Manolo Marquez led Hyderabad FC are in the fifth position in the table after getting their first-ever win against Bengaluru FC. The Nizams are currently on a 3 game unbeaten run and their next encounter is against Khalid Jamil’s NorthEast United.
Ahead of their next game, head coach Manolo Marquez addressed the media in a pre-match press conference.
On the game against Bengaluru FC
“I know it is the first clean sheet of the season and the first win over Bengaluru, but it’s only the 4th game of the season and the stats don’t speak about the future”
“Our performance in the first half was better, we had a few problems in the second half. Bengaluru attacked well in the last 20 minutes with many players.”
“The game against Bengaluru FC was the best first half in this season, the style of our team is what got us the win against Bengaluru. We tried to keep the ball, defend with the ball.”
Areas to improve
“We are in the fifth round of games, the win against Bengaluru was crucial. We lost against Chennaiyin then we had to get a win against Mumbai, a team which is scoring 3 goals in every game. In the game against Bengaluru FC, Danu, Javi, Poojary and Souvik started for the first time. Then we played with Edu and Aniket after injuries.”
“We do have to improve in some aspects, the physical condition of the players is important. We need to have good positioning in the defense.”
About the game against NorthEast United FC
“NEUFC are not in bad form like others think, they didn’t deserve to lose against Odisha. NorthEast United FC had good moments where they dominated the game.”
“It is going to be a challenging game for us, NorthEast are an aggressive team. Their playing style is different from others. Their Indian players are very disciplined and they have a strong foreign contingent.”
On Khalid Jamil
“Khalid Jamil deserves to be the head coach after what he did with the club last season, he took advantage of Gerrard Nus’s playing style last season but this year he has set his own playing style for the players and the club. In the future this number has to grow, many other clubs should have Indian head coaches.”
Hyderabad FC’s young players, foreign contingent
“We have only one defeat in the last sixteen ISL games, our players are young but they also have quality. Experienced players in the squad are helping the young players a lot. We are now focused on winning the game against NorthEast United FC.”
“We are happy with the players we have, of course, every club has better foreigners than the others’, Roy Krishna and Angulo are indeed great players for their clubs but with only four foreigners on the pitch, the quality of Indian players matter more now. A lot of young players in the club will improve after this season.”
Mentality of young Indian players
“It’s not about Indian young players, I have trained B teams who had young players back in Spain. It depends on the player. Sometimes a player gets maturity at 18 years of age, other players get it when they are 22 years old.”
“A lot of young players in every club are improving their mentality. We do have more young players and I think that some of them will be very good players in the future.”
Kattimani’s performance before and after the 2020-21 season
“Kattimani plays well inside the penalty box and outside the penalty box too, he has good communication with the players on the pitch and his confidence is what makes him different.”
“I know Kattimani was criticized for a few important games where he couldn’t give his best performance. All goalkeepers do mistakes and he is the best choice for the club now based on our playing style”
On the road to Playoffs
“Most of the clubs have played only 1/4th of the total games so we cannot really judge now on who can get into the playoffs. We can only know that once we enter into the final five to six round of games, same goes for Hyderabad FC, it is too early to talk about playoffs now.”
Team News, Injuries
“Halicharan Narzary, Mohammad Yasir and Souvik Chakrabarti will not be part of tomorrow’s squad due to injuries.”
Follow our website for all the latest updates on Indian Football.