Juan Ferrando praises Ogbeche, Manolo Marquez thinking only about HFC

The ATKMB boss also spoke about the defensive performances of his team.

Juan Ferrando will have the opportunity to take ATK Mohun Bagan top of the table when they take on high-flying Hyderabad FC in the 2021-22 Indian Super League (ISL) at the PJN Stadium in Fatorda on Wednesday. Placed second in the points table, Manolo Marquez and Co. will go top of the table if they beat ATKMB, as they are one point adrift of table-toppers Mumbai City FC, having 15 in their kitty from eight matches.

Ahead of the clash, both Ferrando and Marquez spoke on behalf of their respective teams in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday. Here are the excerpts:

ATK Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando

Are you worried about defensive performances of ATKMB?

Juan Ferrando: No, to be honest I’m thinking to win games. This is the most important thing, to get three points. In the end, if you win games it’s good because it gives the team more confidence and it’s good for the club. It’s very important to know about our style, we decided a new plan and I think it’s important to control the spaces.

But, the players need time. My style and philosophy is not so easy for the players to understand. I’m happy because the players are trying to take the new style day-by-day with every training. I hope we improve in a lot of aspects every game.

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Thoughts on match-up?

Juan Ferrando: I think it’ll be an amazing game because Hyderabad’s style is amazing in my opinion. They have a great squad and they try to football, which is similar to us. In my opinion, tomorrow you’ll see an amazing game.”

Strong points of HFC?

Juan Ferrando: They have a lot of strong points. The centre-backs, how they build-up attacks. The right and left-backs help with the position of the attacks. Joao (Victor) is in control of everything, Edu (Garcia) is a very good No. 10 and tries to find the spaces in attack. Bart Ogbeche is an amazing No. 9.

Hyderabad FC coach Manolo Marquez

Hyderabad FC boasts the best defence in the league this season. What are your views on it?

Manolo Marquez: I am not talking about Hyderabad, I am talking about all the competitions in the world, the team that concedes less goals in every competition finally for sure will be a good season. If we get to finish the season and we are the team that concedes less goals in the championship then for sure we will arrive to the top four. It is important that we continue in this line.

ATKMB have improved in the last few games under Juan Ferrando. What kind of a game do you expect tomorrow?

Manolo Marquez: I think that this kind of question is disrespectful towards Antonio Lopez Habas, the coach with the most titles in ISL. I know for me Juan Ferrando is a very good coach, but he has just arrived at the club. He has had more time to work with the team now and he will try to change something but at the moment, they are similar to their time under the previous coach. Antonio deserves more respect in this kind of sentence.

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Ferrando will try to change the style but this takes time. ATKMB are a big team and for sure, they will fight for the title. When you arrive in the middle of the competition in a team, the wins are confidence for the team, but you need to time to improve the team in the style that you want.

ATKMB has a strong squad with several players in form. How does your side approach the game?

Manolo Marquez: When we spoke about Mumbai and spoke about (Igor) Angulo, Cassinho, free-kicks of (Ahmed) Jahouh, Mourtada Fall in set-pieces. When you play against strong teams, every detail is important. (Hugo) Boumous Liston (Colaco), Roy Krishna, Manvir (Singh), (David) Williams are all dangerous players in open play and set-pieces. But, we have to control the game and try to stick to our style of play.

We cannot go to tomorrow to the game and try to defend these players and wait for that one chance. We have to stick to our style and let’s see, we can win, they can win, but we cannot play in another way.”

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