Jose Molina isn’t at Mohun Bagan Super Giant to win fair-play trophies or awards. All that the Spaniard wants is to guide the team to the ISL crown.
The winners of the ISL Shield in the 2023-24 season have had several of their players booked in the six games they have played so far this edition. That barely worries Molina.
“Flashing the yellow card is the referee’s decision. It can be right or wrong. Both. Also, we have enough good players to change if anyone misses out. So, I don’t worry about that.
“However, that’s not the point. I don’t want to win the fair play trophy. I want to win the ISL trophy. I’m not telling my players to kill the opposition players. We always want to play fair. But as I said, the yellow card is the referee’s decision. And, Mohun Bagan have brought me here to win the ISL trophy, not the fair play one,” Molina told select media at the club tent on Tuesday.
In his first news conference following his appointment as Bagan’s head coach, Molina stressed the importance of making an impression in AFC Champions League II. He’s obviously disappointed as his team will not be able to take part in the current edition of the AFC league. The Asian Football Confederation had “recognised” Bagan’s pullout from their clash in Iran last month as a case of force majeure.
“Coaching Mohun Bagan in both the AFC league and the ISL was even more prestigious because I wanted to prove that an Indian team can be strong at the Asian level too. Anyway, we’ve to forget that now, focus on the ISL and try again next year for AFC,” the 54-year-old said.
Elaborating on his coaching philosophy, the former Atletico Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper said he falls back on the experience of his playing days which helps in dealing with the players. “I can understand better now as to what the players are thinking about my decisions.
“I have always wanted to be fair to all the players ever since I started coaching, taking the decisions that are best for the team. I can understand players are not sometimes happy with my decisions, but I try my best to be as fair as possible. The coach, too, is judged by the players, so being able to convince your players about a particular decision that’s beneficial for the team is just as significant,” Molina, who has played alongside Fernando Hierro (for both Spain and Real Madrid) and current Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni (for Deportivo), explained.
Tiki-taka tweaks
Molina had also been sporting director of the Royal Spanish Football Federation from 2018-22. At the time, he worked with current Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, then Spain’s U-21 manager, on the minor tweaks they needed to bring in to the tiki-taka style of play.
“One of the first things I did was to update the style of play of the national team,” he said.
“We were updating the style on possession of the ball, ball control, attacking style, passing and trying to be a little bit more flexible in certain moments of the matches, and so were looking for players for that kind of play. We wanted to be clear about our style and the players we needed to adapt to it as football is about constant evolution.
“As for the tiki-taka, it has evolved. It’s still pretty much there, but in some moments, we’ve learnt that we have to be more direct and not play too many passes that allow the opponents to close in. Against Morocco and Japan (in the 2022 World Cup), the team suffered. It was then decided that the style needs a bit of change ... Can’t just keep on playing too many passes.”
