Manolo Marquez, the soft-spoken Spaniard who has become renowned for his ability to maximize limited resources in Indian football, has been appointed as the head coach of the senior national men’s football team. However, he will continue his coaching duties with ISL club FC Goa alongside his national team responsibilities.
In an interview with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Marquez emphasized the importance of coach education worldwide. “It’s not only in India, but coach education is important in all countries. Licenses are important, but they don’t guarantee you’ll be a better coach. Someone may not have a license but have more knowledge about football,” he said.
Marquez’s tenure with the Blue Tigers will commence at the Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad, where they will face Syria and Mauritius in September. During his four-year stay in India, he has witnessed a significant improvement in the quality of Indian coaches.
“Over the four seasons that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the level of Indian coaches get better every season. Last season, there were two Indian head coaches – Thangboi Singto (Hyderabad FC) and Khalid Jamil (Jamshedpur FC). Clifford (Miranda) won the Super Cup with Odisha FC before that,” Marquez noted.
He also highlighted the talent of Indian assistant coaches, including Gouramangi Singh, a former India international, who currently assists him at FC Goa. “In the national team, I will also be working with Mahesh Gawali, another good coach who was an excellent player for the national team a few years ago,” he added.
Marquez believes that the long-term goal should be to have an Indian head coach for the national team. “It’s not just for the national team, but for the clubs too. Every Indian assistant coach at the clubs should aim to become a head coach in the next few years. Maybe they can also start with being the head coach of the U-17 or U-19 teams before moving on to take charge of the senior teams,” he said.
