Panaji: FC Goa are the only unbeaten team in this edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) but coach Manolo Marquez knows his side will face defeat, sooner or later. There are still 11 games to be played, and in nine previous editions, no team has gone an entire season without defeat.
The big test for his unbeaten side will be when there’s a setback and it’s a message that Manolo has been delivering since the start of the season.
“It’s very difficult to always stay on top,” Manolo told TOIduring the pre-match media interaction on Wednesday. “One day, you will lose, and when you lose, it’s how you react that defines a team.”
So far, it’s been good for Goa, but it’s the next away clash against high-flying Odisha FC on Friday that could define their season. Given the points table, the Spanish coach will hope the setback does not come at Bhubaneswar where they lost to the hosts in the Super Cup.
“The target for the top five teams is to become champions. Any of them can win. I don’t think the sixth-placed team comes into the picture because the (points) difference is too much. Football is unpredictable, changes constantly, and we don’t know what will happen,” said Manolo.
The experienced Spanish coach who won the ISL trophy with Hyderabad FC and finished second in the Shield race drew everyone’s attention to how fortunes have fluctuated. Before Goa played Mohun Bagan, the coach said, the Kolkata giants seemed invincible but have lost three of their last four games and drew the other one against arch-rivals East Bengal.
“The other day I was watching Mumbai (City) and at the end of the first half, I said wow. They had an incredible 45 minutes, though a 2-0 scoreline is always dangerous when you think it’s all settled. They had a lot of fear (in the second half) and finally lost the game. Khalid (Jamil) was brave with the substitutions,” said Manolo.
The Goa coach, though, is focusing on his own team and guaranteed that they will be “very competitive” till the end of the campaign.
Goa’s fortunes, however, will revolve around the defence which has kept seven clean sheets in 11 matches. Sandesh Jhingan’s injury that rules him out of the season is a huge setback, and even though Nim Dorjee has arrived from Hyderabad, it won’t be same at the back.
“Sandesh’s absence is crucial because of the character that he adds to the team. We have options (at the back). Narayan (Das) was very good in the games he played. I know Nim, he’s a very good defender. We have Jay (Gupta) as centre back, Carl (McHugh), we have lot of players now,” said the coach.
Manolo is also counting on the goal-scoring abilities of striker Carlos Martinez to give his side an edge for the business end of the league. The Spanish striker has struck form, scoring five goals in the ISL and three in the Super Cup. But even though the 37-year-old appeared to have previously hit a rough patch, his coach never ever had any doubts.
“It’s not easy to arrive in a new country and play very good football,” explained Manolo. “There are lot of cases where very good players arrived in India but could not adapt to the team, the league, the atmosphere or the country. I’ve known Carlos for a long time, since 2005. Last season, at age 36, he scored nine or ten goals in the Spanish second division. There are players who will score till they die.”
..
The big test for his unbeaten side will be when there’s a setback and it’s a message that Manolo has been delivering since the start of the season.
“It’s very difficult to always stay on top,” Manolo told TOIduring the pre-match media interaction on Wednesday. “One day, you will lose, and when you lose, it’s how you react that defines a team.”
So far, it’s been good for Goa, but it’s the next away clash against high-flying Odisha FC on Friday that could define their season. Given the points table, the Spanish coach will hope the setback does not come at Bhubaneswar where they lost to the hosts in the Super Cup.
“The target for the top five teams is to become champions. Any of them can win. I don’t think the sixth-placed team comes into the picture because the (points) difference is too much. Football is unpredictable, changes constantly, and we don’t know what will happen,” said Manolo.
The experienced Spanish coach who won the ISL trophy with Hyderabad FC and finished second in the Shield race drew everyone’s attention to how fortunes have fluctuated. Before Goa played Mohun Bagan, the coach said, the Kolkata giants seemed invincible but have lost three of their last four games and drew the other one against arch-rivals East Bengal.
“The other day I was watching Mumbai (City) and at the end of the first half, I said wow. They had an incredible 45 minutes, though a 2-0 scoreline is always dangerous when you think it’s all settled. They had a lot of fear (in the second half) and finally lost the game. Khalid (Jamil) was brave with the substitutions,” said Manolo.
The Goa coach, though, is focusing on his own team and guaranteed that they will be “very competitive” till the end of the campaign.
Goa’s fortunes, however, will revolve around the defence which has kept seven clean sheets in 11 matches. Sandesh Jhingan’s injury that rules him out of the season is a huge setback, and even though Nim Dorjee has arrived from Hyderabad, it won’t be same at the back.
“Sandesh’s absence is crucial because of the character that he adds to the team. We have options (at the back). Narayan (Das) was very good in the games he played. I know Nim, he’s a very good defender. We have Jay (Gupta) as centre back, Carl (McHugh), we have lot of players now,” said the coach.
Manolo is also counting on the goal-scoring abilities of striker Carlos Martinez to give his side an edge for the business end of the league. The Spanish striker has struck form, scoring five goals in the ISL and three in the Super Cup. But even though the 37-year-old appeared to have previously hit a rough patch, his coach never ever had any doubts.
“It’s not easy to arrive in a new country and play very good football,” explained Manolo. “There are lot of cases where very good players arrived in India but could not adapt to the team, the league, the atmosphere or the country. I’ve known Carlos for a long time, since 2005. Last season, at age 36, he scored nine or ten goals in the Spanish second division. There are players who will score till they die.”
..