Manolo Marquezis the first foreigner to take up the dual role of coaching a football club, FC Goa, and the national team. In a free-wheeling chat with Team TOI, the Indian football team coach discusses the way forward for the beautiful game, the big dream, need to focus on grassroots and why the Spaniard is in love with the country — a welcome change from wanting to leave in just 10 minutes after first landing in India. Edited excerpts fromTownhall With TOI

How do you do this balancing act of coaching club and country at the same time?

I still don’t know. I didn’t expect to share both jobs. The beginning was more difficult because the national team had games in Sept, Oct and Nov — three FIFA windows — and FC Goa had a bad start. If the results were good with India and Goa struggling, people will say my focus is on the national team. If it’s the opposite, people will talk. But I always say all this noise (and criticism) is why I get paid. I look at stuff on social media and I take everything: The good, the bad, because it helps you improve. About the dual role, it’s not normal, but it’s not the first time either.

Everyone says the mentality of an Indian footballer is not the same as in other countries. Do you agree?

I always joke that one day I will write a book on India and the title will be ‘The Indian Mentality’. There is a lot of talent, but they don’t know how to show this talent. It’s always full of ups and downs. There is no consistency (in performances). When I arrived here, the players that were very good in the first season disappeared in the second. Players who were very bad in the previous season, did very good in the next. You need consistency. I miss this in Indian football.

It’s been five years for you in India, the longest time you have spent outside your home country. What has been your experience like?

I remember the first day (in 2020). I landed in Mumbai and looking at the chaos (during the Covid-19 pandemic), I asked myself, ‘what are you doing here?’ Then I landed in Goa (to be inside the biosecure bubble for ISL), got inside the car and was astonished with the driving. I told the driver, ‘Wow, you can be an incredible winger. You surpassed cars, dogs, cows, people.’ It was completely crazy. I wanted to leave after 10 minutes. It’s my fifth season now. India is an incredible country. It’s practically like Europe, 20 countries in one place and no state is similar. Goa is completely different from Manipur.

Now that you are the coach of the national team, what changes do you want to implement?

It’s very difficult to organise in a country like India. I would like to have all the state leagues being played at the same time, though I understand it’s difficult due to the weather. But you have to do something. The national team, at this moment, is less important. You need to focus on the grassroots. There is Vision 2047 (by the AIFF), but if you don’t start work immediately (on the grassroots), it will be Vision 2097.
You need to do something as soon as possible because the talent is there. If you see U-13, U-15, U-17 players in FC Goa, maybe you will be surprised. There are better players here than in Spain. Not better, same maybe, but the (development) process is completely different. Here the focus is on studies, and they cannot attend (regular) training sessions because they have exams constantly. Then there are (travel) distances. When people ask me when India will play at the World Cup, I tell them this is the last question (anyone should be asking). You need to start from the bottom. I am from a country where football is a religion. But after the emergence of Rafa Nadal, maybe there are 10 or 15 Spanish (tennis) players in the top 100. In India, for example, in some years, you will see a lot of javelin throwers due to the success of Neeraj Chopra. Maybe you have to get something which will help develop a lot of things.

In India, cricket is a religion, so how do you see football cross that barrier and come at some level?

In my opinion, football will never surpass cricket in India. Never. But in a country of 1.4 billion, there is space for more than one sport. What I do hate is when I am told that ISL must finish before IPL starts. I know a million more people will watch IPL cricket than ISL, but that’s okay, if (football) is the second sport. Keep going, don’t change fixtures. This is something India needs to improve. Maybe I am from another culture, another mentality. Here, everything is organised at the last moment, and then it’s changed. You need a proper schedule. The Super Cup is supposed to be played in April, but I still don’t know when and where. Now I have learned a lot to improvise. Do it the Indian way.

You spoke earlier of talent being there at the grassroots, but India is still not making progress. What needs to be fixed?

First and foremost, forget about winning or losing in age group competitions. Coaches of U-13, U-15 say they were champions. Okay, good. Then what happened? Here it’s all about the development of players. Whether the B (reserves) team becomes champion is not important, what matters is if enough players are produced for the main team. In some (junior) teams, some get to play only for five minutes, one minute. I can give you a lot of examples of how some were not so good players in the beginning of their (youth) careers but later turned out to be great. Carles Puyol was playing in the C team of Barcelona as a winger when (coach) Louis Van Gaal took him to the main team. You never know when your moment will come. You have to be ready. At the youth levels, you have to improve as a player and as a person.

You possibly took over as coach at one of the lowest points of the team. What would you say is one of your biggest challenges?

Sometimes I really don’t know the answer. In football, the problem is that you don’t have time (to achieve results). If you lose four, five, six games you are usually sacked. For a coach, it’s very difficult to have a long vision. But, despite the difficulties, you have to move in the correct way, follow the process and wait for results. Sometimes, your ideas may be correct, but they will sack you (if the results are not good). Here, the challenge is not for me, it’s for Indian football. My aim is to develop Indian football, step by step. It will take time, maybe one, two or three years. But in the end, it’s not about me (as coach).

How difficult is it to switch from coaching a club side to a national team?

When you are a national team coach, you know that you won’t have much time to train with them. That is completely different in a club. My advantage is that I have been here for the past four years, and I know all players in ISL and most players in I-League. There are other tournaments like Santosh Trophy, Super League Kerala, but they don’t have enough level to play in the national team.

Now that you will coach the national team on a full-time basis next year, will you miss coaching a club on a daily basis?

It’s something I ask myself. I feel in the beginning, I will be okay. Right now, the moment club assignment is over, I have to go with the national team. The first days, the first months, I will be okay. After some months, I don’t know. Let’s see what the experience with India is. If you ask me now, I think that I will train a club again in the future. Or maybe I love this life (as national team coach) and then I will try to continue in India or take up another national team.