Juan Ferrando reveals why Florentin Pogba missed last game

The tactician is looking for a reaction from his team after a bad start to the season.

ATK Mohun Bagan led by Juan Ferrando are hoping to bounce back from a poor start to their Indian Super League (ISL) season on Sunday, when they face a high-flying Kerala Blasters side. The Mariners have a tough challenge ahead, as they play in front of the daunting Yellow Army crowd and hope to get the first points on the ISL board.

Important game ahead

Juan Ferrando is hoping to see a great encounter in front of a packed crowd for this major encounter, as he said: “I think it’s an important game for both teams. It’s good for Indian football because the atmosphere here is amazing. It will be a good match for us and an important one because we want 3 points. It’s the same for them too, and I hope to see an amazing match.”

The Spaniard has a simple game-plan, which is just to win. He explained: “It’s the start of a championship and in front of us we have 19 matches. Every match is crucial because it has 3 points at stake. We’re ready to come here, prepare our plans and try to get three points. The past isn’t important, the most important thing is the present. We have a new challenge tomorrow.”

Goalscoring issues?

After being persisted with questions around ATK Mohun Bagan's goal-scoring issues, Ferrando answered: “I explain all the time, football for me is to create space and use that space. For me, who scores the goals isn’t important – it’s about creating opportunities, and for me, it’s about us creating chances constantly. I have 100% faith in this squad and I hope more success for us in front of the opposition goalkeeper. But we need to focus on our squad.”

What went wrong vs Chennaiyin FC?

Despite having more possession and more shots on goal than Chennaiyin in the last game, ATK Mohun Bagan still went down to a loss. When asked about why this happened, he stated: “In this moment, we are disappointed with tah result. But this is the life of football. When you win the matches, the important question is why we win the match? In our point of view, we lost because we don’t have clear details in front of the opponent goal.

“But sometimes the emotion of the footballers is very important. Sometimes when you are not having any success, you are scared that you might keep failing – this is a reason. I repeat all the time, I trust in this team and this team is growing up right now. We have good players and I trust in them. If we continue working every day, then we’ll have success 100% at one point,” he added.

Florentin Pogba issue

Finally, Juan Ferrando was also questioned on Florentin Pogba’s absence from the opening game and his situation. He explained: “I have six foreign players and Kerala Blasters also have the same. We decide on the foreign players to play depending on the state of the opponent, depending on the match and depending on our how we can improve by using them. I’m very happy with my foreign players. The most important for me is that every one is ready to help the team whenever necessary and not lose trust in themselves.

“In our case, the six foreign players are ready to support the team, to help the team and that is really important. After that, it’s necessary for me to make the decision because only four foreigners can be played at the same time. It really depends on our plan, on the performances in training and there are a lot of points.

"In the case of Pogba, he might not play the first six matches – but end up playing the last remaining matches. That’ll depend on a day-by-day thing. He played a lot in the AFC Cup, but his selection all depends on the plan. I trust in all my foreign players and the last decision to play them is taken before the match,” he finished off with.  

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