{"id":22063,"date":"2020-02-09T22:05:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T13:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/?p=22063"},"modified":"2020-02-09T22:05:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T13:05:42","slug":"tribe-talk-bangkok-united-boss-mano-polking-gearing-up-for-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/2020\/02\/09\/tribe-talk-bangkok-united-boss-mano-polking-gearing-up-for-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"TRIBE TALK: Bangkok United Boss Mano Polking Gearing Up for 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit – True Bangkok United Official<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This time last season, it was ‘now or never’ for Bangkok United, whose off-season investment warranted a title to show for all their efforts. Needless to say, things didn’t go as planned for the Angels, who ultimately came in fourth place and were knocked out of the semi-finals of the FA Cup.<\/p>\n

However, against widespread expectation, coach Mano Polking<\/strong> has chosen to remain at the club and fight once again for the trophy that the side has longed for. He spoke to Football Tribe’s Gian Chansrichawla<\/strong><\/a> and\u00a0Obb Deewajin<\/strong><\/a> about what he learned from last season, and what the club plans to take forward for the 2020 campaign.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I guess the best place to start is with the \u2018elephant in the room\u2019 shall we say – your decision to stay at the club. Previously you said that after a trophyless season you would consider leaving, but clearly the owner Khun Kajorn has shown huge faith in you. What made you decide to stay?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

When we made this statement, it was also meant to take the pressure off the players who were not in a good moment. We had just lost a game against Chonburi but we were still in the quarter-finals of the cup. I just wanted to tell the club, when I did that, that we are still going to fight until the end, but if in the end, if it is time to part ways because we don\u2019t have the trophies that we want, I am ok with that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The president asked if I was sure and I said of course. I still have two years left on my contract, but it\u2019s not about the contract. If in the end, we didn\u2019t get anything, you have already given me everything in my career. This club is the club that made my career. It was a good talk, and a good way to say look, if you don\u2019t win anything, because we invested a lot this season, we <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> go separate ways. It\u2019s not like we <\/span>need <\/span><\/i>to go, or I am resigning if we don\u2019t win, but I am just giving you the freedom to tell me \u2018look Mano, it\u2019s enough, we will try a different way.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So we kept fighting, and we lost [the FA Cup semi-final] on penalties, and it looked like I was going because of that statement. But we still had three games to play after that. And during that time we kept in touch and kept talking about the reasons why [we struggled]. I was also doing my analysis that we always do to finalize the season, about what went wrong, what went good, and why it didn\u2019t work out. In the end I had some meetings with the board, just to give him my report, and then two or three weeks later we met again and he asked: \u201cMano, what if you try one more time?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I said look boss, again, from my view I would try forever with you. Because what you want is the same thing that I want. And I really think that the club, sooner or later, will win something. Because I believe in what we are doing and the way we work as a club. But in the end, there is only one winner, of course, and it is not easy to say now that I\u2019ve spent a little bit more than usual, I <\/span>have <\/span><\/i>to be champion. Look, I <\/span>can <\/span><\/i>be the champion, but still, there are other teams there that want to be champion. At the same time, we knew that after all this investment, having a good squad, believing in ourselves, that we could get something. In the end, because we didn\u2019t get, it was always possible that I would go, but it is always the decision of the board. And like I said, <\/span>this<\/span><\/i> boss and <\/span>this <\/span><\/i>board, if they ask me to stay every year I will always say yes. Because I believe that the environment where I am and the club where I am is the best club for a football coach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Credit – True Bangkok United Official<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You said \u2018try one more time.\u2019 Last year, you seemed to organize a longer pre-season period because of the ACL qualifiers, but still lost to Hanoi FC. How did that result affect the players’ confidence leading into the new season?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, that was a big disappointment for us to lose that game. We know that Hanoi was a lot stronger than the people thought before. They proved that as well by going so [far] in the AFC Cup, to the semi-finals. They had all of these national team players from Vietnam who are doing very well until now, plus their foreigners who are good players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But again, we are also strong, we are preparing for that, we got all these new players with a huge expectation, with three national team players – Tristan Do, Peerapat and Anon, plus Bonilla, who was the second top scorer in the league. So the expectation was very high.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am happy that this year I don\u2019t have this game. And I am happy now that Thailand has two spots to go straight to the group. Because your whole pre-season is totally affected because of this one game, or possibly two. You have to start earlier, you have already big pressure from the first qualifying game, instead of just preparing for the start of the season. It is a different kind of preparation. It is much better that you really give everything, and win the championship, and go straight to the group to be in the Champions League, than [it is] to play this qualifier. Because you have to start earlier, you have the first game before the [league] season, and you have this expectation already to qualify.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We failed even in the first game, but the reality until now has been that since this rule was there, not one time a Thai team went to the group stage. Not one single time. And we\u2019ve tried 12 times and we\u2019ve failed all 12. So, what does this cause you? Stress! Because you are not qualifying, and not only Bangkok United. We are even more stupid, let me say, to not even win the first game! But even teams which win the first game, we have to go to Japan, to China, to Korea, one leg away game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This affected our confidence, we tried to recover from that and we didn\u2019t have a good start in the league. Drawing in Sukhothai in a game we should lose, already getting us a little bit shaky. But ok, then we beat Muangthong, at home, it was good. But then came Buriram, and we lost in the last minute. So it was a very difficult start, and this season I am just happy we don\u2019t have this game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you learn from last season that you are going to take into this year?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

We are changing a lot of things. We are changing the way we are training. It is important after all of these \u2018failure years,’ even though I don\u2019t agree that it has been a disaster. You have to see where we came from. When I arrived here, where was this team? And where are we now? We are victims of our own success. Because when we start that well now, to be second of third now is not good enough. But when I arrived here, we were 15th or 16th. It is a very good work from everyone together, but now we have come to a point where only the title is good. Everything other than that is bad. So that is a very difficult target. Very difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, we decide to change the approach a little bit, to change the attitude, to get out of this comfort zone for being in a very good club that is paying very good money for everyone, and we are saying, let’s try. We have to work better. Not harder or more, but better. This is what we are trying to do this season. We are trying to change the way we are preparing for the games. We are trying to put more rules and regulations. More fines for the players, to be more strict and more focused. There is no space anymore. Now we know very clearly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no space for me either as a coach. I can\u2019t lose three or four games in the first leg, for example – then I am gone. That is why I am saying we have to work not harder but better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Credit – True Bangkok United Official<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One change that is happening this season is Ekkachai. He is leaving after six years as a BU player. He is a fan favorite and has always been a good player for you. What is your best memory of him?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, I am very sad about that, I have been all the way along here with Ekkachai and I remember very very well when I arrived here, six years ago, that Ekkachai was not a regular first eleven player. And when I arrived, in the first game that we played, I used Ekkachai as a right-back because of his speed, and he had 2-3 great seasons in that position where we were really winning a lot of games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course, he is not only a good player, but he is a fantastic guy. He is a guy that always coach needs in the dressing room because he is very funny, always making jokes, and very accepted by everyone; not only the Thais but also the foreign players. For me, he is one of the best players that I\u2019ve met on and off the pitch and I am sad about that, but I know every player wants to play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After we got Tristan Do, with a very good profile and part of the first eleven of the national team, he was getting less game time than usual. I think this is one of the reasons why this happened. But of course BEC Tero coming up, being also a good team in Bangkok where he has good connections and a good relationship with [coach] Rangsan. So, it was difficult for us but, at the same time, we are trying to have a squad that is a little bit smaller because as we all know, except with Madame Pang, every club is going a little bit lower on crazy investments or what we are paying, because the economy is a bit in a bad moment and [we] have to adjust a little bit. We have contracts finishing from high profile players that were on good salaries, and [we] have to find a way to have a financial balance, and this is also one of the reasons why we couldn\u2019t continue with him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last time we met, which was about a year ago, you spoke very highly of Peerapat, who you had just signed from Muangthong. So, a year in, do you think you\u2019ve got the best out of him? And, if not, what more is there for you to do?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I am very happy with Peerapat, and if I compare the season he was having with us in 2019 with the one he had before in Muangthong, I think we saw a much better player. Much more confident, and I am very sad and disappointed that he got this 5-6 game injury because I think we are getting almost the best out of him. He has been in a good shape, he is helping a lot offensively and defensively, we still have to be more compact, but in the second year, it is much better for a player to get used to their teammates. There were some goals last season that we could avoid, and these are the things we are still working on – to be in a better place, to be in a better body position, to have better communication with [his] partners. Overall, I am very happy with him and I saw a much better Peerapat than the season before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Credit – True Bangkok United Official<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On to the big signing so far this season, Hosogai. What do you think he can add to the team. And will he disrupt the existing squad, like Wisarut, who had a strong breakout season last year?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

First of all, is his experience. No doubt about that. Seven years in the Bundesliga speaks alone about how good he is. I knew him from Germany already, and that\u2019s why I was following him in Germany because I follow the Bundesliga. So when he came to Buriram I was very excited to see, and I believe that the beginning he was struggling a bit which is always possible when you come to a new country and new culture. The way he plays, I strongly believe that he fits better in a team like Bangkok United than Buriram. That\u2019s why I am very happy to have him with us. He is a player who is very aggressive in that position, and we need that, but at the same time, he has a lot of quality with the ball. Because we are a team that is trying to build up from the back and play out from the keeper, I think he will help us a lot and I am very happy to have him with us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You have also managed to keep ahold of your foreign players, like Vander and Everton. How important is it to hold on to them, and how are you getting them motivated for the new season?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I believe continuity is one of the most important things in football. If you see Liverpool now, they are probably the best team in the world. And what are they doing? They\u2019re keeping their players for a long time. For three years we have seen the same front three, the same midfield, the same goalkeeper, the same back four. I mean, this is just one example of how important it is to keep the players and don\u2019t make crazy moves. Of course,\u00a0 \u00a0we try to make some important additions to the team, like Hosogai now who I think we need, that kind of player to play not alone in midfield but with Anthony or Wisarut. To have these two players there to be a little bit more solid, to give a bit more freedom to Tristan and Peerapat to know that we have players now to cover them. And it is very important that it is the second year – the second year of Anon, of Tristan, of Peerapat, I believe this can help us a lot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the rough sequence of results, there were some fans who were \u201cMano in\u201d and some who were \u201cMano out\u201d. You made a post addressing the situation to the fans. What were your thoughts when you were writing that, and in hindsight, do you think it was a good decision?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Look, normally people say that as a coach, when the business comes to that, you will always have people for you and people against you. And the key is you should stay quiet, do your work, and don\u2019t interact with them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am a guy who is usually very open to that. Maybe I am still very young, maybe I won\u2019t do it anymore, I don\u2019t know. But I was just trying to explain some things. I wouldn\u2019t say I regret that; I\u2019d just say that it\u2019s part of the business that you will have some people behind you and some people that won\u2019t support you. Especially in football. If you\u2019re winning you\u2019re the best, if you\u2019re losing you\u2019re the worst, it is not a very balanced criticism that you see. So you have to filter this, you have to see how much it is bothering you, you have to <\/span>try <\/span><\/i>to not read too much. But today, with social media, even if you don\u2019t want to read people will just tag you and it just appears to you, and you\u2019re curious so you just click there and you see there. Normally you should not do that, but it is how it is. Or someone sees that before, takes a screenshot, and sends it on Whatsapp! So yeah, I didn\u2019t see it, but now since you sent me the screenshot now I\u2019ve seen it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You should let these kind of things affect you, of course. You have to just keep working very hard. I can only say to the fans that, again, I accept that, I take it as a part of the business, I know I am trying to do my best not only for my coaching career but for the team, for the club, and I will continue to work very hard. If the day will come where I have to leave and someone will be happy with that, ok, the day will come. If not, the people who are supporting me will also be happy, and again, I know this year is a year where we have a chance again to fight. The board gave me the chance and I will do everything to give them back the faith and the trust they are giving to me now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Credit – True Bangkok United Official<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, speaking of expectations, your team\u2019s best season was back in 2016, when you were the underdogs, the outsiders, and nothing much was expected of you. That season, you managed to get over 70 points, and chased Muangthong who eventually won the title. Since then, you\u2019ve done well, but never quite matched that feat because now, people expect you to win. So how do you deal with that added pressure, and how well as your team dealt with it?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

