With just eight points from sic games and currently placed at the seventh spot, ATK Mohun Bagan will be hoping to revive themselves under new boss Juan Ferrando.
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ATK Mohun Bagan will be looking to revive themselves under new boss Juan Ferrando when it takes on NorthEast United FC at the Fatorda on Tuesday. The last year’s runner-ups parted ways with Spanish tactician Antonio Habbas, three days ago and announced the arrival of his compatriot on Monday. ATKMB hasn’t had a great campaign so far, winning only two of their opening six games, which led to the departure of the most successful coach in the Indian super League (ISL). Meanwhile NEUFC also are are coming into the match on the back of a 2-0 win over SC East Bengal.
Matchday at Fatorda and it’s NorthEast United we face! Let’s go ??♥️#ATKMohunBagan #JoyMohunBagan #AmraSobujMaroon #HeroISL #NEUFCATKMB pic.twitter.com/ViZ3dCoIZ9
— ATK Mohun Bagan FC (@atkmohunbaganfc) December 21, 2021
ATKMB are looking for their first title since the merger last year, and started the season with an impressive 4-2 and 3-0 wins over Kerala Blasters and East Bengal respectively. But, things took a downfall since the 5-1 drubbing by the defending champions Mumbai City FC. Other teams seem to have found the formula to break down ATKMB.
Mumbai and Jamshedpur FC got the better of the Kolkata club by using the pacey wingers and not allowing their midfielder’s to make the quick transition from defense to attack. The strategy seemed to have worked and Habbas failed to overcome the problem.
Habbas’s game plan was based on quick counter attacks with very less emphasis on ball possession. Now with the departure of the 64-year-old, ATKMB will have to adapt to a new style of play under Ferrando.
The 40-year-old former FC Goa coach relies on possession based football. Under his guidance Goa made it to the play-off’s last season and they were known to play a very exciting brand of football. Therefore it would be interesting to see how quickly the Mariners adapt to the new system.
For NEUFC the season so far hasn’t been great either. The Highlanders registered only their second win of the campaign in the previous encounter against SCEB. They are placed ninth in the table with seven points from the same number of games.
The match against SCEB was a game of two halves. Both teams failed to register even a single shot on target in the first half, but in the second, NEUFC broke the deadlock through VP Suhair before Patrick Flottmann secured the three points with their second of the night.
Even Without the services of defender Hernan Santana, who was injured during warm up and forward Deshorn Brown, NEUFC played pretty well to take all three points. Khassa Camara was the Hero of the Match. He did the bulk of the hard work in the middle of the park.
The 28-year-old defensive midfielder had 93 touches of the ball, the most he has managed in a single game in his Hero ISL career. Another bright spot in the NEUFC side was Suhair, the kerala-born striker was impressive down the left flank.
He is strong on the ball and his willingness to come back and help the defence has been handy for the Highlanders. The 29-year-old scored a goal, had a couple of close attempts on goal, and was linking up pretty well with fellow forward Mathias Coureur.
“ We’ll head onto the game in the same way we’ve approached the other games, we won’t be changing anything, but we have to think positive, go on the pitch, work hard and we’ll get what we want,” NEUFC head coach Khalid Jamil said on the eve of the game.
The only Indian head coach in the league added, “last game, we did good work, but we have to maintain it. ATK Mohun Bagan is a good team with quality players, but we must focus on our game and give our best.”
Meanwhile Jamil has confirmed that Brown and Santana are fit and will be considered for selection against ATKMB.
