Hyderabad FC’s Souvik Chakrabarti has given credit to head coach Manuel Marquez for his success at the club. Marquez is known to get the best out of his players and he had played a key role in taking Hyderabad FC to glory in the previous season.
Chakrabarti said not only the Spaniard guides the young players on the right track but also admitted that the veteran has played an instrumental role in his upward rise in the game.
In fact, the 30-year-old from Kolkata had started as career as a midfielder. But, Chakrabarti was asked to play as a full-back by different clubs. However, Marquez asked Chakrabarti to once again play in the midfield for Hyderabad FC, where he excelled. The midfielder made 16 appearances in the previous season for the club, providing two assists and had played a key role in taking them to championship.
“Coach Manolo has unearthed plenty of young talent, so most people think he’s only good with youngsters. But trust me, he manages senior players like me equally well,” Chakrabarti told Sportskeeda.com in an interview.
“He’s a great human being and always stands by his players. On the field, he’s very serious but off it, he loves to have fun with us. I haven’t seen many coaches in the ISL who are tactically as strong. I had been deployed as a full-back since 2015, but coach Manolo moved me back into midfield. He deserves full credit for my success,” he added.
Chakrabarti reckons winning the title with Hyderabad FC was special as it came outside Kolkata.
“The ISL win was very special as I won it outside Bengal. Winning trophies with Kolkata clubs can put you under the spotlight, but winning outside your comfort zone is more challenging,” he said.
The midfielder added that the team doesn’t hit the panic buttons after conceding a goal and they always try to come up with a collective effort. In fact, Hyderabad had equalised against Kerala Blasters FC in the final in the fag end of the game and then went on to win on penalties.
“It depends on a team’s mindset. The best thing about Hyderabad is that nobody panics after conceding a goal. The team doesn’t rely on just one individual, we play a team game,” Chakrabarti said.
“Coach Manolo has complete control over the team and he’s a master tactician. His half-time speeches were very inspiring and he made us work very hard in training to capitalise on set-pieces,” he added.
