ISL 2022-23: We have to comeback stronger for next week: Hyderabad FC head coach Manolo Marquez

The reigning champions Hyderabad FC head coach Manolo Marquez wants his team to come back stronger for the next week after losing against the previous season’s runners-up Kerala Blasters by 1-0 at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad on Saturday.

This was Hyderabad’s first loss of the season and they want to come back stronger. Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos scored his third goal of the season for the Tuskers to help them secure three points against the defending champions.

The Nizams dominated the possession with 60% but could only take one shot on target.

Manuel Marquez was happy with the team’s performance in the second half but he was disappointed with the way his team played in the first 45 minutes.

He said in the post-match press conference, “In the second half obviously we had two clear chances through Joel (Chianese) when he was in front of (Prabhsukhan) Gill and Joao Victor (during the last moments), but I am very satisfied with the second-half. The team arrived right side and left side with good crosses with good actions, they (Kerala Blasters FC) defended with a lot of order. But I am very disappointed with our first-half performance. I think that the team didn’t surpass in any moment.”

He added, “(With a 4-4-2 formation), Kerala Blasters FC was preparing for our mistake and they did it and they won with a good goal. We played better than in some games in the second half, not in the first half. But I have a lot of experience in football. This is the reason, for example, that I told that there are big teams, that they don’t lose these kinds of games. Aaron (D’Silva) had a clear chance, but he missed the control in the last minute. But we are very happy with Aaron and how he trained and his performance. You can’t win every game. You can’t avoid the one defeat and then we have to come back stronger, we know that we have another big game next weekend.”

When asked about the attacking game of the club, the Spaniard feels that there will always be room for improvement and questions can vary depending on the result of the match.

He said, “You know that in football, everyone can be right. Now if we win 1-0, the question is why we didn’t score more goals. If we win 4-3, then it would be about why we conceded three goals. We tried to score goals. Even the other day in the Jamshedpur FC game, we scored the first goal and we had very clear chances to score the second and the third, but we didn’t get (the goal) and we won the last four games by a 1-0 score line. Yet, today, we didn’t score. In my three seasons here, the teams are very different. In the first season was more like this year with more possession play, to the other side (switching sides) play with wingers. Last season, the team was very clinical.”

He concluded, “We killed the opponents with not too many chances and now, the team is defending and defending very good, but it’s true that maybe we need something more in attack. In the second half, I am very satisfied because at least we tried. In the first half, we were only positional without movements and then it’s easy for one team who is with ten players behind the wall to defend. This is the most difficult in football when you play against one team with very good positioning, have ten players behind the ball and repeat with a lot of other.”

Hyderabad FC will lock horns against ATK Mohun Bagan on Saturday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata.