Antonio Habas: Manvir and Williams have same importance as Krishna

The Spaniard spoke after his side's narrow win against Bengaluru FC on Monday.

ATK Mohun Bagan raced back to joint-top spot of the Indian Super League (ISL) with a compelling 1-0 win over Bengaluru FC on Monday. A goal from David Williams separated both the sides, with the Mariners creating a decent gap between themselves and BFC in the ISL table as well as reasserting their status as title favourites. The Mariners created the better scoring chances and countered BFC’s rigid style perfectly. Antonio Habas was visibly happy with the win and when asked about whether his opponents’ style actually played into his side’s hands.

Opponents' style

He said, “Of course, Bengaluru FC has their own style and they are a very difficult opponent to counter. They are very dangerous from long balls, very dangerous from set-pieces. So, I think in order to defeat them we needed the perfect performance today, which we did.”

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Importance of win

The tactician did not mince words when it came to discussing the importance of the win, saying: “Yes, it was a good result because the opponent is a big team. I think the three points are the same as what we could get against any other opponent. But, I’m very happy with the result. Of course, we could face Bengaluru in the playoffs or maybe in the final, but today’s result is of utmost importance for me.”

Preferred style of play

While ATKMB have earned a reputation for being a counter-attacking team, they played some great attacking football right from the getgo. When asked about whether this was a statement of intent from his side, Habas said, “We can’t really compare the styles. Today, we used the high press technique against BFC and the last day against Goa, the pressing style was with much lower intensity. 

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“It all depends on the opponent, depends on the minutes and depends on the score. The counter-attack is one style of play on its own and nobody can premeditate using that tactic always,” he added. 

Star attackers

The tactician gave Manvir Singh another start against big opponents and hailed the personality of the striker as well as other players in the win, saying, “Manvir and Williams are both very important players and of the same importance as Roy (Krishhna). It’s because this system is better for the players we have now. I’m very confident in Manvir’s ability and Williams has recovered really well from his problems. The most important thing for me was the personality on the pitch during the 90 minutes.”

ALSO READ: ATK Mohun Bagan inflict first loss of the season upon Bengaluru FC

Winning momentum

The Mariners have an 8-day rest period till their next game against Chennaiyin FC. When asked about whether he wished the game to happen sooner to help maintain the winning momentum, Antonio Habas said, “Yes maybe, but the recovery of the players is more important right now. It’s important that we can now rest eight days. But, it’s important that we are able to compete at the same level in eight days’ time.”

David Williams on his reflections of the game

Australian Williams put in another Man of the Match performance. When asked about his thoughts on the goal, he said, “It’s a little bit of pressure off to get the goal. But, I’m happy to help the team get the three points.”

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It was Williams’ fourth goal against BFC since he arrived in the ISL. When asked about his liking for scoring against them, he said, “Yes, Bengaluru are a good team and they are well-structured. I feel our team does really well against the better structured teams. It was a hard match, but we did well. It feels great to win against such a good side like Bengaluru.”

The Aussie also hailed the effort shown by the Mariners against Blues, saying, “I think everyone worked hard and did their jobs well. The coach was very happy at half-time. We just stuck to what we’re good at. It’s just a continuation of last season. Arindam (Bhattacharya) did great to keep a clean-sheet, but the defensive line was great again.”

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