Manolo Marquez shares his thoughts on Indian Players, top team in ISL 2025-26 ahead of East Bengal clash

The FC Goa coach believes Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will fight it out for the title this season.

East Bengal and FC Goa will lock horns at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday, with both sides looking to go to the top of the Indian Super League table.

Manolo Marquez, the FC Goa manager, attended the pre-game press conference and here is what the Spaniard discussed…

About the Goalscoring inconsistency of Indian players

Though there are fewer foreigners in the Indian Super League this season, goals by the Indian players are still lesser than the expectations of the fans. FC Goa, for example, have scored four goals, with all of them coming from the two foreigners in their squad.

Talking about this, Manolo Marquez said, “The other day, Odisha scored one goal through Carlos Delgado, the only foreigner they have. At Mohun Bagan, I think, only Manvir scored one goal amongst the Indians, all the other goals were by foreigners. Still, we are at the same point as more than 80% of the goals in this competition are scored by foreigners.”

“The only team who is scoring with Indian players is Mumbai City. All the other teams are scoring through their foreigners. My point is that it’s not only FC Goa, but every team needs to improve because the chances are there. We want Indian players to score goals but finally, it’s about winning games.”

Manolo Marquez talks about the best teams in the ISL currently

Last week, Manolo Marquez had said that East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are the two best teams in the league. Following Jamshedpur FC’s win against East Bengal last week to make it three wins in three games, the question was asked to the Spaniard again.

The FC Goa manager praised Owen Coyle’s side and said, “Maybe we can add Jamshedpur FC as well because they are very strong. Physically, with six foreigners, they beat two very difficult teams. They beat Punjab FC. For me, Punjab will be another team who will have a good season.”

“In the half time when East Bengal was winning 1-0 against JFC, I didn’t think that they would turn the score. Maybe a draw was fair, but they won. Obviously now they are a strong team. But I still feel that Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are the two top teams in this competition.”

Manolo Marquez talks about what to expect in the ISL this season

The FC Goa manager spoke about what he has seen in the ISL this season and what he expects in the next few months. The Spaniard said, “More or less, if you check the teams with six foreigners on top and the teams with lesser foreigners, except FC Goa, at the moment, are with zero points or one point.”

“Every team is in a different situation. It’s not the same two points of Odisha FC for me, who have a lot of merit, because they had very few training sessions. But the only problem is that, maybe in the game 7-8, a lot of teams will be fighting for nothing as you cannot arrive at the top and you won’t be relegated.”

“It’s difficult to train when you know that, maximum you can finish fourth or you can finish 9th or 10th. This year, without the play-off, this is completely different. But this is our job also, the staff, to keep the players with a very good predisposition and let’s see what happens.”

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