‘Creating chances is what is important’

Ahead of his side’s clash against FC Goa, Manolo Marquez speaks about the strengths of the opponent, the mood in the HFC camp and more…

On back-to-back losses…

This is normal in football. Sometimes these things happen but what is important is to keep believing in yourself. We were unbeaten in the first five games and we need to get some positive results as soon as possible. We are working hard for the same.

On the mood in the camp…

The mood always depends on the recent results and we are not really comfortable at the moment. We are not happy with the two losses and the players know that I am not happy with their performances. But we are satisfied with the hard work our young squad is putting in and we hope for a better result against Goa.

On wasting chances…

Against Kerala, I was not happy with the attitude of my players. Aridane Santana had a couple of really good chances to score and even before KBFC’s second, Fran Sandaza came close to finding an equalizer. These things happen in football. Creating chances is what is important and I hope we do better with those chances against Goa.

On conceding six goals in the last three games…

In the two games before the one against Kerala, we conceded four goals from five shots on target. Against Kerala, both teams had the same number of shots on target but they scored twice while we could not convert our chances. I don’t think our defensive organization is really the issue and let’s see if we can get a clean sheet in our next game.

A word on the upcoming fixture…

FC Goa is a really good team with a real offensive style of play. But we have often seen that in counter-attack situations, they are not as strong defensively as they would want to be. They have a strong squad with the likes of Igor Angulo, Jorge Oritz, Jorge Mendoza and Brandon Fernandes. For me, they are one of the favourites to qualify for the playoffs this season.

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