ISL 2020-21: Head coach Antonio Lopez Habas wary of ATK Mohun Bagan's set-piece defending
By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 10, 2020, 5:12 PM ISTATK happened to be the defending champions of the Indian Super League this season, before being merged with record I-League champions, Mohun Bagan, and named ATK Mohun Bagan. The side is currently placed on the third spot after four games.
ATK Mohun Bagan are off to a decent start in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL). In four games so far, the side has won three and lost one, as they are placed in the third spot, behind NorthEast United and Mumbai City FC.
The side would be taking on Hyderabad FC on Friday. However, having suffered their opening loss of the season against Jamshedpur FC in their last game, head coach Antonio Lopez Habas feels the side must improve its set-piece defending in order to gain long-term success.
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"We can do fantastic work around set-pieces. Last season, we just conceded one goal from set-pieces in all matches. Now, in one match, we have conceded two. I hope we improve. The opponents had good players for this situation. I have full confidence in my players and I hope this kind of situation will not be repeated," he said during the pre-match press conference.
"We have a good squad. Maybe, we have some injury problems. We don't have (Michael) Soosairaj, Jobby (Justin) who are injured. I have good confidence in my team. We are thinking about players who are here and not about Soosai. We have to respect the players. We have a good squad and we need to use the right players at the right moment," he added.
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Meanwhile, he also expressed his displeasure over scheduling, citing that the players are not getting enough time to recover. "We don't have any solution for that. It is not good for the team to play every three-four days. The humidity, the travel time for one hour 30 minutes, everything influences the final score," he reckoned.
Speaking on Edu Garcia and Brad Inman's lack of goals so far, Habas stated, "All players have to collaborate together. The idea now is to score goals by more players by collaborating better. Only Krishna and Manvir (Singh) have scored so far. But, we are not concerned about the situation."
While Habas was notable of Hyderabad's unbeaten run so far, he sounded confident of getting a positive result out of his side against the Nizams. "Football is different every day. Statistics are not always definitive. I don't think Hyderabad plays long balls systematically. They try to play more with the ball," he concluded.
Watch the full video of Habas's presser here:
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