Antonio Lopez Habas brings more dynamism to ATK camp than experience

While there isn’t any way to confirm if Habas’ appointment would bring success for ATK, the surprise move seemed more about stirring up things than exploring various available options. ATK’s home venue remained empty for the most part of the last season and it wasn’t so much to do with their lack of results in the league as much as it was about their style of play.

The complacency and lack of belief remained throughout the season and the only reason ATK finished sixth on the league table was the subpar performances of Kerala Blasters, Delhi Dynamos, FC Pune City, and Chennaiyin FC.

After the first ten matches last season, anyone and everyone could guess ATK’s three substitutions upon a given situation. The Englishman’s inability to experiment with the available options at his disposal was his biggest weakness. While ATK’s mid-season injury crisis was apparently a huge blow for Coppell, the manager rarely tried anything different to churn out results, something that Habas has previously proved cannot bog him down.

During their final against Kerala Blasters in 2014, Habas’ attack was reduced to their bare bones. Star striker Firkru Lamesa was released, Luis Garcia was sitting at the dugout with a hamstring injury along with compatriot Jofra Mateu. Almost everything was against ATK apart from Habas’ determination to get something out of the game and he decided to play an amateur Mohammad Rafi up top with Sanju Pradhan and Jakub Podany playing on either wing. 

The defensive stability, which was a thing to boast for Coppell, soon became the only thing the squad could hold on to. ATK would rarely have real attacking outlets and the manager looked completely out of his depth in the clash against FC Goa in the second half of the season. It was almost a do-or-die match for the Kolkata outfit and the team lost it as soon as they conceded in the very first minute of the match.

There were 89 more minutes of normal time to change the game but ATK, instead, went to their shell. With Uche underperforming massively throughout the season and vital midfielder Pronay Halder missing with an injury, Coppell had given up long before the match had actually started – something Habas wouldn’t ever do.

Habas wouldn’t compromise on his structure at any time even if injuries forced him to change his preferred players from a particular position. While the first 45 minutes saw Nato, Arnab Mondal and Josemi forming a three-man central defence, the second half saw Jakub Podany coming in as the fourth defender with Kingshuk Debnath being introduced at the back and Nato returning to his central defensive midfield role.

With Fikru missing up top, Habas knew the only way out was a penalty shootout and his well-instructed side did exactly that to get the job done. This ability is the sign of a title contender as we could see in Bengaluru FC last season, who went on to beat FC Goa 3-0 after being reduced to 10-men in the first half.

However, while the squad has been going through changes and we would see more additions and subtractions, the one thing we know for sure is that if things don’t go as planned then ATK fans, from the gallery, wouldn’t just see their gaffer standing helplessly at the face of inevitability. They will see someone who will shout his lungs out at the players to pull their socks up and wouldn’t be afraid to replace a star with a debutant, just because the latter has a bigger will to win.