MBC: Coach, we had a great line up with Baichung & Barreto spearheading the attack. We had a great start, with a lot of flair, rushed our way through the top in the Kolkata League, crushing East Bengal whenever we met them, came quite close to winning the inaugural I-League, and also put a decently fighting show in the IFA Shield. Now, looking back in retrospect, how would you rate the season? Are you satisfied?

CARLOS: See, when I came to Mohun Bagan, I had quite a challenge on my platter. We had a new team, with most of the integral positions being taken by players who were donning the Bagan jersey for the first team or coming back to Bagan after a long time. Look at my defence line – Manju, Odafe, Habibur, Peter Siddique, Maria & Deepak. The midfield comprised of James, Venkatesh, Dharamjit, Douglas; and then Baichung and Barreto. Maria and Deepak got injured and I didn’t get their services too much. So basically I was left with only Baichung & Barreto who were in the team last season. So, it took a lot of time to get them working as a team and to set the ball rolling. Playing defensive doesn’t suit a team like Mohun Bagan, and hence I also advocated the attacking style of play and I found that my boys responded well. Overall, I would say I expected more from myself, but the thing is, you need to stick to the same set of team and coach for more than one season in order to get the combination working, for example look at Dempo, they are getting success primarily because of this. In fact that is the suggestion which I gave to Debashis (Debashis Dutta – Treasurer, Mohun Bagan AC) – keep the core of the team intact for the next season! Even If I stay or not, team will get success for sure.

MBC: What exactly happened halfway through the season? We finished off the Kolkata League in style, but then tripped at the start of the I-League. What do you think caused that?

CARLOS: Overconfidence! Nothing else! Players became relaxed and over confident. Also we had very little time for practice before I league after finishing Kolkata league. There should be sufficient time before the most important tournament of India. I think we also made another mistake, we should have gone for residential camp, this would have surely helped. Talking about overconfidence, players were jubilant after beating EB two times handsomely and just having won KPL and they thought that they would easily defeat Viva Kerala and JCT but unfortunately though we dominated due to missed chances and some defensive lapses we lost the two matches. We really lost focus in first few matches though in second round we won six matches in a row but just could reach top, main reason being the poor performance in first three matches and also the loss against Sporting Clube in the second round.

MBC: Is it? Was the reason only overconfidence? Or was it that our team failed to gauge the difference between the standards of Viva Kerala-JCT and Port Trust-Chirag?

CARLOS: Overconfidence certainly was the main reason. But yes, we need to accept the fact that there is a huge difference between the standard of Kolkata League teams and the I-League teams. Viva Kerala & Peerless-Port Trust are fathoms apart. No doubt about that.

MBC: So, does it mean that the Kolkata League was easy for us?

CARLOS: Oh no no! Not at all! When we play the Kolkata League, we aimed to win it and so does East Bengal and even Md.Sporting. But when the small teams play the league, the only aim which they have is to beat Mohun Bagan or East Bengal! That’s the only motivation they have. So a match against us becomes like a teeth clenching final match for them, and thus it becomes quite tough to beat them! This holds true for I league also where 4-5 teams they target big teams like Dempo, Mohun Bagan and want to perform very well that day and takes that match as THE match while for Mohun Bagan, winning the title is the prime moto but unfortunately we could not win this time.

 

MBC: How did you bring the momentum back in the I-League after initial setback?

CARLOS: I told them not to be complacent and over confident. I told them to think match by match and that every match was a final for us. They boys responded well, and worked as a team and our defense also played really well later on and with some luck we could have taken home the League!

MBC: Teams from Bengal have been found lacking when it comes to the big stage. Be it the National League or even the IFA Shield, leaving aside the occasional flash in the pan – Fed Cup. To what would you attribute this to?

CARLOS: Yes yes, this is a trend which I have been noticing. Goan teams keep their coach and squad intact for a long time. Just look at Dempo and other Goan teams! Look at the young Churchill side! Such efforts are bound to reap dividends. We also need to bring more professionalism into the football structure over here. Organising a tournament like IFA Shield at the fag end of the season makes no point at all! It loses all its importance! And that’s why I called it stupid. I did not mean to insult the tournament and I cleared this issue with Mr.Ganguly (Utpal Ganguly) too. Another important thing is before the season Federation should declare the full fixture of the year, sometimes we don’t even know what match we will have to play next week, this will not help, proper planning have to be made.

