Good to see others scoring goals: Coach Marquez
Hyderabad revived their campaign with a crushing 4-1 victory over Chennaiyin FC in their previous game
Hyderabad: Aridane Santana has been Hyderabad Football Club’s premier player and the team was blamed for depending too much on him to deliver. Whenever he fails the team too fares badly. However, having suffered three back-to-back losses, Hyderabad revived their campaign with a crushing 4-1 victory over Chennaiyin FC in their previous game.
Hyderabad FC coach Manolo Marquez is over the moon for the fact that other players have contributed to the team’s success. Speaking on the eve of their clash against NorthEast United FC, the 52-year-old Spaniard said, “It is always important for other players to score goals. When you have a team, of course Aridane is our main scorer, we want other players to contribute as much as possible. Scoring goals from set pieces was important. Someone told me Halicharan (Narzary) doesn’t score many goals. But he scored two in the previous match and he now has three goals before the first leg. It is a good news that not only Aridane but others are scoring.”
Hyderabad, who are placed at sixth place in the table with 12 points, take on NorthEast who are just a rung below. Speaking about the opposition, he said, “We played against them in friendlies. But we can’t judge them based on that. I like their style of game. They are not in their best at the moment in terms of results. But they were good against Mumbai.
Speaking about bouncing back from three consecutive losses, the Spaniard said nothing can go as planned in football. “People talked a lot after three losses. But we then had a big 4-1 victory. This kind of situation is normal in football. NorthEast have also started their campaign well. They didn’t lose matches in their first six games. So we can’t take anyone for granted. We are planning game by game.|”
When asked about the fitness levels of Indian players given that the schedule is so cramped, he added, “Yes, some Indian players are tired. There are a few Indian players who are with higher fitness levels than foreigners and vice versa. A lot of foreign players managed to play competitions regularly like back in Spain. So they are in good shape. But there was no competition for India. Not just in Hyderabad FC, but other teams too have the same problem with some Indians players being injured or tired.”
He also felt Aridane, at some point, will be given rest given that he has been playing continuously. “It is impossible for one player to play all the matches. We can use Liston (Colaco), Joel (Chianese) and other players in his place at some point. We have players who can play. But Aridane is important for us not just on the pitch but off it as well.”
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