“We can do nothing but self-criticism”: Manolo Marquez on FC Goa dropping points, Carl McHugh, and his substitutions

Fatorda (Goa) [India], January 9 (ANI): FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez conveyed his dissatisfaction with sharing the points with Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa during the opening fixture of Matchweek 16.

It was an end-to-end game with both teams having their chances and trying to gain control of the pitch. The Gaurs broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with a clinical finish inside the opposition box. Although Borja Herrera received a direct red card in the 59th minute, leaving the hosts to play with 10 men, it was all square again in the 71st minute when Hyderabad FC captain Alex Saji picked up his second yellow card.

However, the Yellow and Black left it late as they scored the equalizer through Allan Paulista’s injury-time strike that sealed a point for the visitors.

Playing on their home turf, FC Goa demonstrated their sheer offensive prowess as they made 36 touches inside the opposition box, their highest in a single game in the ongoing ISL season and the third-highest by any side in the league.

However, Marquez believed that they played better in patches but couldn’t sustain it throughout the game, resulting in a 1-1 draw after conceding a late goal.

“I think we had the best minutes of FC Goa in the game. Even we could score the second goal at that moment. But, you know, 10 against 10, in the last minutes, the draw can always be there. Because if you are winning only for one goal, the options are there,” he said in the post-match press conference as quoted by the ISL official website.

With this draw, FC Goa extended their unbeaten run to nine games and retained third place in the points table with 26 points from 14 matches. The Spanish head coach emphasized the importance of securing a point and maintaining momentum, rather than dwelling on the loss of two crucial points.

“One more point, and that’s all. We can do nothing but self-criticism, even for me with the substitutions. In every aspect of the game, if you win 1-0, everything seems fantastic. Now it seems that maybe there were some things wrong,” Marquez acknowledged.

“But this is football. We need to keep going. Obviously, we lost two important points today. But finally, it’s very difficult in this league to win every game. We are nine games unbeaten, and this is very, very difficult,” he continued.

Carl McHugh was deployed as a centre-back, pairing with Sandesh Jhingan in the backline, in the absence of captain Odei Onaindia, who was serving a one-match suspension.

When asked about utilizing McHugh as a defender, Marquez responded, “No, obviously Carl is a defensive midfielder, but we were thinking that if we put one foreigner in every line in the beginning, maybe we could control the game better, but it was not like this.”

“And then, I think in the second half, playing with (Sahil) Tavora and Ayush (Chhetri) as centre midfielders and Borja (Herrera) as an attacking midfielder, until the moment of the red card, I think the team was better,” he explained, shedding light on their second half performance.

Marquez expressed his displeasure with his team’s inability to dominate the game with consistent attacking fluidity, ball control, and a balanced transition between defence and attack.

“I think we didn’t play a fluent game. We were not very good, except for some minutes. We were not very good with the ball. And especially when it seemed that we were controlling the game, suddenly, in the last minutes, we lost this control,” the head coach remarked.

“Maybe this is the reason that I wanted to do the substitution, to play with Carl (McHugh) as a midfielder. But it was worse, finally, because they equalized, and the coach was wrong in the substitution,” Marquez signed off.