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ATK has had a disappointing season the Indian Super League, finishing at the 6th position. Even though they managed to stay in the hunt for the top four till the business end of the league, Steve Coppell’s boys fell short. The two-time champions started the campaign with a loss in the inaugural match of the ISL this season, following which they never managed to get a grasp of things, especially with a lot of players going in and out due to various reasons.
But, they have somehow managed to put up a spirited display in the Super Cup against expectations and cruised to the semi-finals of the knockout tournament. After the promising run, they were knocked-out by Chennayin FC in the last four clash. With the season coming to an end, the management needs to start making amendments and prepare a better unit for the upcoming season.
Let us have a look at the players who ATK should get rid of in the next season:
#5 Aiborlang Khongjee
Aiborlang Khongjee started in quite a few games, but he never delivered what the doctor ordered. The side-back enjoyed his previous stints with North-East United FC and Mumbai City FC, he tried his fortunes with ATK this season, but it will be a season to forget for the footballer from Meghalaya, it can easily be his last in the Indian Super League considering his age of 31.
He made his debut in the top flight for Shillong Lajong FC more than a decade ago. Since then, he has played for Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan until 2014, when he again played for Shillong Lajong FC and subsequently made his ISL debut for North-East United FC. Having played 7 matches, he failed to produce a single assist in the entire season.
#4 Arindam Bhattacharya
The tall shot-stopper from Kolkata was recruited by ATK at the start of the season after he featured in just 2 matches for Mumbai City FC in the last season. Apart from a few matches, Arindam has been able to keep just four clean sheets in the entire season and conceded 22 goals, with an average of 1.22 goals per game, which is quite a lot for a keeper of his calibre.
He featured in all the matches for ATK, while Debjit Majumdar whose has been phenomenal in the I-League for Mohun Bagan was benched. It is high time that the youngsters get an opportunity to showcase their talents in the cash-rich league. To add, age is not by his side, so the ATK bosses might look for options looking at the long run.
#3 Kalu Uche
This is an interesting pick for the list because of the fact that he is a match winner and also a foreign recruit. But the Nigerian forward has been out of form for the lion’s share of the Indian Super League, scoring just once in the 11 matches he featured in. More importantly, his impact was negligible and with his age not getting lesser, ATK might look for other options in the next season.
The former La Liga star set foot Indian soil in 2015 when he represented FC Pune City. After a small stint with Almeria, he signed for Delhi Dynamos FC in 2017. After a memorable season with them and scoring 13 goals in the previous season, ATK bosses secured his services at the beginning of the season.
#2 Eugeneson Lyngdoh
Although Eugeneson Lyngdoh has had a glorious past in Indian football with Bengaluru FC, he was rather ill-at-ease in Steve Coppell’s unit. After he ruled for a few matches at the beginning of the season, he was benched for the most part of the Indian Super League. Having played for only 5 matches this season, he did not score a goal or provide an assist in any of those games.
After playing the early days with North Eastern clubs like Rangdajied United and Shillong Lajong FC, he made a big move to Bengaluru FC which gave his career a leap. He won three major titles with the Blues in three consecutive seasons, the Federation Cup in 2015, the I-League in 2016 and the Federation Cup in 2017, following which he signed for ISL outfits FC Pune City and eventually to ATK at the beginning of this season.
#1 Everton Santos
In an anticipation to strengthen the forward line, ATK bosses secured the services of Brazilian Everton Santos from Mumbai City FC. Having scored 7 goals in the last edition of the Indian Super League, it was expected that his scoring boots will aid the two time champions, but the signing backfired as he failed to get his name in the scoresheet in the entire season. To pile on the misery, he managed to produce just 1 assist in the 13 matches he featured.
With Kalu Uche injured for the lion’s share of the tournament, the onus was on Everton Santos to get the goals and win matches, but he was rather disappointing for the Kolkata based side. In fact, the forward line of the team had a pretty ordinary outing in the Indian Super League apart from Spanish tactician Manuel Lanzarote.
