Ratchaburi FC currently sit in 11th place in the Thai League, having collected 9 points from their opening 8 games. However, that hasn’t stopped former manager Manolo Marquez from making a bold claim: “in my opinion, Ratchaburi can win the Championship”
Marquez took charge of Ratchaburi before the start of the current season, only to depart the club before the campaign began due to personal reasons. His replacement, Francesc Bosch, failed to hit the ground running, and in turn was replaced by former Monaco and Lausanne boss Marco Simone.
“If he is the boss they can achieve big results,” admits Marquez. However, he adds that it is crucial that the higher-ups at the club “leave Marco Simone to work.”
This is a bold claim, but Marquez cites the strength of the Dragons’ squad as the key reason why they could pull off such a feat. “They have three fantastic players in attack: Kang Soo-Il, Yannick Boli and Steeven Langil. If the rest of the team is full of workers, they can win every game like yesterday” he said, the day after Ratchaburi overcame PTT Rayong with an impressive 3-1 away victory.
However, replicating that feat this weekend may be a fair bit tougher. Ratchaburi welcome defending champions Buriram United to the Mitr Phol stadium, looking to send out a statement against the Thai League giants.
“Buriram is a great team, even though they lost Diogo [Luis Santo] this season,” Marquez admits. “They have Asian Champions game in China and this is a handicap, but they are one of the favorite teams in Thailand.” However, the Spanish coach urges his former troops not to be daunted by the task ahead. “In my opinion, if Ratchaburi plays a good game, they can win.”
As for his own future, coach Marquez remains unable to commit, but has glowing praise for the country he recently departed. “I love Thailand; the people and the atmosphere with the players was fantastic,” he added. “I want to coach in Thailand in the future, but now, sadly, it’s not possible.”
Whether or not Ratchaburi can fulfil the lofty praise of their former boss remains to be seen, but their match this weekend could go quite far in determining if they’re up for the challenge.