The ATK Mohun Bagan pair have the small matter of the Indian Super League (ISL) final on Saturday against Mumbai City but still hope to find time this week to keep tabs on an exciting Australian season.
The two forwards left New Zealand in the middle of 2019 to head to India and still keep in touch with the action from down under.
“Roy and I watch A-League games together when we can,” Williams told The World Game. “We still have friends there in a few teams. I do feel sorry for Phoenix having to play every game in Australia as an away game.” Despite that, the season is an enjoyable one. “It is nice to see a league where there are fans and Australia has done a good job with Covid. This has been an exciting season and it is good to see.”
“I do follow Melbourne City who are doing very well. It has been a while since I was there but I like to see how Patrick Kisnorbo is doing, we were team-mates and quite close when I was at the club.”
Not as close as Williams and Krishna. Krishna won the A-League’s golden boot in 2018-19 and then left for India to do the same in 2019-20 as ATK Mohun Bagan became champions. The formidable Fijian forward is top of the standings again with one game to go. More important however is the Kolkata club taking a second successive ISL crown.
Williams is a huge fan. “Roy is an unbelievable striker and, to be honest, at a much higher level than the ISL and he could play in the top leagues of Europe. His decision is to be here and I love playing with him. We have a good understanding together.
We work a lot in training and have played together for three seasons. We know each other well and we have been working to get the best out of it. Playing with someone like him, who is not from a football country, is an inspiration, a leader and also scores great goals.”
He also makes them. Krishna set-up Williams to score in both legs of the 3-2 aggregate semi-final playoff win against Northeast United. It came after Williams found the target in the first leg also.
“It was great to score,” Williams said. “I had a slow start to the season in terms of goals but the goals came at a good time. I had a good feeling and hopefully I am hitting form at the right time and we are looking forward to the final.”
There, ATK will have to stop another prolific A-League alumni in the shape of Adam Le Fondre. The English striker’s goals played a big ;part in Sydney FC’s titles of 2019 and 2020 before heading to Mumbai. He has now netted 11 times in India, three less than Krishna.
“Le Fondre’s been doing well," said Williams. "He’s in a good team and in a good set-up. He has created some good chances for others and scored a few himself. He’s a dangerous player. I watched him a lot at Sydney FC and he was lethal there.
I am not too worried about Mumbai to be honest as they have not played the best football and a lot of their goals lately have come from set pieces after silly mistakes and giving away free-kicks and corners.”
Whatever happens, Williams will head home on Monday to spend time with his family. At some point there will be conversations about his future. “It’s still up in the air. I’ve had a few conversations with clubs in different countries but I haven’t made a decision yet.
I feel I have done enough to get a contract here and India is a great league but I don’t want to make a decision at the end of a mentally draining season when I am tired. I want to put football on hold for a couple of weeks and see my family.” First though, it's time to link up with Roy Krishna one more time.
