The Goa boss feels that facing ATK Mohun Bagan will be different from going up against other teams in the league...
FC Goa (fifth) and ATK Mohun Bagan (third) find themselves in the top half of the table when they face each other in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) on Wednesday.
Goa have won their last two games whereas the Kolkatan outfit have dropped points in their last two matches after picking three wins on the trot. However, the Gaurs' coach, Juan Ferrando, believes that as games come thick and fast there is no time to think about recent form.
"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.
"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," he said.
Both Igor Angulo and Roy Krishna have scored for their respective sides in four of the five matches this season. But 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 [Roy] Krishna but whether it is Krishna or Edu (Garcia), in the end it is the team (ATKMB). 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.
"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," expressed the 39-year-old manager.
Jorge Ortiz is the only other goalscorer for Goa apart from Angulo, who also boasts of having the most number of shots - 23. But the Spaniard is not thinking about individual laurels and instead credited the team for his superlative performance.
"Everybody looks at these numbers but the aim is to help the team as much as possible, and if it's not me who's putting the numbers across, somebody else can do the job as well. We work as a team. If my numbers are high up there, it means that the team is working well as a unit," stated Ortiz.