Ahead of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21, Hyderabad FC appointed Manolo Marquez as their head coach with the club targeting a better season after an underwhelming 2019-20 campaign. While speaking to Sportstar, Hyderabad’s Spanish head coach discussed his team’s confidence levels last season and believes that his players must have faith in their own abilities to succeed. 

“I prefer to play an attractive brand of football and there are many ways to achieve it. But it is important to change my ways to get the best out of the players currently at the club. I believe that even the best teams will struggle if the players are not confident, so it is important that they trust their abilities as that is what brings success,” the 52-year-old said.

Marquez is also of the opinion that to reach the competitive level of the Hero ISL, his team will need to show a desire to learn. “The hard work every individual puts in training sessions and their hunger to learn is what will get them to the competitive level required for the Indian Super League. Doing this as a group will be the biggest challenge,” he explained.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on the pre-season plans for all teams, but Marquez is delighted with the work done by his players and the coaching staff. “A lot of the pre-season preparations are affected by the pandemic. Most of the players have not trained for over five months and it is a challenge for the staff to get them back to full fitness. We have to plan our pre-season routines in a way to avoid injuries and so far, we are really happy with the efforts of everyone involved – the players and the staff,” he enthused.

Even though the upcoming season will be held in Goa behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marquez is eager to make the Hyderabad faithful proud. “We know that our fans will be with us and will cheer us all the way (from their homes). We will try to give our best in every game, fight for every ball and hope that we can make the fans of Hyderabad FC proud of us as a team,” the Spaniard said.