PANAJI
Five games into ISL 4, FC Goa are perched comfortably atop the 10-team table and one of the significant reasons has been the quality they bring on field from the bench. One such impact player is Manuel Arana, who had an impressive super-sub performance in their last match against Delhi Dynamos. The Goan caught up with the 33-year-old Spanish midfielder ahead of the match against FC Pune City. Excerpts:
Q: More often than not you have come off the bench to play in the last quarter of a game. How do you look at
Arana: I try to keep myself in the best shape possible and train to the maximum. When the coach needs me on the field, I am readily available. Obviously I want to play as much as possible in the first XI.
I am happy to go when the coach needs me from the bench and make an impact. I try and push myself.
Q: You have played along the flanks, and also right midfield. Which is your preferred position?
Arana: With ISL, it does not matter to me. I have played few games in the middle as well.
Left or right wing is my preference. It does not matter which side I come on.
Q: What made you decide to come to India and play in the ISL?
Arana: I have played a long time in Spain. For the first time, last season, I stepped out to play in Australia (Brisbane Roar) and it was an experience I really liked. I wanted to try different things.
For example, when the offer came to play in the ISL, I decided it was a team (FC Goa) I wanted to play, in a different league and have a different opportunity. I am at a stage of my career where I want to try different things.
In Spain, I have done everything that I wanted to do. And this (to play in ISL) was an opportunity where I could try out something different in a new country.
Q: What was the different opportunity that prompted you to come here and play in the ISL?
Arana: To be honest, last year when I was considering my options this was an option that particularly attracted me. When I finished my season in Australia (2016-17), I was looking somewhere where I had the time to get myself into shape, come into a league, and get into a match at 100 percent.
This was the league which offered me the opportunity as it is not as big as the rest of the leagues in Europe. It would allow me more time to get myself back in the best possible shape and play.
So far from what I see in Goa as compared to other cities in the country, things are very different and it is very relaxed. The experience thus far has been generally very positive.
Q: Having played in top divisions in Spain, what was the challenge presented when you moved to Australia?
Arana: It is difficult to be away from your family and motherland. But Australia was something which positively surprised me with the standard of their football. When I was there, it was not a very long league like the rest of Europe.
It had only 10 teams that played thrice against each rather than on home and away basis. It was an experience that I enjoyed. After having played in the second division in Spain which is considerably taxing on the body as you are playing so many games, I wanted to look for something different. I wanted an adventure. When I got the opportunity with Brisbane Roar, my family helped me decide that this was what I should take up.
Q: In your club career, if you could single out a goal as your most memorable...
Arana: It is little difficult to pick one. The goal I scored for Recreativo de Huelva from a long distance out is something I remember well as it was my eighth goal in my 11th consecutive game. We were first on the table at that point.
Q: What is the USP of FC Goa?
Arana: The team as a whole is a collective effort. A lot of things have come together for us to go in the direction that we have. The players know exactly what to do under the coach's guidance. We know when we have to play defensively, in midfield or in the attack. When everything is going in one direction, things are obviously bound to go on track. We look to keep going until the rest of the season as well and our focus is on that. So far, things have gone well and we want to keep working in that direction.
Q: On the experience working with coach Sergio Lobera...
Arana: I did not know him personally in Spain until working with him here. He has a certain style he wants us to play. It is very similar to the youth system in Barcelona, a game in which he wants to keep possession of the ball a lot. So far things are working well.
Q: Thoughts on the FC Goa fan-base at home ...
Arana: I am very happy how the fans have come out and supported us in our two games here so far. In Spain, they do not always support you. But here, they support in unison, even on the streets. People come and ask for photos with us. Hopefully, we stay as high up in the table and give them as much as happiness as possible.
