Bambolim, Hyderabad FC will be hosting the Bengaluru FC for their 4th game of the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-2022 season on Wednesday at the Athletic Stadium
here in Goa.
Hyderabad FC head coach Manuel Marquez warned his players of Bengaluru FC’s attacking
threat and urged them to be consistent in their game, as his side faces the Blues in their fourth
game.
Marquez admired his Bengaluru counterpart, Marco Pezzaiuoli’s style of play and hinted on a compelling game on Wednesday.
Hyderabad FC have drawn, won, and lost a game apiece in their last three matches. Taking
positives from the draw against Jamshedpur FC in the last match, the 53-year-old praised his
team’s efforts in the second half and wants them to put more effort in the upcoming games.
“They have some big names in Indian football and personally, they have some young players
that will be significant in the future. I like their style of play; they play quality football, and their
coach is brave too. They attack with a lot of players, and I believe it will be an interesting game
for sure,” coach Marquez said while addressing the media ahead of the match.
“Every team in ISL is unique. For example, we played the first game against Chennai and in
that game, we were ten men behind the ball all the time. Mumbai is a team that wants to play
every ball. Jamshedpur is fight, fight, fight, and fight,” he said.
“Bengaluru are threatening when it comes to attack, they arrive with several of their players to
the opponent’s box, but then again, every game is going to be a difficult one. So, we have to find
our consistency and not change our plan specifically because we’re playing against Bengaluru,” Marquez said.
“I think against several teams we need to find consistency, but we can’t say anything now,
we’ll look after this towards the end of the season, in the last five-six games,” he said.
Marquez said,”The positive thing is the reaction of the team in the second half. Usually, when
you play a decent first half, you don’t play at the same level in the second half, usually you are
angry at the end of the game. We can react well, like when we won against Mumbai and also
when we drew against Jamshedpur, so for me these are the positives.”
“They played a good game against NorthEast and had doubts against Kerala and now they lost
their last game. But I agree with their coach that it was their best game. In my opinion, they deserved
to win in the first half but then again if you’re playing against Mumbai and you are playing a good
game, but you are losing, it’s difficult,” he said.
Marquez said, “Ogbeche has scored close to 40 goals in the four seasons that he has played with four different teams. We can expect goals from him. Two goals in three games are great figures for a centre-forward.”
“Usually, I prefer to score first because then you can play with order and the other team has to
attack. During the game against Mumbai, they scored first, and we quickly equalised. Against Jamshedpur, they scored close to half-time, we spoke in the half-time as to how we could play in the second-half. But it’s football, you have to continue playing even if the opponent scores, let’s hope we score first tomorrow,” he added.
On the other, Bengaluru FC head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli called for improvements in their
defence, ahead of their match against Hyderabad FC.
Having won the first match against NorthEast United FC, the Blues have collected just one point in the last three matches, having lost with identical scorelines against Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC.
Pezzaiuoli said, “It will be a difficult game against Hyderabad FC, they did well against Mumbai City FC, they have a mix of good youngsters, who played in the U23 Indian side, and also experienced and foreign players. They know how they want to play, they make good transitions, they have quick players, they have experienced players like Ogbeche (Bartholomew). Also good players for headers in set-pieces. It is a good team I think, one of the better teams in the league."
“We played our best game so far against Mumbai City FC. We played according to our style - that
is to get the ball back as soon as possible, that’s what we did. We pressed very high, we got the ball good and fast, the counter pressing was good in the last game. I asked the players to do it better,
come as fast as possible behind the defence line, which they did also,” he said.
“We created chances from the beginning. What I am not happy with the Mumbai City FC game was the defending and set-pieces part, because the first goal which we conceded and the penalty, we could have defended better,” Pezzaiuoli said.
“If you watch the game between Mumbai and ATK, the referee's decision influences the game, and similarly the penalties have influenced our games. We invest a lot, and those moments can win us games,” he added.