Team that is mentally stronger will qualify, claims FC Goa coach Manolo Marquez

The Gaurs have a huge challenge ahead after navigating past the knockout fixture of the playoffs.

Manolo Marquez understands that FC Goa will face their toughest challenge of the season as they prepare to play Mumbai City FC across two legs in the semi-final of the 2023-24 Indian Super League. The head coach is ready for any situation and expressed the need to remain focused no matter what the situation throws at the team.

He also talked about goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem and his trust in the goalkeeping department of his team. Carl McHugh, who has plenty of experience playing in this stage of the competition also joined him for the pre-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from the interaction:

Carl McHugh’s analysis of the season

The midfielder talked about how the club is close to winning a trophy and the season being positive all things considered. He said, “Overall, it has been a positive season. We are disappointed we could not finish higher up the table in the league but it’s a big improvement in where the club has been in the last few years. We still have a lot to do and we are ambitious to finish the season with a trophy – it was our aim at the start of the year. We are in a position now where we are fighting for the trophy and we want to be through to the final next week.”

“I think we just have to focus on what’s in front of us. We’re playing against a good team in the league. It’s going to come down to small details and small margins over the two legs. We just need to remain focused on what’s in front of us in this game. Focus on the small details, try and bring our best performance and I think it will give us a great chance,” he further said in the context of preparing for the semi-final across two legs.

Need to manage the situation

Manolo Marquez indicated that the upcoming game against a tough side like Mumbai City FC will need to be managed properly considering their clashes in the league stage were equally competitive. He said, “The improvement is there. The thing is that the games in the playoffs are completely different than those in the regular season. We could check the other day our games against Chennaiyin FC (both games). In ISL, the regular season was completely different than the other day. The other day you have to win or you go home. These are the knock-out competitions. We will face a strong side but my feeling is that the games will be very equal because even in the competition in the regular season we drew both games.

“They have two more points but the reality is that they got the same points as us. They have two more because of the mistake of Jamshedpur FC. Usually, the games that I played, not only this season but also those in the previous editions against Mumbai were good games. Tactically they are a good team with good players, a good collective group also. I think that we are in a good moment and again it’s not a game of 90 minutes. It’s a game of at least 180 if there is no extra-time. We need to manage all the situations. When you are winning, when you are losing, when nothing is happening during the game. We need to manage all the situations,” he added.

He further stated, “I have the experience of playing against Carl last season in the semi-final, it was nil-nil, nil-nil and there were good moments for Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad and moments where nothing happened in the game. It’s about control. For example, if you score a goal, okay very good, but keep going. If you miss a chance, okay forget this chance and let’s go for the next action. The team that is mentally stronger, usually is the team that qualifies for the semi-final, in this case for the final.”

Playing at home in the first leg

Manolo Marquez expressed how playing at home can be a challenge and that situation needs to be managed as the match unfolds. He said, “The only three games that we lost were consecutive and two were at home. We lost more games at home than away. It’s true that with the draws we got more points at home than away but this is completely different. It’s the same as the other day. We played the other day against Chennaiyin FC in the playoffs, we beat them 4-1 in the Durand Cup, 3-0 in Chennai, 4-1 four days before and the other day was completely different. My feeling is that we deserve to win but if you check the statistics, it was very equal – in terms of shots, chances, even possession was more for us but it was 43-47.

“You don’t know tomorrow. Maybe in the 10th minute, there is a red card and this changes completely the story of not only the first leg but maybe both. Then you need to know how to manage every situation in the game. You need to be calm but you need to be brave at the same tome and now we don’t have to change too much. Tomorrow and the second leg will be the same because I think that in Mumbai we will decide on the team that qualifies.”

Manolo Marquez backs Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem

The head coach of FC Goa suggested that he is happy with the goalkeepers in the squad. Moreover, he had plenty of words for Dheeraj Singh who made a few errors in the previous game. He said, “In the last game, he made a mistake with the ball and they scored. But for all of you who love statistics, with Dheeraj, we didn’t lose a single game. Dheeraj is a great goalkeeper. He was in the national team. He was one of the best goalkeepers in the AFC Champions League. I think that he is very young. In some moments you need to learn about these mistakes. If he learns he will be a very good goalkeeper. If he doesn’t learn, he will play in the I-League in two years. This is professional football. It’s like this.

“Finally, it’s about improvement. But it’s not only with Dheeraj, it’s with Arshdeep, Hrithik and all the goalkeepers. The problem is that he chose to be a goalkeeper, because the other day maybe some players made more mistakes than Dheeraj. It’s an example. But they play winger or midfielder or right-back and it doesn’t matter or nothing happens if the mistake of the goalkeeper is usually a goal for the opponent. But we are satisfied with the goalkeepers that we have. It’s true that in the initial stages of the league, Arshdeep played very well. In some moments he was a little down. We changed the goalkeeper and let’s see, because even Hrithik is a goalkeeper with a great future,” he concluded.

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