ISL 2017: ATK Team preview- Revamps in the team show promise

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS of the India Super League, ATK, will be looking to make it three titles in four seasons.

This season, ATK has undergone a revamp in various places of the team. Starting with the franchise's name to getting big names in the technical staff, the ISL team from Kolkata hope these changes work in their favour. From Atletico de Kolkata to ATK, from Molina to Teddy Sheringham,  ATK have a fresh outlook towards defending the title.

Teddy Sheringham brings with him a lot of star value and some experience as a coach. But ISL has seen the arrival of coaches, who did not have great background in coaching and still do very well in tournament. Marco Materazzi was one such example to lead Chennaiyin FC to lift the ISL trophy in the second season.

Also read: COACH CONTROL: Teddy Sheringham of Atletico de Kolkata has a task of continuity at hand

To assist Teddy, ATK roped in Ashley Westwood as a technical director. Now, having a coach with proven track record is surely an asset and it also aims to bring parity to Teddy's lack of experience. On the coaching front, players will have a varied technical sense instilled in them and that will be the factor that sets them apart from other teams.

Players like Robbie Keane and Jussi Jääskeläinen have been included in the team to add to Sheringham's "marquee" value for the team. It just helps market the team better having some big names in the roster. Robbie has been scoring for the team in the pre-season and that is a good sign for goals to add up. Jääskeläinen has played in the English top division and gathered great experience. But he won't be picked in too many games with the top keeper Debjit Majumdar getting the nod ahead of others.

The defence will look solid if the combination of India-foreigner combination works well. ATK might field two foreigners in the back line. The midfield sure looks very promising. A few players are very well known to Westwood and this helps well in executing the team plan drawn out by the coaches. For goal scoring, ATK will hope their investment in Robbie Keane gives them the output needed in terms of goals. The other foreigners in the attacking midfield and forward line should serve to contribute to the goals.

Overall the ATK team looks on track with a strong technical backing. The only question is if the expected investments don’t fire, will there be others to rise to the occasion?

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