Former Atletico de Kolkata and current Pune City manager Antonio Habas held a press conference on Monday ahead of his team's clash with defending champions Chennaiyin FC. Pune, who currently sit fifth on the points table with 12 points, could move to the second spot if they win against Chennai.
Habas was banned for the first four games of the season and the Stallions had a tough start to their season with the absence of their manager in the dugout. However, they have managed to turn things slightly around after the Spaniard's return.
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The 59-year old manager spoke about the difficulty in building a team in a short time and also the importance of the upcoming games. Habas also added that he doesn't want any controversies in the match.
We aim to play high intensity game, says Habas
"It is very difficult to build a new team in one to one and a half months. You need time. Also I was banned for the first four games. So new team, new players coming to Pune and a new atmosphere for me also, the one and half months were very difficult for the team. Our intention is to play a high intensity game every match, high competition.
“I know Chennai very well since I have played a lot of games against them in the past. The relationship between Marco Materazzi and me is good. We hope that after tomorrow's match we only talk about football and different to football, only football. Last week, different things outside football happened. We only want to talk about football," said the Pune City manager.
Referees are human but too many mistakes against us, says Habas
Speaking of controversies, there have been a lot of them surrounding the refereeing this season. FC Goa manager Zico has even directly criticised the refereeing in the league after his team's game against Kerala Blasters. Habas was asked to express his thoughts on the refereeing issue.
The former Atletico de Kolkata manager was of the opinion that the match officials are people and are prone to mistakes, "The referees are also human beings and could make mistakes. So, we can understand about that. The thing is there have been a lot of mistakes against us. If we try, the mistakes can be solved, but we only focus on football. The referees are part of the football," said the former Atletico de Kolkata manager.
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Pune's last game was the Maharashtra derby against Mumbai City FC, which they won 1-0. It was the returning Eugeneson Lyngdoh who scored the only goal of the game. Habas praised Lyngdoh but also said that no player is bigger than the others.
Habas and his team will be hoping to reach the play-offs of the tournament, despite a tough start. Pune will be facing a tough challenge from Chennai on Tuesday and the Stallions will be hoping to take home the three points after getting past the Super Machans.
