Manuel "Manolo" Marquez made a great impression in the Indian Super League last season. Affable, self-critical and always a good contender for a sound bite, the Hyderabad FC coach was one of the biggest talking points of the season.
Hyderabad finished bottom of the table a year before but the Spanish tactician led his side to a creditable fifth in the table, narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot to FC Goa on the last day of the league matches.
Having coached at all levels in Spain right from age group to La Liga with Las Palmas (although not in Segunda one) the 52-year-old has a wealth of experience to bank on and they were on full display as well during the course of the season. So much so that he was given a two-year extension by HFC, the multi-year deal underlining the faith the club has placed on the manager
In a freewheeling chat with DH, Marquez talks about his time and future in India.
On the last season
When I think about last season, I remember very positive things like the performance of the team, youngsters, Indian players. I have to adapt to the country and not the other way around. You need to know the culture and character of the players and I think we did well. Maybe I should not say this...I think we lost a great chance to win the ISL. In the last game against FC Goa, (defender) Ivan Gonzalez saved a goal. Had we scored, we were in the semifinal. One thing is who wins the regular season but in the playoffs one bad day and you lose. Maybe we would have lost. But this is just ifs. One negative thing was this but all other things are incredible.
If you compare it to the first season of HFC, it's an improvement. But this is football, now the challenge for us is to reach the top four. I always say the second season is more difficult than the first season. Next ISL we are not a surprise and everyone knows our players. But for me, the continuity after a good season is important. I think 75 percent of the squad will be the same.
On his trust on Indian players
There was a moment that was key for the season, for me. In the second game, we played Bengaluru FC. Both Joel Chianese and Lluis Sastre got injured before half time. Fran Sandaza was already injured. So that moment at half time against a big team, the players were looking among themselves. We put Hitesh Sharma and Mohammad Yasir. My famous sentence to players in one normal player with confidence is better than a very good player without. They are not normal players, they are good players. So if they play with confidence, they have the same level as a foreign player in ISL. So it is more mental and they have to believe in themselves.
For me, Hitesh is someone who understands the game best among Indian midfielders and Yasir has one of the best left foot in ISL. Ashish (Rai) for me is the most improved player last season. Akash Mishra is incredible. Unless suddenly there is another new left back he will be the left back for a long time in the national team. So you have to trust them. I see them in training so for me it was not a surprise. When Sandanza, Sastre and Chianese were injured at the start of the season and we played with 8-9 Indian guys we felt Indian people wanted us to win the games.
On man management
Every player is different. I speak a lot with players. In the bubble you can speak about life, family. This is important. If you are an offensive player it's more difficult to be regular than a defensive player. So you have to explain to them, like to Liston (Colaco), these things. As offensive players you can lose 6-7 balls but the other 3-4 you can be dangerous if you are focused.
There was the game against Goa. We were winning 1-0 till 87 but we lost 2-1. Yes, there was a mistake, football is a game of mistakes. But it was my mistake because we had control of the game. My Substitutions were a disaster at that moment. When I finished the game, I saw the faces of the players in the dressing room. We had three defeats in ISL and they were oncsecutive. Now we are 12 games without loss, but too many draws. This is positive. You can see a good team after defeat.
On the influence of Aridane Santana
Aridane is a good player but for me it was more important how he was outside the field. He was the real leader. We were playing against ATK Mohun Bagan and we lost two points in injury time but he arrived in the dressing room and was telling everyone about how we have one more point. Others may have been disappointed. He always looked at the glass as half full. Everyone loved him, he is a good person.
On the next season
Even during the championship last season we were looking for next season. This championship is very equal. Maybe Mumbai (City FC) and ATK (Mohun Bagan) are stronger in the beginning especially. We drew a lot of games but we were closer to winning than losing these games. Maybe we scored the last goal against Goa and we are in the top four and then this question disappears. For me, the most important thing is to continue improving, work hard in training with the same attitude. We are not a special team. We need to do good things every day and learn every session - myself included because I have to know the players. But one problem Indian football has to solve is the gap between the seasons.
I remember a lot of games, East Bengal or Odisha FC, where we deserved to win in the first half and in the second half they scored before we could. We had clear chances in games we drew. We have to be more clinical but also in all areas. I'm happy with the number of goals we conceded. 19 in 20 games is decent. This is football, you can't always control things. Sometimes we play good football but we need to be practical as well sometimes.