Manolo Marquez Eager To Develop, Improve Quality Of Indian Players With AFC Asian Cup In Mind

In Manolo Marquez’s first press conference as an Indian national head coach, the 55-year-old said he would want to raise the level and quality of Indian talent, and that is how he would judge his stay would be at the end of three years. (More Football News)

The Spaniard will also coach FC Goa in his first year, and then will move on as a full-time national team head coach, was brought due to his success rate in developing talent at the Indian Super League level. 

The All-India Football Federation’s decision was not on the basis of Marquez’s international experience but more about his Indian football knowledge and the ability to help them evolve and mature. 

“The target now is obviously to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup if we speak about competitions. The target is also to improve the level of the Indian players in this case, to reach the next step individually and as a team. We need to improve. I don't like to speak about the ranking because sometimes statistics don’t show the true picture,” Marquez was quoted as saying by AIFF.com

Marquez’s first assignment would be the Intercontinental Cup. With the ISL season, where the players will be released for the tournament is in the balance. But he was confident that there will be 11 players on the pitch.

“We will have six, seven games before the first qualifier in March. Let’s see what happens in the first FIFA window before the ISL starts. In this situation, we are playing friendly matches and need to prepare for more important matches ahead. And we can’t forget we need to be in Pot 1 before December’s draw,” he added. 

Marquez also heavily stressed that players who come in would definitely have to become much stronger in their mentality, which will eventually bring in good results.