We're now at our 50%, need to improve a lot: Juan Ferrando

Juan Ferrando was full praises for debutant Hector Yuste.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant booked a place in the group stages of the 2023 AFC Cup with a 3-1 win over Abahani Dhaka in their preliminary stage 2 clash on Tuesday, August 22. Despite going down to a Cornelius Stewart goal in the 17th minute, the Mariners roared back with goals from new signings Jason Cummings and Armando Sadiku, as well as an own-goal from Milad Soleimani to win the game.

Juan Ferrando opens up on the comeback win and fitness levels

Juan Ferrando was pleased with his side’s comeback win and opened up on what changed in the second half, saying: “We changed a lot of details in the second half and talked about our plan. We knew it would be difficult today because some players joined without proper training and we had problems in the last moment as well. But I’m happy because the players played like they wanted to be in the group stages and we had the success.”

When asked about how many matches he feels the Mariners squad needs to reach peak fitness levels, he said: “We can’t really tell you how many matches we’ll need to be fully fit. The target of the entire team is to improve with every match. Obviously, we are now at 50% and need to improve a lot. We are in different competitions – CFL, Durand Cup and AFC Cup, and some are joining the national team. So, I hope with every passing day and training session the team can improve. When we decide the line-ups going forward, hopefully, we’ll have a more fit team.”

Plans for Durand Cup clash and thoughts on Yuste

Speaking about imminent plans for the upcoming Durand Cup quarter-final against Mumbai City, the Spaniard said: “For me, the most important is to recover well because we have problems in our dressing room. We have some injuries, so my target is a good recovery session and then we’ll prepare for the match. We need to think about the present. Some players like Jason (Cummings) played 80 minutes and a great recovery is important for them. It’s difficult for all the players and staff to think about the next match now. We’ll prepare for everything from tomorrow.”

The mentor also had a lot of praise for debutant Hector Yuste. He stated: “Hector joined us one day ago, played 90 minutes today and we only told him two details. I’m happy with his performance. He’s an important player because he can help in the build-up, helping us in attack and also with the transitions. I know he is coming with talent and I hope we can help him improve a lot in training with one day at a time.”

Plans for Boumous and Sahal

Finally, Juan Ferrando spoke up about the plans to play Hugo Boumous and Sahal Abdul Samad together after the two started again in this game. He said: “When we play in attack, we use a 3-2-3-2 system depending on the position of our attacks. I think both are good together. Sahal is very aggressive and the talent of Boumous is well known.

“But it’s important for me to work in the transition into defending, because sometimes they are both in the attack and it’s tough to control the defensive transitional details with both in the attacking areas. They are responsible to assist to Jason, Armando (Sadiku), Kiyan (Nassiri) and Manvir (Singh) when they are playing in the frontline and create chances for us,” he finished off with.

Jason Cummings’ comments

Player of the Match Jason Cummings voiced his delight after the win. He said: “I’m always happy to score a goal. It was an important one at that time of the match. The most important thing was to get the win and go through to the group stages. We controlled the game better in the second half.”

He also spoke about what team talk the coach gave at half-time to spark the second half performance. He mentioned: “In the first half, we weren’t at our best. We got the penalty that gave us a lifeline. I was happy to score the goal to get us back into the game. We need to work hard, press harder and the coach told us that we needed to do more, keep the ball better and press better. We kept control of the ball, moved it side to side and created more chances. We scored twice in the second half and got a great win.”

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