FC Goa group among three best in my coaching career: Manolo

Panaji: During a career that has spanned over two decades, Manolo Marquez has been at a dozen-odd clubs and coached almost everyone: from children and women to professionals in LaLiga, the top tier of football in Spain.
By taking charge of the national team in India, he completed the final missing piece of his coaching career.
At 55, Manolo could be forgiven if, at times, his motivation is not the same like in the past, but he has now made it clear that he is enjoying his time with FC Goa, a club he took charge of last season, after a three-year stint with Hyderabad FC.
“I wake up in the morning, thinking, ‘wow, now you will train with these guys’. They enjoy working hard and are convinced of what they are doing. It’s a very good feeling. I am enjoying a lot with this fantastic group. It’s very, very nice,” Manolo said on Tuesday.
The experienced coach said he had similar feelings with the reserves of Las Palmas and Hyderabad, “the three best groups” in his career as a coach.
At two of these clubs, he achieved something special. With Las Palmas ‘B’, Manolo 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, in his second season after taking charge of bottom-placed Hyderabad, Manolo won the ISL Trophy against all odds.
Can he achieve something special with Goa, a team that enjoys the current-longest unbeaten run (eight matches), taking home 20 points out of a possible 24 (the most in this period), conceding just six goals while scoring an impressive 18 in return?
“We are a difficult team to beat, even when we don't play a good game,” said Manolo. “Now we are in a (good) moment, and if this moment lasts till the end of the season, we can fight for the Shield. We have to be ambitious. Bagan, obviously, are winning every game. The other day Bengaluru were playing very good and suddenly, in the last 10 minutes, Jamshedpur turned the score. In this league, anything can happen.”