Karim's Interview
Salgaocar SC sits pretty at the top of the I-League table on 46 points from 20 matches. But coach Karim Bencherifa isn’t in any mood to celebrate right now. Insisting that there’s a lot of football left to be played, Bencherifa stresses on his ‘four legs’, which, according to him, have been the backbone of Salgaocar’s success this season.
Excerpts from an interview given to AIFF.com
Salgaocar has been going great guns right now. What do you attribute it to?
It all boils down to the four legs. My players, their fitness levels, the strategy and our team spirit are my four legs. A team cannot function properly if the four legs are not functional at the same time. Eleven players need to think as one single individual on the field. And we have been able to do it so far.
Prior to the start of the season almost everyone had dismissed former AIFF Player-of-the-Year Tomba Singh as a spent force. How did you manage to bring him back into the mainstream?
I shouldn’t be taking credit for Tomba’s revival. You need to credit him for that. All I had to do was bring back his confidence and that has given the right boost. You need to have a specific plan for everyone and define a role for them.
Over the years you have transformed the careers of many an unknown entity – right from Odafa to Naoba Singh to Tomba. Where did you get this Midas touch from?
I told you, it’s all about the players. But you need to add Gourmangi Singh, James Singh and Manish Maithani to that list. Once you invest in a player, you need to back him to the hilt. I feel winning trophies isn’t everything in a coach’s life. Ask any coach, he will tell you, the maximum satisfaction in the job lies in promoting youngsters.
You have been associated with Indian football for long. How have you seen the I-League evolve as a brand?
The deal with IMG-Reliance couldn’t have come at a better time. The quality of matches over the last two years has improved. The pace of the game is bound to strike you and the present bunch of players is also much fitter. Indian football is bridging the gap for sure.
You have come so close to the I-League but haven’t been able to finish on the winning side as yet. Do you see Lady Luck smiling on you?
There’s a lot of football still to be played. All I want to say is that success in football is not all about action on the field. Of course, the players go and perform on the field but one just can’t deny the role of my support staff who have been working behind the scenes. The management also needs to be lauded for giving us a free-hand.
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Excerpts from an interview given to AIFF.com
Salgaocar has been going great guns right now. What do you attribute it to?
It all boils down to the four legs. My players, their fitness levels, the strategy and our team spirit are my four legs. A team cannot function properly if the four legs are not functional at the same time. Eleven players need to think as one single individual on the field. And we have been able to do it so far.
Prior to the start of the season almost everyone had dismissed former AIFF Player-of-the-Year Tomba Singh as a spent force. How did you manage to bring him back into the mainstream?
I shouldn’t be taking credit for Tomba’s revival. You need to credit him for that. All I had to do was bring back his confidence and that has given the right boost. You need to have a specific plan for everyone and define a role for them.
Over the years you have transformed the careers of many an unknown entity – right from Odafa to Naoba Singh to Tomba. Where did you get this Midas touch from?
I told you, it’s all about the players. But you need to add Gourmangi Singh, James Singh and Manish Maithani to that list. Once you invest in a player, you need to back him to the hilt. I feel winning trophies isn’t everything in a coach’s life. Ask any coach, he will tell you, the maximum satisfaction in the job lies in promoting youngsters.
You have been associated with Indian football for long. How have you seen the I-League evolve as a brand?
The deal with IMG-Reliance couldn’t have come at a better time. The quality of matches over the last two years has improved. The pace of the game is bound to strike you and the present bunch of players is also much fitter. Indian football is bridging the gap for sure.
You have come so close to the I-League but haven’t been able to finish on the winning side as yet. Do you see Lady Luck smiling on you?
There’s a lot of football still to be played. All I want to say is that success in football is not all about action on the field. Of course, the players go and perform on the field but one just can’t deny the role of my support staff who have been working behind the scenes. The management also needs to be lauded for giving us a free-hand.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.the-aiff.com/pages/news/index.php?interView=more">http://www.the-aiff.com/pages/news/inde ... rView=more</a><!-- m -->
Comments
Anyway, best of luck to Karim and his boys especially Yusif (except against EB of course). It is good to see Salgaokar doing well after a long period. They are the original goan giants and along with Dempo it is important that they continue to do well.
09.06.2011 : S. MITRA. KFC | www. kolkatafootball.com
KFC :- Congrats coach on being I league Champion. How does you feel?
Karim :- The feeling is, of course, great. I am satisfied with the performance of everybody in my team and I am grateful to everyone who put in the effort to make this happen.
Q.KFC :- You have been twice unlucky in the past, but this time with a team which has only one superstar, Yakubu, Salgaocar became the Champion. What is the recipe of this success?
Karim :- To win trophies, you need harmony and understanding among all the team members and also you need some luck at times, be it with Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan or Salgaocar we did reach that level of positive ambiance and with the 3 clubs I have won different trophies and that gave me great satisfaction and happiness.
Q.KFC :- Last year when you became the coach of Salgaocar, the team was in the relegation zone and this year the team has emerged Champion in I league. As a coach, how did you manage this amazing turn of event?
Karim :- It is indeed an amazing turnaround. I came to Salgaocar after end of 1 st leg and we finished in the 6 th position at the end. In fact, it was only Dempo who collected more points than us in the 2nd leg. And this season we were consistent throughout holding on the top since round 13 th. I believe in team work and I think everybody was pulling in the same direction. We definitely had the best team spirit among all I- league clubs and that's the key to our success. Even the supporting staff and management gave us very good support throughout.
Q.KFC :- You always have the knack of producing good footballers like you did in the past while in Churchill and Mohun Bagan. Which players of Salgaocar you feel has the chance of making it big in the future?
