ATK has brought back their title winning head coach Antonio Habas back for the 2019/20 season. The Spaniard who guided the Kolkata club to its maiden title in the first season is a seasoned tactician and can bring out the best in a new-look ATK side that has had a couple of disappointing seasons in the previous 2 years.

SQUAD:

• A massive overhaul of their squad with a lot of signings coming in
• The squad looks too big and although there are plenty of options in all positions, several players can be expected to remain frustrated at a lack of playing time

PRE-SEASON RESULTS:

TACTICAL SYSTEM:

• Habas’ preferred formation has always been a 4-2-3-1 formation but he has also experimented with a 3-4-3 at times
• In pre-season, a few times they were also playing a 4-4-2 especially when both David Williams and Roy Krishna were both on the field
• Quick attacking transitions; can expect goals from counter-attacks
• Starting lineup can be rotated around a lot due to the abundance of options

Expected lineup (4-4-2): Dheeraj; Ankit Mukherjee- Johnson- Agustin- Ricky; Jayesh Rane- Javi Hernandez- Pronay- Soosairaj; Roy Krishna- David Williams

KEY PLAYERS:

1. Roy Krishna – ST (#21)

• Current Fiji National Team captain
• Top scorer in the Australian top division last time with 19 goals from 27 matches (0.70 goals per game)
• An overall career goal involvement (goals + assists) rate of 83 per game
• Already scored 7 goals from 4 matches in pre-season
• Very dangerous with balls behind the defense line
• Strengths: Speed, Finishing with both feet

2. John Johnson – CB (#4)

• The former BFC defender had a disappointing season last time
• But with experienced defender Agustin Iniguez alongside him this term, can expect him to perform better
• Averaged 94 successful defensive actions per game last season
• As seen from the plot below, aerially he is one of the best in the league with a aerial win rate of almost 77%

SPORTSKPI WILDCARD PLAYER:

1. Michael Soosairaj – LW (#23)

• ATK activated the 90 lakhs buyout clause to sign the former Jamshedpur FC winger
• Was one of the standout debutants of last year’s ISL season
• Likes to dribble and cut in from the left onto his preferred right foot
• As seen below, he has completed more dribbles per 90 as well as has a better passing accuracy than the likes of Jayesh Rane and Komal Thatal
• Can be expected to start from the left wing position and if he can linkup well with Hernandez and Krishna, would be key to their chances of making the playoff

Image: Winger skill-set comparison (ISL 2018-19)

SEASON PREDICTION:

• Playoff Possibility: Likely to battle it out for that final playoff spot
• Much of their chances would depend on how quickly the players gel up as a team. They might struggle in the initial games before picking up form midway through

Article from our Football Analyst – Mishal Thanveer.