May be we now know the team's real quality, says Juan Ferrando

Published at :October 30, 2022 at 6:26 AM

Modified at :December 13, 2023 at 1:01 PM

(Courtesy : ISL Media)

The head coach shared what's more important to him - clean sheet or a victory.

ATK Mohun Bagan secured bragging rights in the first Kolkata Derby of the Indian Super League (ISL) season, defeating East Bengal 2-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. Two second-half goals from Hugo Boumous and Manvir Singh were enough to help the Mariners get a big win.Head coach Juan Ferrando attended the press conference after the game.

Here's what he had to say.

Reflecting on the game

Juan Ferrando was pleased with the hard-fought win, as he reflected after the game: “It’s a difficult match as all the matches are. For me it was important today to find the spaces and I feel the team did that in both the first and the second half. They capitalized on the spaces behind the right-back and left-back, and I’m pleased with this. I want us to improve on the transitions, but it’s difficult because of the size of the pitch. It’s now necessary to prepare for the next match.”

On Ashique Kuruniyan being dropped

When asked about Ashique Kuruniyan being benched for the game and his feelings on the impact he made as a substitute, the Spaniard remarked: “Every match is different, where you need different plans and sometimes its necessary to use Ashique or Manvir as a winger. Against Mumbai, we’ll have a different plan and might have a different line-up. It’s our target for all the players to help the team, for 90 minutes. We need to find the details of trying to find the best players in the best moment.”

On Manvir Singh's performance

Juan Ferrando also hailed Manvir’s improvement this season and his goal-scoring performance in the derby. He explained: “The most important thing for me is that Manvir working every day and is trying to do his best in the training. He tries to improve the timing of the press and works hard. It’s necessary to find in more than one point, because it’s not easy for a no.9 to close down defenders and then attack the space. I’m happy because he is ready to work all through the 90 minutes. He didn't start the season well, but now he’s performing amazingly and he is controlling the space better as well as the timing of the press. I hope he can improve because Manvir’s potential is very high, but it’s necessary to work in the same way.”

Derby win a momentum booster?

When asked if this win can give the Mariners a momentum booster for the big game against Mumbai City next week, the Spaniard said: “In seven days against Mumbai, it’ll be a new history. Now in three hours, we’ll have a new day and we have to prepare for the Mumbai game. To talk about the performance, sometimes it’s good and sometimes it isn’t. The Durand Cup was a preparation for the AFC Cup, but we had no success in the AFC Cup – which is the truth. We started the season poorly with the loss against Chennaiyin because of a lack of self-confidence. Maybe we now know the real level (quality) of the team.”

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On Asish Rai

Asish Rai was among ATKMB’s underwhelming performers on the day. Speaking about his thoughts on him, Juan Ferrando explained: “I’m happy with him because he’s playing, of course. In our style, he knows he needs to improve his pressing, the moment of controlling the space and know when to attack. It’s not easy to do that. Asish isn’t a full-back who we can put the ball into the space and see. He’ll try to improve in every training and understand these concepts. He tried to do his best, but we need to control these details. If he knows the moments of the press, moments of attacking the space – he is a top-3 right-back in India.”

On the celebrations after the win

Ferrando gave a bland response to questions on how he plans to celebrate this big win, as he claimed: “We are professionals. We are happy but it’s important to think about the next match. We have another match and three points on the line next week. Today is a day for the supporters. They deserve to enjoy this. But we need to prepare for the next match. Three weeks ago, we weren’t the worst team – and now we aren’t the best team. We need to keep calm and keep going to win against Mumbai.”

Clean sheet or win? What's important?

Finally, Juan Ferrando also shoved aside claims that he might’ve been happier with keeping a clean sheet than the win. He said: “My position is that I’m happy with the three points, I don’t care if we get a clean sheet or not, the most important thing is to win the game. If we get 10-12 clean sheets at the end of the season, that doesn’t matter. It’s more important to get 45-50 points. The most important thing for me is to get three points in every match.”