 

MBC: The pre-season camp was at our Durgapur Academy? How did you find it?

CARLOS: Oh it’s a great set up over there. Things like these will improve the standards of Indian football. And the concept of Academy is very important! It brings the sense of belonging and family feeling in a players mind. Wherever a player plays, he shall always remember that his family is still his Academy. For example, I started my early days at Vasco, and I still feel that its my home! The more this kind of Academy is set up in India, the more it will be better for Indian football as new talents will come up from these places.

MBC: How would you rate the team this year? And what would you say about the new talents and prodigies in our team?

CARLOS: We have a very good team and we need to stick to it. Barreto, Baichung, Douglas, Manju, Venkatesh, Dipak, Dharamjit and all are very, very good players. Young players like Rahul Kumar, Lalampuia, Ishfaq and others are coming up very well. Gobin is a great player too! He has a very intelligent mind and it was sad that he injured himself at the start of the League. In fact, I have requested officials to keep most of the players of the team including Rahul, Gobin.

MBC: Coach, there is a complaint against you that the changes & substitutions which you make during a game are very predictable and of a preset nature. For example, bringing James as a side back half way through the game, substituting Dharamjit and Habibur, recent example being IFA Shield semi final where u substituted Habibur. Why is it so ?

CARLOS: What other options did I have? Tell me? Habibur needs to up his fitness more to be a 90 mins player, and he doesn’t like playing on the left side. So that’s why James was brought down to the right back position. I have to act according to the needs of my team!

MBC: How sweet were the repeated victories against East Bengal? You seem to have made a habit of trashing them whenever you see them !

CARLOS: Ah! It felt great! And I think (with a huge smile)you saw how I reacted after each of those victories!

MBC: Any difference that you felt between Mohun Bagan & East Bengal

CARLOS: Mohun Bagan is like a close knit family. There is a sense of togetherness which was absent in East Bengal. Also, there is a lot more freedom in Mohun Bagan, and a lot more fanaticism !

MBC: So, what next ?

CARLOS: I don’t know… I heard from the media that Bagan will have a new coach, but will sit down with the officials after we return from Mauritius and after 17th you can all know about my future. I do have some good offers from India and as well as UAE. Let’s see. But even if Bagan doesn’t keep me, I don’t have any complaints! No hard feelings! I will be wishing them best of luck for next season.

MBC: Any message for the fans?

CARLOS: Yes, the really like the fans in Kolkata very much. They are very much like the fans in Brazil. I really rate the football fans of Kolkata very highly. My wife was surprised by seeing the enthusiasm among common people for football in Kolkata but yes I have something to say. Whenever a team does not perform well, yes the supporters has the right to feel upset but they should also be with team and support them instead of only abusing the players. The players and coach they want to win more than the fans do. Yes, if team performs repeatedly badly, fans surely can shout at us but throwing stones, no this is not tolerated anywhere in the World. This kind of physical attack can harm a player for life and his career will be at stake eg. Last year when I was in EB and we lost a match, supporters threw a huge stone at our physical instructor and it hit his jaw, 2-3 inches here and there, he would have to be hospitalized, this physical attack should be stopped. In other countries like Brazil, I know if supporters throw stones in their home matches, next 2-3 matches the team will be penalized and they will see the match away from home and even supporters of their might not be allowed to enter stadium, this happened in an Italian league match also few years back when a supporter had thrown stone at referee. I think regarding this, police and federation should be more strict and if once action is taken, then thinks will normalize. Apart from this, I salute the supporters of Kolkata. I know the very hand which throw stones are the same hands which throw garlands also (Laughing). Thanks for all you support.

Best of luck for the future and thanks a lot for the interview.

INTERVIEW: TRINANJAN SENGUPTA AND SHILADITYA MITRA