NEW DELHI: Ahead of the new season, not many would have betted on Hyderabad FC being the only club from the south to be in the reckoning for an ISL playoffs spot.
Last season, the club finished last, their coach left three months prior to the start of the new season and a majority of their foreign players got injured right at the start of the current campaign. Despite all this, the Nizams sit pretty at the fourth place and also announced that they are extending the contract of coach Manuel Manolo Marquez for another two seasons.
It has been a successful season so far and co-owner Varun Tripuraneni explained that the process had started at the end of last season and former coach Alberto Roca had played a crucial role in recruiting young Indian players. And Marquez continued the development work by giving these young hungry Indians a platform to showcase their talent.
"Albert knew the league and players fairly well. Roca did play a crucial role in the process of rebuilding the squad. Initially, we were in shock when we heard that Albert wanted to leave. We tried to convince him but understood that offer that was on his hands. We knew it was going to be a challenge on and off the pitch, when we put together the franchise. We hardly had time to work on many aspects at the club. We just wanted to get through the season and did not have too many expectations. Unfortunately, we finished bottom but we were confident of the new season as we already had plans in place for it. The recent resurgence is no real shock for me as we have been working on this from December 2019," Tripuraneni said.
And the faith shown in youngsters has seen the likes of their two full-backs, 19-year-old Akash Mishra, 21-year-old Asish Rai, and 22-year-old trickster Liston Colaco to name a few shine in the league. Pundits and rival team coaches have also praised the club for their handling of the young Indian players along with the emphasis on playing attractive attacking football while keeping the ball on the ground. This is even more impressive considering the Spaniard got very little time to get the players used to the style in which he wants to play.
"The quality of football in the country has always been there. But as a youngster, you only improve if you get chances and that is what the ISL is giving to the players in this country. You have to train hard everyday and take your chances when they arrive. I don’t really differentiate the players on their seniority or if they are foreign players. If you show that you are ready, you deserve a chance. Not just the players playing regularly, I have a really good group of Indian players and I am happy with what they have done in this season so far. We have to play according to the players we have. If you look at our team, we don't have many physical players. On the contrary, we have players who like to play with the ball. That's where our style comes from. Although our pre-season was short, the players worked really hard and that is what helped the most," Tripuraneni observed.
The goal is to make the knockout stages and with four matches left, the Nizams have 23 points in their kitty and are currently on their longest unbeaten run.
Even though Manolo wants to take it one match at a time, he has already started preparing for the next season.
"We don't look at the table as of now. We're playing back-to-back games with short gaps, and all the teams are tired in terms of the physical aspect. The schedule is the same for all the teams and a lot of things can change. There’s a lot of competition in the league, so at the moment we’re only taking it game by game. I am very happy to extend my contract with Hyderabad FC because I think that it is a very good project. The atmosphere here is great. The continuity at the club, with players as well as the staff is really good. When things are working well, you should not change much, so I am very pleased to sign the new contract. Sometimes the second year is more difficult than the first. This season, we are a surprise to the league but next season, I am sure will not be the same. There will be more pressure, but if we work hard, and strive to improve like we did in this season, we can surely have a good season, next year as well," he signed off.
The Nizams face off against SC East Bengal on Friday.