Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: After recording two consecutive wins, FC Goa face a stern challenge from ATK Mohun Bagan, who have dropped points in their previous two encounters, in the Hero Indian Super League match at Fatorda Stadium, on Wednesday.
“Everybody knows that ATK Mohun Bagan is a good team. In the last two games, maybe the score was not something that was expected but for us, it’s very important to pay attention because all their players have quality and they are compact on (while defending) set pieces. It’s very important to find and attack the space, and when we lose the ball we have to be alert because this club is very aggressive in attack,” stated FC Goa coach Juan Ferrando while addressing the media.
The contest will not only see two strongest teams in the Hero ISL take on each other but will also pit two tactically sound managers with contrasting philosophies.
ATK Mohun Bagan might not had many scorers. But their striker Roy Krishna have scored in four of the five matches this season and Ferrando is not ready to focus only on the Fijian as he thinks there are other players to take care of as well.
“Everybody knows about Krishna but whether it is Krishna or Edu (Garcia), in the end it is the team (ATKMB),” expressed Ferrando.
“That’s why it’s important to prepare one plan, be compact and focus on all the details because you know this team works very hard. It’s different between some teams that don’t have the same focus but this team is incredible because they work hard throughout 90 minutes,” he elaborated.
FC Goa have scored seven goals in the last five games with six of them coming from the boots of Igor Angulo. Many questions were raised whether the Spaniard could be the perfect replacement for Ferran Corominas, and Angulo, has lived up to his expectations so far.
“I’m so happy about Angulo because he has been scoring goals, but if you look at Angulo it’s a process of (Alexander) Romario, Brandon (Fernandes) and all the other players. Of course, the last action was of Igor but there are a lot of players who can work as the number nine because when we are in attack all the players are in attack and everybody has an equal opportunity,” the manager explained.
“In the first three games we had two points but we played three games in seven days. Now, for example, we have four games in 10 days. In the end, we don’t have time to think about what form we are in,” he concluded.
