Juan Ferrando calls for changes in refereeing in ISL matches

The ATK Mohun Bagan head coach also provided an update on Florentin Pogba's availability.

ATK Mohun Bagan are back in action in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Thursday when they host a lowly NorthEast United side at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. Juan Ferrando's side are gunning to get back to winning ways after the thrilling draw against Mumbai City, as they keep pushing for a title challenge.

Ahead of the clash at home, ATK Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando shared his thoughts. Here are the excerpts:

Ferrando urges ATK Mohun Bagan to be aggressive and get the win

Juan Ferrando isn’t comfortable with his side playing a game only three days after the draw against Mumbai City. “It’s an important match tomorrow. It’ll be a difficult match because we are in different ways. When you play on Sunday and have just two days to prepare for a game, it’s important for everyone to be ready and have the right mentality," he said. It’s difficult to travel after a match and have, honestly one day to prepare the team. It’s important for the team to be ready for tomorrow.

“We need to be aggressive on the field as it’s important three points for us. In our case, we are close to the top of the table and it’s important for us to be fresh and ready. It’s a difficult match in our situation, but I hope the players are ready because they’ve worked hard and have had a good season. They need to be ready mentally. I’m happy to be playing at home, playing in front of supporters is good for the players,” he added.

Reflection of ATKMB’s performances this season

The Spaniard has praised his team’s overall performances this season and how they’ve bounced back after the opening loss to Chennaiyin FC. “The team has been good all through this season and pre-season. Even if you read the stats from the Kuala Lumpur City and Chennaiyin losses, you’ll see the team actually dominated. Only our problem is in front of the goal in front of the keeper. When the team is working in a good way, sometimes the problem is not having goal-scoring success.

“But now the team is more confident with good scores. I’m happy with all through this season because, except 2-3 times in the Chennaiyin FC match, the team has played well. It’s normal when you don’t have success and the score isn’t good, that the confidence will not be so high.

"After the Chennaiyin match, the players were mentally down but now the team is more confident. It’s necessary to continue to build on our success and be ready for ambitions, be ready to support the team. We need to get three points every game, that is our mentality,” he further quipped.

Any tactical changes for the game?

Juan Ferrando also shushed any claims about him changing his formation to a more attacking stance against the Highlanders. He detailed: “Football is about controlling the spaces. If we played 4-4-2, everyone is moving. The system isn’t important, it’s just an excuse in football to talk about tactics.

"In football, it’s all about the timing and spaces. If the player knows when to find the spaces in the best moments, it’s perfect. The system is a silly thing. It doesn’t matter if you play 3-5-2 or you play 4-4-2, it depends on winning the matches.

“All the coaches around the world play with different systems. There is a reason why they do that you can’t achieve success with one system. It’s important for the players to know the best moment to attack the space, to control the space and when to keep the ball. It’s not easy, but they are professionals and are training for this reason. But for me, the problem isn’t the players or the system,” he added.

Importance of entire squad

Juan Ferrando also opened up on the importance of his entire squad more than those playing in the starting XI. He said: “Everyone is ready to support the team. We’ll decide on the team after training today. Everyone is specifically talking about the performance of Joni (Kauko), Pritam (Kotal) and Brendan (Hamill) from the last game, but the reason behind the performances of these players is that behind them.

"There are the likes of Pronay (Halder), Sumit (Rathi), (Lalrinliana) Hnamte who are working so hard to push them. In the end, the result of our hard-working performances is that the entire squad is working hard.

“In the last game that we drew or the ones we won against East Bengal or Kerala Blasters, is because we have 27 players who are working hard and are working for limited places in the line-up. Our result is because of that. Honestly, our mentality is to get three points and irrespective of which player I play, it’s necessary to have the ambition and spirit to get three points,” he stated.

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Pogba injury and goals for the ISL

He also confirmed an injury for Florentin Pogba, who is ruled out of the NorthEast game. The gaffer said: “Pogba is in the process of recovering from an injury. At the moment, we need to protect him. The rest of our players are ready for the game. More or less, everyone is good – except Avilash who is working separately to gain fitness. I’m happy with the fitness of the team.”

When asked about his targets for the ISL season, Ferrando explained: “Of course, our mentality is to be on the top of the table. We need to win all the matches, that is all I want. We have another match tomorrow to get three points and then we want to get three points against FC Goa.

"Week after week, all I want is three points irrespective of the opponent. But there are certain situations, like the one against Mumbai where in the last 10 minutes and you are down 2-1, then maybe one point is good.

“The players know we’re a big club and our target is to win all the matches. Of course, everyone knows that if you finish the league phase at the top of the ISL table, you’ll play in the AFC Champions League next season. It’s an amazing competition and when you play in an international competition, it’s amazing for the players, for the fans and for the plans. It’s necessary to fight every match because our dream is to play in the AFC champions League. But it’s necessary to focus on the present and win against NorthEast,” he claimed.

Refereeing changes needed

Finally, Juan Ferrando also opened up on the refereeing standards of the ISL and what needs to change about them. He detailed: “For me, the most important thing about the referees is that they take one decision. It can’t be possible for one assistant referee to decide from a corner and then the main referee decides something different from the box. It took 2-3 decisions that happened in our case against Mumbai. The players were ready for a corner, some are ready for the build-up.

“Of course, it’s normal to make mistakes – as it can happen with players and coaches. But it’s necessary to make one decision. If it’s a penalty, it’s a penalty. If it’s a foul, it’s a foul. But it’s not possible, in the last match, then the assistant referee said it was a foul when the referee gave a goal. Then the fourth official says it’s a foul and someone else says it’s a goal.

“For example, imagine if I told Vishal (Kaith), that ‘you are a keeper’ and then five minutes later ‘you are a winger.’ If that happened, Vishal would ask me to give one decision. The big problem with referees is that every referee isn’t taking one decision. There is a thing about Indian football that when one team is playing on the attack and then the other team plays in the attack, the referee shouldn’t say nothing and let them continue,” he finished with.

Subhashish Bose’s comments

ATKMB left-back Subhashish Bose accompanied his manager to the pre-match press conference. He remained tight-lipped on the refereeing, instead talking up his side’s draw against Mumbai, saying: “The referee decisions are on them. In the Mumbai City match, the fact that we were able to come back twice and equalize on two separate occasions while playing with 10 men shows that the team spirit is positive.

"The atmosphere of the dressing room is great, which is why we’ve won two out of the last three games. Regardless of whatever the referee does, we just have to look into winning matches.”