Hyderabad FC head coach Manolo Marquez was unhappy with his players after suffering back-to-back defeats in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23, as they fell short of three points against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Marquez's men fell early in the game to a Hugo Boumous goal and failed to create chances in their second game running, which the coach highlighted as a main concern after a flying start to the new season. He also stated that he did not see motivation in his players and that he expects more from a team that performed well last season.
The Spaniard thought his side struggled as they were not hungrier than the opposition, and so he even gave credit to ATK Mohun Bagan for a well-deserved victory.
"ATK Mohun Bagan deserved to win the game, and we did not do anything to win this game. That is the easiest summary of the game. Looking at the table, we are doing well, but this team is nothing compared to the one from last season with the same players. I am very unhappy with our performance. When you win, everything feels fantastic, but I have a lot of experience in this case and it was obvious that a day will come when we will lose. Let us see, we were champions last season, and there is one thing that is a coincidence, no team has won back-to-back titles in the Hero ISL. Maybe, now I know the answer to why no team has won back-to-back titles. In our case, my players do not seem hungry to repeat last year's feat," Hyderabad FC head coach Manolo Marquez said in a post-match press conference.
Talking about how his team will recover from this loss, he said, "If you play football, you have to stay motivated. When I played football, my coach never motivated me, and if you are not motivated after being champions last season, then maybe you have to change the team or maybe you have to play another sport."
"We need to find the same behaviour as last season, but now it seems a bit different after two defeats. When you win the games, Hyderabad FC is a fantastic team, but the reality is that we are not playing well. My father always taught me that without self-criticism there can be no improvement. We will do it," he further added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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