As I said before, that pressure or that expectation is that high because we made it [that high]. We are victims of our own success. This is also something that is part of the business. I agree with you that sometimes, it is not too good if you have that kind of pressure where the people are saying you <\/span>must <\/span><\/i>win. Sometimes it is better to keep a little bit lower your expectations, but we know it is not possible because we\u2019ve invested a lot of money, we have some very good players, we believe that we have also very good coaches and very good plans. So we have to take it how it is and we have to be better at handling that pressure. Or, not taking that as a disadvantage, but taking that as a part of the business. To go out there and say: \u2018yeah, the people expect that – let\u2019s go out there and do it!\u2019 We have to do it. We have to take three points everywhere. It doesn\u2019t matter if you go to Sukhothai, to Prachuap, to Chainat – you have to go <\/span>there<\/span><\/i> and get three points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course at home you have to be strong, and we were very strong at home. I think we are the best team along with Buriram at home. But we dropped a lot of points away last season. Then you see this year 2016, we were unbelievable away. We won every single game away, but then we dropped the points at home. So we have to find that balance to say that every single game is a game where we have the quality to win, but we must present ourselves as a team that has the quality to win. I can go to Chainat and Prachuap, I can lose because again, they are all fighting for the points, but if I lose, I must lose playing in the way we want to play and giving everything for those three points. And sometimes, we were too relaxed! We were thinking \u201cok, we will do it, somehow.\u201d Nowadays, there is no \u201cdoing somehow\u201d in football. If you don\u2019t really fight in before, you are taking the risk to lose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your side seemed to struggle a lot against teams which tended to park the bus last season. Which team will be the biggest challenge to your side in this coming season?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

At this moment, I believe that there are five teams in Thailand who are all able to win the championship. Before, we always talked about Buriram and Muangthong because they are – from the tradition, from the fans, from the stadium, from the history – always the two top favorites. But, Chiangrai just showed that they can do it. Let’s see how they can do without William now because he was very important for them but they still have the other players, and they replaced him almost one to one. Buriram and Muangthong will continue to always be title contenders, we include ourselves there, and of course, now we can\u2019t forget about Madame Pang and her Thai Port. They are very strong, they signed the best player from last season (Heberty). Just including that to the squad they kept together. In that stadium, the \u2018hell\u2019 to play at, it will be very difficult to get points there. So one of these five teams will win.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, we will have some surprises. It will be very difficult to play in Ratchaburi, in Sukhothai, in Prachuap – especially Prachuap, with all this motivation from the cup. Sukhothai with their three players in front – Baggio, Ibson, and Evandro, these three will cause a lot of problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last season, all these big teams you mentioned were very inconsistent. We went through many weeks where these teams just couldn\u2019t win, and that was across the board for all the big teams. So was that because these teams are not performing well, or because the league is more competitive? And what do you make of the general quality of football last season?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Many people said that last season was the easiest to win because many teams were struggling. I am saying exactly the opposite – it was the most difficult season to win because the league is more competitive. There is no team now on the bottom with ten points, all the teams that were on the bottom were good teams who were fighting a lot for those points to not be relegated. The relegation battle was much closer, with more teams, so there was no place where you could go and know you would get the three points. Nobody could have that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And near the top, it was the same. Before we had more dominance from Buriram or Muangthong, and in that case even they could not win because Chiangrai was strong, because Port was strong, because Bangkok United was strong. It is good to see a league like that. I believe it will be the same, and I [don\u2019t like] a league where the champion starts and are 10 or 15 points ahead of the seasons. I don\u2019t think that will happen because you have more teams fighting for the title and you have better teams fighting against relegation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This time last season, it was ‘now or never’ for Bangkok United, whose off-season investment warranted a title to show for all their efforts. Needless to say, things didn’t go as planned for the Angels, who ultimately came in fourth place and were knocked out of the semi-finals of the FA Cup. However, against widespread expectation, coach Mano Polking has chosen to remain at the club and fight once again for the trophy that the side has longed for. He spoke to Football Tribe’s Gian Chansrichawla and\u00a0Obb Deewajin about what he learned from last season, and what the club plans to take forward for the 2020 campaign.   I guess … Continue reading “TRIBE TALK: Bangkok United Boss Mano Polking Gearing Up for 2020”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":22071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,1627],"tags":[226,1576,95,200,68,1756],"class_list":["post-22063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thailand","category-tribe-talk","tag-bangkok-united","tag-mano-polking","tag-slider","tag-thai-league","tag-thailand","tag-tribe-talk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22063"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22072,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22063\/revisions\/22072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}