A new look >Atletico de Kolkata will have the big task of preserving its stature as the champion of the inaugural edition as it embarks on title defence in the second season of the ISL facing Chennaiyin FC in the lung opener.
Set in a format that professes change as a precondition for survival, the ATK went on the hunt for new names retaining four domestic and three international players. This brought in the likes of the Portuguese World Cupper Helder Postiga, Canadian Iain Hume in the attack, South African Sameehg Doutie in midfield and Spaniard Juan Calatayud in goal. Having summited the top at the very first outing the Kolkata franchise appears extra cautious about in whetting up its arsenal in all the departments.
The Spanish influence – coming from one of its owners Atletico Madrid - which came to define ATK’s nomenclature has once again influenced the selection of the bulk of its international cast. The few who weathered the winds of change includes the coach Antonio Habas. The Spanish manager was greatly responsible in knitting together a diverse group of professional footballers into a winning unit. Though many of his methods did not go well with both the footballers and the critics, Habas succeeded with a tough brand of football that earned the team a few extra bookings and seed-offs but secured the trophy in the end.
Habas has admitted that the new season would be tougher as all the teams now have formed a fair idea about each other. The team returned to the city on Thursday after undergoing three weeks of pre-season preparation in Segovia, in the province of Los Angeles de San Rafael, Spain.
Postiga, the new marquee player of the side, and Hume replace Spanish World Cupper Luis Garcia and Ethiopian striker Fikru Lemessa. The ATK retained three international players – Spaniards Borja Fernandez and José Miguel González Rey (Josemi) and the Botswana defender Ofentse Nato – who had drawn the highest marks on consistency in Habas’ roster. The domestic selection also underwent a lot of changes as the team retained midfielder Baljit Singh Sahni, side-backs N. Mohan Raj and Denzil Franco and the central defender Arnab Mondal. ATK picked up extra up extra options in defence like Augustin Fernandes, Lalchhawnkima and Rino Anto among others from the draft while adding midfielders like Jewel Raja, Syed Rahim Nabi, Nadong Bhutia, Clifford Miranda from the open market.
