Antonio Habas admits four-man backline is ideal for ATK Mohun Bagan

The Spaniard also felt that the Mariners will have to improve in their next match.

ATK Mohun Bagan failed to put an end to their winless run, stumbling to a 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin FC on Saturday in the Indian Super League (ISL). Liston Colaco’s 19th-minute strike was canceled out by an impressive goal from Vladimir Koman just before half-time, forcing the Mariners to share spoils. Following the game, ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Antonio Habas spoke in the post-match press conference.

Antonio Habas was asked about whether the Mariners could have performed better to capitalise on their impressive start to the game. “I think that the team played a serious match. They were disciplined, tactically adept and did well. I’m very happy with my team’s performance. Chennaiyin are a very good team and I think the score is fair. We have to continue growing with every game. For me, the performance was satisfactory,” he began.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qb6B_A-gzg&t=119s

Thoughts on changed formation

The Mariners reverted to a four-man backline against Chennaiyin FC. Antonio Habas explained that he felt playing in such a way would be better for the Mariners.

“See, we are set up to play different systems. I think it’s better for us to play 4-2-3-1. I’m satisfied with the performance in the general line. Our opposition was difficult also and with good players. I’m happy with the team,” he quipped.

Mariners physically outclassed?

The ATK Mohun Bagan players looked far from convincing while dealing with duels against the Marina Machans on Saturday. Although the southerners are known to be an adept physical unit, the Mariners have also highly regarded for their tactics for playing against such teams.

“We have to recover every day and we don’t have any time for that. It’s the same for everyone. I’m watching the matches and it’s normal for everyone. The weather, the humidity, traveling in the buses every day for 120 minutes is hard! The bubble is hard. I think physically the team is pretty strong,” the ATK Mohun Bagan boss remarked.

ATK Mohun Bagan struggling in transitions?

The Kolkata-based outfit had a few decent opportunities to counter-attack, but failed to bury them. Speaking about whether he’s worried about the struggles in transitions, Antonio Habas revealed that he felt it was not so.

“Today the team was solid in both defending and attacking transitions. Maybe we had to have more pressing in the attacking moves and maybe we could’ve created more possibilities to counter-attack. We had opportunities for the last pass but that just wasn’t there. It’s okay, we have to improve for the next match,” he responded.

Late substitutions

The 64-year-old held off on making his substitutions till very late, with all three coming in the last 10 minutes. When asked about whether he held off on his subs too late, Habas answered it was because he felt the squad was playing well and did not show signs of fatigue.

“No, because the team was okay. The team wasn’t tired and I felt they played well. The substitutions are for changing the match or for improving. I felt like the substitutions were in the ideal moments,” he concluded.

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