Soumo Ghosh & Sruti Chakraborty 
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Not many in Indian football were familiar with the name of Manolo Márquez when he arrived in India four years ago. But it didn’t take time to realise that he wasn’t here to add his name to the long list of foreign coaches who worked in India before slipping into oblivion. Thrown into the strenuous territory of club coaching, Márquez was like a breath of fresh air, whose consummate ability to use his limited resources to extract the best became the talking point of Indian football.

After spending four fruitful seasons in India, the 55-year-old soft-spoken Spaniard has decided to spread his wings. Apart from club coaching, he would now don the role of head coach of the Indian National Team, which, in his own words, is “a big challenge.” The Blue Tigers are just about a month away from beginning their stint under Márquez, whose first assignment will be during the September international window at the Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad, where they will face Syria and Mauritius.

Before taking charge of the dressing room, the new boss spoke to the-aiff.com about his upcoming challenges and how he plans on tackling them. Excerpts:

Question: Welcome to the Indian football team, coach. First of all, please tell us what prompted you to take up this role. Do you consider it to be difficult terrain?

Manolo Márquez: It is difficult, of course, but India has become like my second country as I’ve spent four years here, something that I have never done before. I think I know most of the important players in the ISL and the I-League, and I have signed a player from the Santosh Trophy as well, when I was with Hyderabad. I know the traditions, and I’ve got a good feeling about this. Football is unpredictable, but my feeling is that I’m ready to take up this role.

Q: Please tell us a bit about your journey so far in your career.

MM: Well, football is a religion in my country, Spain, so I would probably have to speak from the date of my birth. My father and grandfather were crazy football fans. I was not a professional player, but I’ve played in the third division. I started coaching at the age of 20, when I would train kids. Since I started so early, I’ve been fortunate to train players across all age categories, right from the kids to La Liga and even in women’s football with Españyol. I had brief stints in Croatia and Thailand before I came to India, and I have loved it here. The one thing that was not in my CV, however, was training a national team, and I am thankful for that opportunity now.

Q: You have been coaching in India for four years now. How much, do you think, have things changed here in these years?

MM: Well, first and foremost, I feel the league has become bigger than before, we get more matches. When I initially came here, we were playing from within the COVID bubble, so the competition was short. Now we add a new team every year. When I initially arrived, the players were not as consistent. They would play well one season but fade away in the next campaign. Now that most of the players are aware of what they need to do, they are more professional, and focussed. Be it diet, rest, or training sessions, they follow all the programmes with the utmost discipline.

I can generally say that there has been a lot of improvement in the Indian players, though my feeling is that India can improve a thousand times more.

But I’d also say that there are plenty of challenges in that regard. India is like 20 countries put together. There are a lot of states where there’s not much interest in football, and then there are others that are extremely passionate about the sport. Perhaps it would be better to concentrate on the few states where football is more popular initially and then grow further from there.

Q: Performing the dual role of a national coach and a club coach is not always easy, though many top coaches have done so in the past. How do you aim to strike a balance between the two?

MM: It’s all about being professional. It’s not the first time that someone’s done it, and it certainly won’t be the last. It’s all about managing the time, and that should not be a problem for me. When there is a break in the ISL, I will be with the national team. It’s a big challenge, but I’m passionate about it.

I’m aware that, being in the limelight, I will receive both praise and criticism. That’s part of a coach’s salary. Even if you choose one lineup, the person beside you may not always agree with you, and that’s fine. What we must ensure is that we all work in the same direction.

We have started the pre-season at FC Goa, and of course our focus is in the right place. But I am also keeping an eye on all the teams in the Durand Cup, as well for the National Team.

Q: How different is being a head coach at a club from being the head coach of a National Team?

MM: I can only answer that after my first game. My relationship with the players, especially with the Indian players, is very good. With most of them, I could sit and have a long conversation. I get to learn where they are from, whether they live with their families or with their wives. I now know about the differences in cultures when it comes to people from different areas of the country. How Kerala is different from Goa, which is different from Kolkata, which again is different from the northeast.