Karim :- I always say that trophies is only for me and my club but producing players is for Indian football and that makes me more happy. At start of the season, I did not have any national team player (James, Baldeep and Govin joined only at start of the 2 nd leg). At the end of the season, 7 players from Salgaocar got National team call, out of which 6 players got chance for the first time. This gave me a lot of satisfaction as a coach. Now, who will make it big will depend on the player himself, how hard he is willing to work and make sacrifices for his career, but many of them have the potential to reach the top and play successfully for many more years, both for country and club.
Q.KFC :- You changed position of Tomba Singh from right half to central midfield this year which worked wonders for your team. What other strategies, you feel, reaped a huge benefit for your team? Karim :- The ability of the players to adapt to different positions and new tactics and new systems is one of the qualities I look for in players. A good player is not only about skills and fitness, it is also and mainly about intelligence and mental toughness and that was one of our assets this season. Tomba is an example, among others Sueoka and Yakubu played both in forward and midfield. As and when required, I changed their position, even sometimes during the match also and they adapted quite nicely to their new position. Also, Rino Anto played both right and left back, Francis and Gilbert played in both right and left half etc.
Q.KFC :- You had been in Kolkata for around 2 years. Do you feel pressure from media, supporters and officials takes a toll on the players?
Karim :- It is normal when you have huge fan base with high expectations that there will be immense pressure on the coach and players. This is a normal situation and coaches and players have to deal with it in a proper way. As I explained to you above, a good player is one who has mental toughness and who can handle pressure to give his best in the field. The most important thing is that all this should be handled in a professional way. Things should not get out of hand and become personal from all parties concerned.
Q.KFC :-The main reason of Goan teams performing better than Kolkata teams, over the last few years in I league, is because there are a lot of good local players coming up from Goan academies. Do you agree? What are the other factors? What advice would you give to the Kolkata clubs so that they can pull up their socks and started performing better in all India level tournaments?
Karim :- I must agree that youth development of Salgaocar is good and there is a big number of kids playing and training regularly with a dream to reach the senior team. But for me the main reason is the continuity and trust that some clubs like Salgaocar put in their players and coaches. It is simply impossible to get results and ultimatly trophies by changing the squad and technical staff every season or at times many times in the season.
Q.KFC :- Until the last round, most of the critics and many players refused to chose Salgaocar as the probable champion, though you were placed in the top position from start of 2 nd leg. Did this work as a extra motivation?
Karim :- Yes, you are right, we did notice that and I think this worked in our favour, as some teams did underestimate us and some others did not even notice us. Thought it was a bit strange as we were at the top of the league table since round 13 , but still 90 % of the critics predicted other teams to become champion. We did come in the picture for those people only when we beat East Bengal in Goa. But yes, in a way, it was good as we played under less pressure and reached our goal. Now, since we have become the Champion of I league, I am sure things will be different next season and there will be lot of expectation from us and we will have to prepare for that and see how to deal with the pressure.
Q.KFC :- Best match of Salgaocar in the I league?
Karim :- Many matches were good; beating Churchill Brothers, Dempo and Chirag was a great achievement but the memorable one was our great comeback to beat East Bengal 3-2 after trailing 2-0.
Q.KFC :- Did you felt disappointed after any match this year, as a coach?
Karim :- I think losing to Air India and Mumbai FC was very disappointing. In these two matches, our performance was not up to the mark, those were the matches in crucial stage of the league, otherwise we could have won the league few rounds before, though these things can happen in a marathon league.
Q.KFC :- After winning which match this year you felt satisfied as a coach?
Karim :- Every win gave me a lot of satisfaction, it was never easy and I must be grateful to all my players for that. We won a record of 18 matches and ended up with a record 56 points. It is not easy, so we have lot of moments of joy and satisfaction.
Q.KFC :- This year, I league was a very well contested one, after which round you felt confident of winning the I league?
Karim :- As I said, we could have won it much before the last round, but we lost few games at crucial times and this brought other teams to compete with us. But after beating East Bengal, we felt that the title is ours.
Q.KFC :- Though football is a team game and every player of Salgaocar has performed well this year, can you chose the best 5 performers of your team this year?
Karim :- My answer will go to a larger scale because the team performance depend of the input of everybody on and off the field. So my five names will be (A). My players (B). Support Staff (C).Team Management (D). Our fans, and most importantly last but not least Our Chairman. All theses people performed their duties at the highest level.
Q.KFC :- What are your plans for 2011-12 season? Who are the new recruits for your team?
Karim :- We have big plans for the next season, we want to do honorably well in AFC Cup and stay firm leaders of indian football. To start with, we are retaining the main performers of this season (15 plus 4 youngsters), the only player whom I wanted but I lost was Yakubu, as he had other project and I do understund his wish. We also signed some experienced quality players such as Chidi, Ishfaq, Mehraj and Rahul Kumar. We also signed some exciting youngsters like Dinesh, Gagandip, Vivek, Biswajit Saha, Kartick Kisku, Randeep, Balwant, Dada Nabil. And I will promote few youngsters from the youth teams.
Q.KFC :- Have you signed a two year deal with Salgaocar? Is there any chance of Karim Bencherifa returning to Kolkata in the future?
Karim :- Of course, Kolkata offer passion, zeal and pressure that is required to perform at the highest level possible. I still have a good bonding with the football fans there. I have a good professional relationship with officials of the clubs, and I know that the football community hold me in high esteem and respect me as a person. So without a doubt I will be looking for the challenge at the right time. At the moment, I am having a project in hand that of helping to make Salgaocar SC the best club in the country. I did sign a 2 years deal with Salgaocar SC and I made sure that 99 % of the players are also on a minimum 2 years contracts to maintain a good continuity.
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