Ahead of the clash against Mumbai City FC, Hyderabad FC’s head-coach Manolo Marquez addressed the media in a pre-match press conference.
Mumbai City FC started their season with a 3-0 win over FC Goa, whereas Hyderabad FC lost their opening game of the season and this is what Manolo Marquez has to say about the assessment to the start of the season for both the teams.
“It is always better to start with a victory like we won last season against Odisha. All of us can agree that we didn’t deserve to lose the first game but anything can happen in football.”
“Winning easily against any team is difficult in ISL, Mumbai played a very good game against FC Goa, it will be a difficult game for us, all the 20 games are difficult and we have chances to win against Mumbai and lose against the last team in the table too”
“If we lose this game we will have 18 games left and we will try to win this game”
Hyderabad FC failed to convert the chances they created against Chennaiyin and this is what the coach had to say:
“I don’t think we had too many chances, we did have more chances than Chennaiyin, we did have more possession but we need to arrive with more players to the box, we need to be more clinical in the attack.”
“Sometimes it is only Ogbeche, a winger who arrives at the box and sometimes it is Edu Garcia. We need to arrive with more players, our combination, tactics were very good but we need to improve in this area”
“We did the same thing in pre-season against Mumbai, Odisha, NEUFC, we only scored one goal.“
The Nizams were in total control of the game against CFC and they lost after they were not able to find the net, a game like this is a tough pill to swallow and this is what the 53-year-old said about losing the game
“It is always tough to lose a game. I remember clear chances being missed by players, whether it was Ogbeche or other players, the freekick of Edu was offside. We wanted to play good football against Chennaiyin but good football is not only about possession and having the ball, we need to create more and more spaces. The injury of Hali made an impact for us, and we need to improve in these times.”
This is what the 53-year-old had to say about boosting morale after losing a game
“I agree with CFC’s goal when you win your confidence keeps on growing, we played better than CFC in this game, when you lose 4-5 games it is difficult to recover confidence.”
“But we have played only one game, we lost, we will try our best to win the next game.”
Asish Rai, Mohammad Yasir, Akash Mishra and Hitesh Sharma were the standout names from Hyderabad’s squad last season and coach Manolo Marquez assured that the fans will be seeing other players making their debut in the starting lineup this season.
“We can expect more young players in the lineup this season”
Halicharan Narzary was subbed off after 10 minutes into the first half, Manolo Marquez spoke about his injury and availability for the next game
“Halicharan Narzary has an internal ligament to his knee. He might be out for the next 2-3 games, we don’t know if he is ready to play after the next 2-3 games.”
Mumbai City FC is a dangerous team that plays similar to the style of HFC, so this is what the 53-year-old said about their game against the Islanders.
“We know perfectly that we are playing against a very strong team, they are strong in transitions, set pieces.”
“I like the attitude of Des Buckingham, there is a lot of difference in Mumbai under Sergio Lobera and Des Buckingham, I like the playing style of Mumbai City FC. I respect all different types of playing styles but I like to play with the ball. Mumbai prefers to play with the ball too, we have to be compact with good positioning when they have the ball.”
“They do high press when they have the ball, we need to try to avoid this as we cannot play long balls with the style of our players”
Manolo Marquez also spoke about how the Golden Boot winner Igor Angulo will have a huge impact in the game.
“It is very difficult to defend against Igor Angulo, he is very calm in the box, this is the reason why he was the top scorer in Poland, he was the top scorer with Goa, in future even if he plays at 73 years old he will continue scoring goals.”
Bartholomew Ogbeche couldn’t find the net in the last game and looked a bit rusty, this is what the 53-year-old said about Ogbeche starting the next game
“We are going to play a game every 4-5 days after the game against Mumbai City FC. It is possible that he starts or subs off in the second half”
Manolo Marquez said that this season will be just as tough as last season and there will be little difference between teams in the points table.
“There will be less number of points difference between the teams this season, FC Goa and Hyderabad FC are the only two teams without points now.”
“ATK Mohun Bagan are a very strong team, I liked Kerala in the first game but ATK Mohun Bagan won it with not much effort, Odisha played very good football the other day they have the best foreigners in the tournament.”
The 5:30 PM games from last season have been replaced by 9:30 PM games, Manolo Marquez believes that it is going to be beneficial for the players.
“I am not the one to advise the league, for me I would prefer 6:30 and 8:30 games instead of 5:3, 7:30 and 9:30.”
“If you are close to Fatorda then it is okay but if you play against FCG it is one hour away. Of course, I prefer to play at 9:30 compared to 5:30”
Even after losing the first game of this season, Hyderabad FC’s fans backed up the club on social media and showed their love and belief towards the club. Manolo Marquez is delighted with the support the fans have shown.
“I am always very happy with the support the fans are giving us, nothing changes when you lose one game but after 4-5 defeats these words might change, they can expect that the team will try to play good football, thanks for the support we will continue fighting for the fans”
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