Not worried about goalscoring, says ATKMB's Antonio Habas

The ATK Mohun Bagan head coach also revealed that David Williams and Javi Hernandez might return against Hyderabad FC.

ATK Mohun Bagan will be looking to get back to winning ways when they face an undefeated Hyderabad FC side at the Fatorda Stadium on Friday. The Mariners tasted their first defeat in the Indian Super League in their previous game and are looking to get their title challenge back on track with a win against a defensively strong, unpredictable Hyderabad FC side. Ahead of the game on Friday, ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Antonio Habas interacted in the pre-match press conference.

Antonio Habas acknowledges the fact that Hyderabad FC are still unbeaten in the league, but suggested that streaks like that can be broken anytime. He said, “Football is different in every game. Before the last match, ATKMB hadn’t lost any games. Every match is very different because the stats in football are only for show and don’t really display the reality of the situation.”

After conceding two goals from set-pieces against Jamshedpur FC, Habas is hopeful that similar defensive mistakes won’t occur anytime soon. He said, “We can do fantastic work around set-pieces. Last season, we only conceded one goal from all the games. 

“Now, we’ve conceded two from one match. I hope the team can improve the situation. I also thought the opponent had a good player for that situation, (Nerijus) Valskis for example. I’m confident in my players that they won’t allow situations like this to happen again,” he added.

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Roy Krishna might have scored 80% of ATKMB’s goals this season, but Antonio Habas isn’t worried about his side being too dependent on the star striker. He said, “The idea is all the players have to collaborate to score goals. We always have to collaborate among all the players in the first XI to create chances. Circumstantially, until now only Krishna and Manvir (Singh) have scored goals for us. But, I’m not worried about the goalscoring situation right now.”

Habas is still unimpressed by the congested schedule in the ISL and hopes that everyone understands that the players are only human. He explained, “We don’t have any issues with the schedule, because it’s a competition. But, it’s not good for the team to play matches every 3-4 days. It causes injuries and exhaustion due to the long travel period by buses as well. There are many things influencing the final score. Because the players are only human and not machines.”

The tactician also hinted that David Williams and Javi Hernandez could return for the match on Friday, saying, “We are waiting for Williams and Hernandez. There is maybe a possibility that they can feature in the next match.”

When asked about his gameplan if Hyderabad FC also take the long ball route like Jamshedpur FC did, Antonio Habas said, “I really don’t think that Hyderabad FC are a team who are systematically built to play long balls all the time. They are a different team. I understand that they will try to keep the ball more on the ground and play passing football more often.”

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Despite all the injuries, Habas is confident that his big squad can handle the pressure in the ISL and said, “We have a good squad. Maybe we are having some problems because Soosairaj is injured, Jobby Justin is also ruled out. Williams and Javi Hernandez are also out, which doesn’t help. I have a lot of confidence in my team. All the players are necessary to win games and I’m very confident in them.

“We have to think about the players who are here, not those who are injured. We have to respect all the players, we have a big squad to use the players in their good moments.”

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