely on long balls. So they are similar in that, just that their personalities are different.
“A lot of credit for my development goes to Manolo as I first got opportunity under him. He was my first coach at ISL and worked with me for three years at Hyderabad.
“He also gave a lot of freedom and I tried new things to improve. Some coaches want players to follow their ideology. But Manolo gave us freedom, not only to me but also to Asish (Rai) and Nikhil (Poojary),” he points out.
Now that Monolo is in charge of the national team, Mishra backs himself to be in reckoning for that left back slot once he attains full fitness, though he is aware of the stiff competition from Mohun Bagan’s Subhasish Bose FC Goa’s Jay Gupta.
“My target is to be the first-choice left back for national team,” he proclaims, adding that he did congratulate Manolo when was named the new India head coach in August.
Mumbai City formidable as usual
Last year’s ISL Cup champions, Mumbai remain as strong as ever, though they have lost some key players but Mishra said the having Kratky on the dugout gives them continuity that is essential for consistent success.
Incoming players like Brandon Fernandes, Jeremy Manzorro, Jon Toral and Nikolaos Karelis would surely help them in chasing silverware, which Mumbai have won regularly in recent times.
“We have the same mindset, the same coach and the new additions that were made in the transfer window will help us grow. We had a very good pre-season in Thailand and now we know all the players.
“When new players come in, they usually take some time to adapt but they have gelled very well on the training ground. People are not privy to what happens on the training ground but as players we can see how quickly they have adapted,” he notes.
Though the developmental side that helped his progression to top-tier of Indian football, Indian Arrows no longer exists, Mishra is glad that the India U-20 side would now play in the I-League.
After a three-year academy stint in Germany from 2015, Mishra joined the Arows in 2018 and in two years made rapid strides to earn call-ups to the India U-20 and U-23 sides, before making his way to Hyderabad.
“That project helped me and many players of the national team and ISL teams. Players got to play a whole season. They are young but what they learn there helps them in a big way,” he says.
Mumbai City’s Akash Mishra is keen to establish himself as India’s first choice full-back when he returns to action from an ACL injury that has kept him sidelined since April. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
