Juan Ferrando: Team became more confident after scoring first goal

The ATK Mohun Bagan management gave Vishal Kaith's injury update mid-way into the press conference.

ATK Mohun Bagan booked a place in the Indian Super League (ISL 2022-23) playoffs with a 2-0 win over Odisha FC on Saturday. Juan Ferrando's side were helped by goals from Hugo Boumous (36’) and Dimiti Petratos (58’) and will now play against Hyderabad FC in the playoffs.

Ferrando explains scary Vishal Kaith injury

Despite the win, all that was on head coach Juan Ferrando’s mind was the scary injury suffered by Vishal Kaith - after the goalkeeper had an awful collision with Diego Mauricio in the second half. Kaith had to be substituted and taken out of the stadium in an ambulance to the hospital.

Speaking about his satisfaction for the result, the gaffer said: “I’m not satisfied because Vishal is in the hospital right now and Ashique (Kuruniyan) is also injured. I’m not totally satisfied. I’m not thinking about the results, I’m just worried about the players. I was close to Vishal, he knows nothing about the incident in the moment. It’s not important if we win or lose in these situations. All that is important is the health of Vishal.”

When asked about what he saw in the field that nearly reduced him to tears in that incident, the Spaniard added: “If we talk about football today, it was difficult for me. When I know about his results (reports), it would be better for me. I was scared for him. I asked him about the result for the day, and he didn’t know anything.

“I was scared about his situation than the outcome of the game. He has been working with us three hours per day for the last eight months. He’s a part of my family, my mind is with him. The most important thing is he will be out of hospital tomorrow and hopefully he’ll be ready. If he is good, I’ll be very satisfied with that,” he added.

Thoughts on the Hyderabad FC playoffs clash

The Mariners will face Hyderabad FC in the playoffs, a repeat of the tie from last season. Speaking if he feels the team is better tasked to play against them on this occasion, Ferrando said: “I hope the team is ready for that. It’s necessary to talk about Ashique (Kuruniyan), Hugo (Boumous), Dimitri (Petratos) and Glan (Martins) – who have suffered knocks. In this moment, we have some major problems and I hope we’ve recovered well in 2-3 days.

“I’m happy because this team shows incredible character in difficult situations. They know how to control the moments of the match. But it’s difficult to say if we’re more ready than we were last season, because a lot of things have changed,” he added.

How did ATKMB plan defensive tactics?

With ATK Mohun Bagan doing a splendid job in keeping this season's joint top-scorer Diego Mauricio quiet, Juan Ferrando was asked about his defensive plan for the game. He explained: “I think our plan today was to find the space between the right-backs and left-backs. Obviously it became difficult because we needed to change the details after Ashique’s injury and Liston (Colaco) came on for him. I think this was the second time we played Carl (McHugh) and Puitea together.

“It’s necessary to change the plans of the match in these cases. When you play against Bengaluru or Odisha, it’s different because the players are different. In this case, every match is different for these reasons. The players are magnificent because they tried to do this way. I think the team became more confident after scoring the first goal,” he added.

Ferrando pleased after getting Kaith update

Finally, mid-way into his post-match press conference, Juan Ferrando was informed that Vishal Kaith was out of danger and fine. The Spaniard was delighted and ended the conference saying: “I’m very happy that Kaith is now fine. Everything is good now.”