ATK MB Seems to have the winning mentality and luck on their side. They are not the most dominating team. But indeed have the winning mentality this season.
I think ATK MB used their experience well.. Henry went for solo run instead of passing it to Nanda and McHugh did the needful.. Henry was down, javi got the ball & Bora was forced to tackle & stop. They got a set piece, Henry did not get up, sent out of the field. Tiri knew odishafc have a man short on the left side, so sent the ball to Jhingan waiting there who headed it to the goal machine
More than winning mentality ATK have a solid squad that has not changed much. They have a smart coach who knows how to get results in ISL and with the recruitment of the right goal scorer they have managed to win all close games
Yesterday, a lot of credit was given to the Hyderabad FC coach for keeping faith in the Indian players and for allowing them to express themselves fearlessly on the field and indeed he deserves that praise. But one must also remember HFC's assistant coach Thangboi Singto who must have had a hand in the recruiting of these young lads and advised the Head Coach over their merits and demerits. Singto has over the years scouted and developed a lot of talented youngsters, mainly as the coach of Shillong Lajong and no doubt his current team are reaping the benefits of his mentorship.
Most people think teams do well against ATK when they have more possession in final third. But ATK's set up is pretty similar to Mourinho or Simeone. They try to put men behind the ball and then burst on the counter. They have a striker in Roy Krishna who'd make the full use of the chances they have created.
They will be very hard to break down and will be frustrating to play against because all the possession would mean nothing.
I think they'd be exposed more as seasons progresses with players getting more fitter. Especially teams which would press better. Conte who pioneered 3 at the back in the last 10 years struggled against sides the pressed there wingbacks and pushed them back deeper thus reducing no of attackers they can get in the final third.
@thebeautifulgame Not taking away any credit from Singto for his work but he joined HFC just before the season began. Most of the Indian signings(Liston, Mishra, Dhanu, Jongte, puia, sana, hitesh, sauvik) were made by DOF Sujay sharma(ex FC Goa and also previously cloumist on Indianfootball.com) along with owner Varun
Thank you very much @ashindia for the information. It is because of such nuggets of info and the chance to meet with guys like you that we keep returning to IFN time and again (and stay awake at 2 in the night despite having online classes from 10 the next morning)
I second the opinion of @rudra, voiced ten years back in the first post in Online Chatting
"Wishing Happy Birthday to ashindia, one of the biggest Indian supporters I have seen"
Yes, I remember Singto joining HFC just before the season. There was some talk of his taking over as assistant coach of East Bengal but it did not materialise. The job went to Francisco Bruto da Costa who himself was unceremoniously relieved of his duties once Fowler & Co. came calling. If only any of them had been a part of the coaching unit of EB rather than Renedy Singh!!
Yesterday's result should have been 3-1 in favour of MB. One penalty not given, one own goal by OFC disallowed because of a handball by MB which wasn't there, and an easy chance missed by OFC (plus the actual goal by Krishna).
MB wasn't lucky, they were almost deprived of genuine domination by the Ref.
Comments
They got a set piece, Henry did not get up, sent out of the field. Tiri knew odishafc have a man short on the left side, so sent the ball to Jhingan waiting there who headed it to the goal machine
Here is his take on yesterday's game
https://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/isl-2020-21-hyderabad-fc-thangboi-singto-indian-players/1uuxo90yrovhi189zc4mtdrou1
They will be very hard to break down and will be frustrating to play against because all the possession would mean nothing.
I think they'd be exposed more as seasons progresses with players getting more fitter. Especially teams which would press better. Conte who pioneered 3 at the back in the last 10 years struggled against sides the pressed there wingbacks and pushed them back deeper thus reducing no of attackers they can get in the final third.
I think that will be the key against ATK.
I second the opinion of @rudra, voiced ten years back in the first post in Online Chatting
"Wishing Happy Birthday to ashindia, one of the biggest Indian supporters I have seen"
https://forum.indianfootballnetwork.com/discussion/147/online-chatting/p1