Focusing on moment over momentum important for Manolo’s Goa
January 7, 2025 – Goa, India: It’s not often that a coach is asked to draw comparisons between teams separated by years and continents, but on Tuesday, FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez was tasked with doing just that.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Gaurs’ upcoming home encounter in the Indian Super League (ISL) against his former side Hyderabad FC, the Spaniard likened his current Goa side to two other teams he has managed – Hyderabad FC, and the UD Las Palmas ‘B’ side.
“Yes, I think with my team in Hyderabad, we had a similar situation, and so did the UD Las Palmas ‘B’ team,” he said, when quizzed about the possibility of feeling a déjà vu right now while honouring his role with the Men in Orange.
“These three teams are the best groups in my career as a coach.”
While it may seem like a regular comparison to make for someone who has been coaching for a decade, for FC Goa fans, those words carry weight.
Eight years ago, Marquez’s Las Palmas ‘B’ side achieved promotion to the Spanish Segunda B Division (third-tier) as champions of the Tercera Division (fourth-tier), which led to him being handed the reins of the Las Palmas First Team in LaLiga. In 2022, less than two years after he arrived on Indian shores for the first time to lead Hyderabad, he brought the ISL trophy home to the Nawabs.
And FC Goa fans want nothing less than the top honours. They’ve been there, done that, and hence know too well the feeling of being on top of the world.
Now, with the 56-year-old leading their charge, could what he said be a sign of things to come?
FC Goa fans can dream. Easy, given how the team enjoy the current-longest unbeaten run (8 matches), taking home 20 points out of a possible 24 in the process (the most in this period), conceding just six goals dishing out an impressive 18 in return, the Men in Orange have kept their faithful on cloud-nine since October with their momentum in the ISL.
But not so simple for Manolo Marquez and his boys – and they know it better than anyone else. They’ve been chosen to turn these dreams into reality.
Hence, they choose to focus on the moment, rather than their momentum.
“We have to be ambitious. The first step is to win against Hyderabad FC. It is the most important game for me. Afterwards, I’ll tell you that the next one is the most important match.
“Tomorrow, we have to show with our performance on the pitch that we are the favourites to win. We will enter the game with the correct mentality – and the correct mentality is that we expect a very good Hyderabad FC and that we have to be the best version of ourselves to face them.
“We’re a team that is tough to beat, even when we don’t play a good game. That said, anything can happen in this competition. But yes, we’re in a good moment, and if this continues, we can fight for the Shield,” he further added.
Marquez is all praise when reflecting on the character of his current FC Goa side. “Everyone is important, and I’m enjoying it a lot with this group. You wake up in the morning thinking, ‘wow, now I’ll train with these guys, enjoying, working hard, convinced about what they are doing.’ It’s very nice.”
He did, however, mention one problem – one he has admitted to be happy about, a handful of times in the past.
“I have the most difficult job,” he said, when asked about the challenge of naming his starting XIs for matches. “Rules are rules, there will be six foreigners in the squad, and you have to choose four (for the starting XI. And as a group, we are complete. You have everything in all of them – goal-scoring, hard work, good defending, technical quality, set-pieces…
“It’s a tough job for me, but this is also one of the reasons for telling you that this season will be a good one despite our early results looking not so great.”
And as per usual, Manolo Marquez concluded with a mindful reminder. Referring to the reverse fixture that happened just over a month ago, the tactician said, “We did not play a good game in Hyderabad, we won because we have better players than them.
“We need to be very focused and play a good game tomorrow to beat them,” he signed off.
About FC Goa
FC Goa are a professional football club based out of Goa that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL). Founded on August 26, 2014, “the Gaurs” have been one of the most consistently successful teams in the ISL – reaching 5 semi-finals and 2 finals in 10 seasons.
The Club also hold the record for the most goals, joint-most golden boots and most number of playoff appearances (7 in total) in the history of the league.
In 2020, FC Goa became the first team from India to qualify for the league stages of the AFC Champions League, by virtue of winning the first-ever ISL League Winners Shield in the 2019-20 season. The Gaurs’ trophy cabinet is further adorned by the 2019 Super Cup, the 2021 Durand Cup and the 2023-24 Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy.
Co-owned by Mr. Jaydev Mody, Mr. Akshay Tandon and Mr. Virat Kohli, FC Goa are one of the few Indian clubs to have a complete youth development ecosystem. Its U13, U15, U17, U19 and Developmental Teams compete at the highest levels in Goa and India.
The FC Goa Development Team won the Goa Professional League, the top-division football league in the state, in 2018-19. In 2020, they lifted the Goa Police Cup as well. The Club’s U13 and U15 teams, meanwhile, are the reigning champions of their respective age categories in the Goa Football Association (GFA) state league for the second consecutive year now, highlighting their continued success at every level.
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