New SC East Bengal Coach Jose Manuel ‘Manolo’ Diaz Takes Charge With Eye on Kolkata Derby vs ATK Mohun Bagan
SC East Bengal will be playing their second season in the Indian Super League (ISL) come November with new coach Jose Manuel ‘Manolo’ Diaz asserting that he and his team will be giving it their all.
Preparations are underway in Goa for the ‘red and gold’ brigade with pre-season friendly wins over Vasco SC (3-1) and Salgaocar FC (2-0). Diaz, whose last job was with the Real Madrid B team, replaced Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler as the new SCEB boss.
When he was asked, during his first media interaction as SCEB coach, what enticed him to join SC East Bengal, Diaz said: “I decided to come here because it (East Bengal) is a big club in India. Also, I had offers to continue in Spain but I wanted to get international experience. East Bengal is one of the most important clubs in India, 101 years old.”
Diaz’s assistant Angel Puebla, who was doubling up as his translator, said the idea is to bring a bit of the Real Madrid way to East Bengal.
“Both of us come from Real Madrid and thus have a strong mentality. This means that we will be looking to win every match,” Puebla said.
The duo have taken stock of the Indian contingent and are ‘happy’.
“At the moment, we are getting to know the players. We now have many players and we are testing them. In the coming weeks, we are going to finalise the squad,” Diaz said.
“We have a lot of skilful and quality players and I am happy with everyone’s hard work
“We have tested the Indian players in the two friendly matches we played. They have good skills. We have to improve the tactical movements in general and we are in the right away to achieve our objectives,” he added.
When asked about the Kolkata Derby, with SC East Bengal taking on arch-rival ATK Mohun Bagan on November 27, Diaz said he knows the importance of the game for the fans.
“The derby is a very important match. We want to win it not only for three points but also for the fans, to give them happiness. But we will also try and do well in all the 20 matches of the league. We are ready to win the derby, which is our second match of the season,” Diaz said.
SC East Bengal will open their ISL 2021-22 campaign on November 21 against Jamshedpur FC at the Tilak Maidan.
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