The biggest difference with the National Team is that you don’t have foreign players in the team. It’s certainly a challenge, but I love it. I feel we will achieve important things in the next few seasons.

Q: Could you briefly tell us about your footballing philosophy on the pitch?

MM: I know that there are a lot of coaches who like to dictate how the team should play. My opinion, however, is that I have come to India; India has not come to me. Therefore, I have to adapt to the players I have.

It’s different when you are a National Team coach, you can choose the players you want. Not like at a club where you can choose some players, but you have to work with the ones that you have on most occasions.

In general, I like to play with a lot of organisation and order, and I like to play through the wings. Every coach would like their team to play good offensive football, but the most important thing is to win. How you win is, of course, important, but we have to be a competitive team first and foremost.

Q: We understand that you’ve had a discussion with the AIFF President about how to go about the next two FIFA International Windows. Could you please shed some light on how you approach the months of September and October?

MM: The reality of the situation is that we have three international windows to prepare for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers (Round 3), which begins in March. We need to make sure that we get good results in the three upcoming FIFA windows this year (September, October, and November), and get Pot 1 for the draws of the qualifiers for the Asian Cup.

I think September will be a little different, because the ISL season will not have started yet once we begin the international window. We will have a clearer picture before the October FIFA window, as the clubs will have played a few ISL games by then.

Q: You essentially have six matches to prepare the team for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers Round 3. What are your thoughts on the possibilities of playing against higher-ranked opponents?

MM: We want to be in Pot 1. That would give us an advantage. We must play competitive games to improve, but that does not mean that we need to play the strongest teams right now. Sides like Vietnam, Lebanon, Syria are all competitive teams in Asia. All of these teams are higher-ranked than India at this moment. It would be best for India to play such teams at this moment, and not against teams that are ranked considerably lower than us. Once we show improvement against these teams, we can aim to play against even better sides.

Q: What kind of modifications would you be looking to inculcate in the team?

MM: The main question here is whether I have to call the same players as before or new players, younger players. It all depends on the situation at that moment. You definitely need to have a group of players from which you select; you can’t call 20 different players every time. It’s important to pick the correct player at the correct moment, when they are in form. Maybe a relatively unknown player suddenly starts scoring a lot of goals, and then you have to call that player and give him a chance. But we can never know what will happen.

Q: We’ve seen you work wonders with youngsters at Hyderabad FC and FC Goa. Would we see more focus on young players with the National Team too?

MM: When I arrived in Hyderabad, we had some young players, and a few of our crucial foreigners also suffered injuries. We essentially played the season with three foreign players and a lot of Indian youngsters. The reason they got their chance was that in every training session, they showed me that they have the capacity to play with a positive mentality.

Age is not a problem. It’s all about maturity. Every player will be different from the other in this regard. Some can be mature at the age of 17, while others could still be immature till 23 or 24. Even the ones that show maturity early on could suddenly disappear later on. I think the process is very important. If a player in the U20 or U23 age groups is a level higher, he needs to aim for the next level and try to play with the senior team.

Q: The AIFF at present is vigorously pursuing a policy of producing quality coaches all over the country. Do you think you could have a role to play in it?

MM: It’s not only in India, but coach education is important in all countries. Licenses are important, and you definitely need them. But that does not mean that you will be a better coach for it. Someone may not have a license, but have more knowledge about football.

Over the four seasons that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the level of Indian coaches get better every season. Last season, there were two Indian head coaches – Thangboi Singto (Hyderabad FC) and Khalid Jamil (Jamshedpur FC). Clifford (Miranda) won the Super Cup with Odisha FC before that.

I’ve also seen a lot of talented Indian assistant coaches over the past four years. I am currently working with a fantastic assistant coach in Gouramangi Singh, who is a former India international himself. In the national team, I will also be working with Mahesh Gawali, another good coach who was an excellent player for the national team a few years ago.

I feel that in the next few years, the target should be that the next National Team head coach has to come from India. It’s not just for the national team, but for the clubs too. Every Indian assistant coach at the clubs should aim to become a head coach in the next few years. Maybe they can also start with being the head coach of the U17 or U19 teams before moving on to take charge of the senior teams.