Manolo Marquez: There are lot of mini-games inside a game

FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez shed some light on his tactics as well.

FC Goa will kick off their current ISL campaign with a home game against the newly promoted Punjab FC at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa on October 2. The Gaurs underwent significant changes during the summer, starting with the appointment of Manolo Marquez as their head coach, who had previously managed Hyderabad FC. They also bolstered their squad with a fresh batch of foreign players, featuring notable names such as Paulo Retre, Carl McHugh, and Odei Onaindia.

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In addition to the international signings, FC Goa also made exciting additions from the domestic talent pool, including Sandesh Jhinghan and Boris Singh.

On the eve of this fixture, Manolo Marquez and summer signing Paulo Retre spoke to the media and here are the best bits from the conversation.

Paulo’s Thoughts on FC Goa

Australian Midfielder Paulo Retre shared his thoughts on the move to ISL Side FC Goa and quipped, “I wanted to do a new challenge. I still had another season of my contract in Sydney. But I felt like it was just a good time to explore something different. And then when I obviously got the interest from FC Goa, I was really excited at what the opportunity would bring. And then speaking with obviously Manolo and everyone here, the ambition that they want to be successful and all that really, you know, I guess enticed me to come here and do the challenge. I'm really excited now that I'm here.”

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Manolo Marquez's approach to the first ISL game

FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez, shared his views on his approach to the first game of the season, “Yes, it's different every year. Every season is different. The first game is important regarding how you start the season. Of course, when we won the title in ISL, we lost the first game 1-0 against Chennaiyin. It doesn't mean that if you lose the first game, you can't win the trophy. Of course, when you arrive in a new club, it's better because still you are in the process.”

On the tactical formation

The Spaniard was quizzed about the tactical formation in which they would line up and speaking on the context, he replied, “Football for me, consists of five things. One is defense, one is the transition, defense attack, when you recover the ball, what you have to do. Defensive transition, what you have to do when you lose the ball and set-pieces. Then the team who manage in a better way these kind of concepts, because, ok, it's easy, these five things are easy to explain, but attack is a lot of things, build up, finishing, a lot of things, defence is a lot individually and collectively. But the team which is very good in these actions have a lot of possibilities.”

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He further went on and explained his case by saying, “When you don't have the ball, because you play against one team who is better than you, there are a lot of mini-games inside one game. And in some moments of the game, the other team is playing better than you. You have to defend very good. When you are playing good, trying to keep the ball, take the ball, then you need to know how you have to attack, or what you have to defend. I told them every day, you know, we have the ball ready because we will lose them. We are defending, ready, because we will regain the ball. Then we need to know what we have to do in every moment. This is the team. Then there is the other part, of course, the pieces. The mentality of the player is difficult to train. They have or they don't have. But it's true that in the past years, usually, they are stronger mentally. “

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