"This is an accident; this is not my team," stated a devastated Antonio Lopez Habas

XtraTime Newsdesk

East Bengal were left battered and bruised, while head coach Antonio Lopez Habas was visibly disappointed and devastated. Such was his frustration that, during the post-match press conference, he admitted, "This is not my team. This is an accident. I hope something like this never happens again."

Taking full responsibility for the debacle, Habas said, "The entire team was extremely sloppy today. We failed to win our individual battles in one-on-one situations. We couldn't put up any fight. There was no cohesion within the team today. It is impossible to win matches playing like this. This is not the character of my team."

What caused such a complete defensive collapse? Even Habas seemed to be searching for answers. Explaining the problem, he said, "There was a huge gap between one player and another. My defence failed to maintain its shape. Chennaiyin took full advantage of that and repeatedly launched counter-attacks."

Was Anwar Ali's absence the reason behind East Bengal's defensive struggles? Habas acknowledged that it had an impact but refused to use it as an excuse. "We faced problems because Anwar was not available, but I never make excuses about the absence of any player," he stated.

Goalkeeper selection was another talking point. Purba Lachenpa had impressed between the posts in the AFC competition, but Habas opted to field Gill against Chennaiyin. Asked about the decision, the coach replied, "I have three good goalkeepers in my squad. The goalkeeper is not responsible for today's debacle."

East Bengal now have a break with the FIFA international window approaching. It will give Habas an opportunity to address the mistakes and rebuild the team's confidence. The big question now is how Habas and East Bengal recover from this humiliating setback.