The Hero Indian Super League (ISL) never ceases to surprise you and just before you think you’ve seen everything, the league throws a curveball at you. Such a curveball was witnessed recently as ATK Mohun Bagan roped in FC Goa’s coach Juan Ferrando by triggering the release clause in his contract. Hero ISL’s most successful coach Antonio Lopez Habas announced his resignation as the head coach of the Kolkata giants and the Mariners wasted next to no time in getting his successor. They didn’t have to look far as Ferrando seemed to be the best-suited candidate for the job in hand.
It is unclear as of now the duration of Juan’s contract with the Mariners but the fans can expect him to make a few immediate changes. Here’s what we can expect from him as the manager of ATK Mohun Bagan.
MORE EMPHASIS ON POSSESSION-BASED FOOTBALL
Juan Ferrando prefers the 4-2-3-1 system but lately, he had been deploying a three-man defence with Goa given their defensive issues at the start of the season. It is unclear what system would be his first choice with the Mariners as the team is built for a three-man defence under coach Habas. Irrespective of the system, the emphasis would be on keeping the ball for longer. Ferrando’s Goa side kept the ball for the majority of their matches and passed it around with ease. At ATK Mohun Bagan, he certainly has the quality of players who would be comfortable in possession and expect over time the Mariners to be bossing the possession stats.
This philosophy would be opposite to what we’ve been used to under coach Habas. He loved to keep things compact defensively and the focus was to use the pace of the forward line to be lethal on the counter-attacks. Under Ferrando, creative players like Hugo Boumous or Joni Kakuo could flourish.
THE ATTACKING TALENT SHOULD FLOURISH UNDER HIM
Sticking with the theme from the above pointer, ATK Mohun Bagan has a plethora of attack-minded players in its squad. There was a criticism of Habas that he failed to make the best use of these attacking players. Naturally attacking wingers like Manvir Singh or Liston Colaco were made to play wing-backs with the focus on tracking runners rather than troubling the opposition full-backs. Roy Krishna was left isolated at the top of the pitch far too often and his combination play with Hugo Boumous wasn’t materialising in the final third of the pitch. Both of them had to drop too deep to pick the ball up often stopping them from getting momentum in their attacking play.
Under Ferrando, these attacking players should be played in their more natural positions and we could see the best of their talents being used in a more productive manner.
YOUNG INDIAN PLAYERS WOULD BE GIVEN A FAIR SHOT
We’ve seen in the past that Juan Ferrando isn’t shy of promoting the younger players in the starting XI. Under him, FC Goa became the first team to represent India at the AFC Champions League. In the competition, they were allowed to use only four overseas players and their young Indian players stepped up to the task to compete with Asia’s very best. The Mariners have plenty of promising Indian players coming through the ranks. The likes of Sumit Rathi, Deepak Tangri and Liston Colaco would be given a good amount of game time and could soon become the core of this team.
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