When I leave Goa, everyone can speak about the football we played, says Sergio Lobera
Head coach Sergio Lobera believes that when the time comes for him to leave FC Goa for good, people around will talk about the fluid brand of football they played. Even with a depleted squad, Lobera’s FC Goa side thrashed Chennaiyin FC 3-0 in their ISL 2019-20 season opener on Wednesday.
Two full seasons have come and gone since Zico’s counter-attacking style was replaced with the free-flowing attacking football implemented by Lobera. Although the ISL title eluded them in a heartbreaking-loss to Bengaluru FC in extra time last season, Lobera led them to Super Cup triumph in April — the club’s first silverware in their five-year history.
Entering his third season at FC Goa, who is touted as one of the favourites to go all the way this time around, Lobera was forced to field a depleted squad in their opener against Chennaiyin. Ahmed Jahouh, one of their most indispensable player was missing due to suspension, while Edu Bedia and Hugo Boumous — two creative players — were out injured. The Spaniard fielded went ahead with three foreigners in his starting eleven and an all-Indian bench consisting of four players from their development side.
And yet, they dished out a comfortable 3-0 win, booming with Lobera’s signature style of football that he hopes to leave behind as his legacy. “When I leave Goa, everyone can speak about the football we played. What brings me joy is when people enjoy the full ninety minutes rather than just celebrating the three points at the final result. The best trophy for me is when people in India speak about our style and want to watch us play more." Lobera said to Scroll.in just before the start of the season.
"For others, trophies may be the objective but the right way to win is by displaying entertaining football. For me, success is to keep evolving and getting better as a team,” he added.
Perhaps the most challenging times for the Spaniard was during the first season when he persisted with his possession-based philosophy even though results didn’t come his way. And Lobera himself admits that the hardest part of his job, even today, remains in the part where he has to get his players on board with his philosophy.
“It is very important for me as a coach to maintain honesty and make the players believe in our style. Sometimes when one player commits an individual mistake and if you don’t give them that confidence as a coach, he won’t continue in the same way,” he explained.
“If I ask goalkeeper, centre-backs to build play (from the back) and if they commit a mistake it is easy for them to not repeat the same thing and resort to playing long balls. But when the players commit a mistake it is because they try to play in my style and this is the most difficult thing – winning the players’ belief over the individual situations,” he said.
Lobera has made up for the lack of a star-studded foreign group by identifying and developing a strong set of home-talent with sound technique on the ball. And with that crop of six foreigners and a host of upcoming Indians, he has set out to fulfil an objective no team has yet to achieve.
“Our objective is to win two trophies in the same season, which no one has done. But the most important thing is to maintain continuity in the way we play, our hard work and the belief in the team. It is not possible to compare last season with this season because the level of other teams has increased,” Lobera added.
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