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Defending champions Atletico de Kolkata find themeselves at 6th position in the Indian Super League standings after 8 games. This position of theirs is despite a brilliant start to the tournament, and they have lost 4 of their last 5 games.
They started their season against Chennaiyin FC in Chennai, and sealed a thumping 3-1 victory over them. Portuguese international Helder Postiga scored twice in the opening game, but injured himself while scoring the second goal. Postiga, who then traveled to Portugal for further treatment, is yet to return to India, but according to boss Antonio Habas, he might play a part in the final 4 group stage games.
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After Chennaiyin FC, Atletico traveled to face FC Goa, where a goal from Indian international Arata Izumi earned them a crucial point against them. Izumi scored again in a 2-1 win over Kerala Blasters at the Salt Lake Stadium, and seven points from the first three games looked really impressive for the defending champions.
Their first defeat of the season came against FC Pune City and that’s when they started to falter. It was followed by two consecutive 1-0 defeats against NorthEast United and Delhi Dynamos.
An impressive 4-1 win against Mumbai City at the D.Y Patil Stadium, thanks to a brilliant hat-trick by Iain Hume raised hopes for the Kolkata fans, but it was once again followed by a 1-0 defeat against NorthEast United, who did a double over the defending champions this season.
What has gone wrong?
Why have the defending champions struggled this badly so far? Why has Antonio Habas not been able to get them out of their rut? He may argue he has a lot of players injured and even blame the linesmen for a few decisions that might have not gone his way, but Atletico have won just 8 games in the 25 games he has been in charge.
That’s a very poor record, despite them miraculously winning the title last season. The record also indicates managerial incompetence. The defedning champions have failed to keep a single clean sheet this season, and constant changes in defense are not helping.
Rino Anto and Arnab Mondal, who have been regular and established names in the Indian football scene, have found themselves dropped to the bench in the recent games. Going forward, it doesn’t seem like the Kolkatans have a set playing style.
The team is largely dependent on crosses put into the box and struggle to string together many passes together. It’s difficult for a manager to sort out everything wrong with his team but Habas’ team are not the best to watch.
The Salt Lake Stadium has one of the highest average attendances in the Indian Super League and the Atletico team have just won three games out of the 11 games they have played in front of their home crowd since the beginning of the ISL. It’s not just about the results and Atletico de Kolkata have failed to implement an attractive brand of football.
As for the number of injured players, we have a lot of sympathy for the coach, but it’s shocking to see the the Kolkata management make no efforts to sign a replacement for Helder Postiga, who could possibly miss 10 group stage games. Josemi, who was rock solid for them last season, has also barely played this season, and despite the team struggling in defense this season, they have not found a suitable replacement for him as well.
You’d wonder why the Atletico de Kolkata management didn’t retain their captain of last season, Luis Garcia, but the decision has backfired for them. Antonio Habas is struggling to find someone in attack who could be as creative and inspirational as Luis Garcia.
Iain Hume, who is supposed to be the replacement for Luis Garcia in the side, was signed on the basis of his performances last season for Kerala Blasters. His stint at Tranmere Rovers just before returning to the ISL, where he failed to score a single goal in 12 games, is definitely something that the management should have considered before signing him.
The Canadian striker has had just one good game since joining them and is struggling to make a mark.
What has worked well?
Though the team in general has not done well, some players have shown that they are working very hard to change the team’s fortunes. Amrinder Singh has been quite impressive in goal for the Kolkata-based franchise, as he has ensured that that the opposition attack is thwarted as much as possible.
Another good performer has been the Spanish duo of Jaime Gavilan and Javi Lara. Both of them have looked to try and get into the attacking third as much as possible, feeding balls to the flanks and trying to release the striker in behind the defense.
Habas has kept some players in the team to try and ensure continuity and these three have been the team’s most impressive performers so far.
What does the future hold?
It’s a bit difficult too see the defending champions making it to the top 4 right now, but the Indian Super League is very unpredictable and anything can happen going forward. Atletico won just 4 games last season during the group stages and they have already won three this season.
What has not helped them is that they have lost too many and if they can avoid dropping all three points and win a couple of games in the remaining six games, they’ll have a good chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. The return of Helder Postiga might prove to be crucial, and Antonio Habas will be hoping the Portuguese striker is the inspiration his team needs right now.
