“It’s wrong to blame Shree Cement without knowing what they did for East Bengal” – Mario Rivera

Mario Rivera is East Bengal’s crisis man. Whenever the club have slipped to the bottom of the table in recent times, be it in the I-League or the Indian Super League, the Spaniard has been summoned to perform the rescue act.

In I-League 2019-20, Rivera bailed the Red and Gold Brigade out of a relegation battle after the club slumped to seventh position under Alejandro Menendez Garcia. Rivera eventually managed to turn things around by helping East Bengal finish the COVID-hit season in second spot, albeit 16 points behind arch-rivals Mohun Bagan. It was his second stint at the century-old club, having also served as Menendez's assistant in the 2018-19 season.

Rivera returned to the Kolkata-based club midway through their ISL 2021-22 campaign. After sacking former head coach Manolo Diaz for their winless run and dressing room dissent in the first phase of the season, SC East Bengal entrusted Rivera with the task of guiding the team to a respectable finish.

The 44-year-old led the Red and Gold brigade to a 2-1 win over FC Goa in his maiden ISL match, but failed to resurrect his team's dwindling fortunes. Plagued by injuries to key players, a shoddy defense and routine goal misses, SC East Bengal finished rock-bottom in the 11-team league with just 11 points from 20 matches (one win, eight draws and 11 losses).

With the termination of the collaboration between the East Bengal Club and their erstwhile investors Shree Cement Ltd. on Tuesday, the club’s future, once again, hangs in limbo. Rivera feels that it will be difficult for the club to revive their lost glory unless there’s some stability in the system.

In a recent chat with Sportskeeda from his Madrid residence, the former CD Leganés youth coach spoke about SC East Bengal’s performance in ISL 2021-22, his coaching philosophy, the club's latest sensation Hira Mondal and Shree Cement’s role as investors. Here are the excerpts.

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Q. How has life been in Madrid? What are you doing now?

Rivera: Life’s good. I’m spending my time meeting my friends and relatives. I’m watching the matches of the Segunda División and Segunda División B. I’ll start working again after resting for some time (smiles).

I’m listening to some clubs not only from India, but other countries as well. I love traveling and exploring new cities and new countries. Besides, I also work as a professor at the Madrid Football Federation. I'm taking some special classes over here, guiding the young coaches.

Q: How did you get SC East Bengal’s offer?

Rivera: I spoke to the Shree Cement management when they took over East Bengal Club in 2020. I had a good conversation with Srenik Sett [SC East Bengal’s advisor], but we didn’t talk for a long time after that. He called me up in December to check if I was free or not. I was prepared to go to Japan at the time because I had signed a deal with a Japanese second division club. Everything was ready, but Japan closed its frontiers after Europe was hit by the Omicron variant.

After a tense week, I received SC East Bengal’s offer. I accepted the offer immediately because I love coaching in India. I know Debraj [Choudhury], East Bengal’s manager during my previous stint in the I-League, said nice things about me because we have worked quite well together in the past.

Q: Were you following SC East Bengal’s matches before receiving the offer?

Rivera: I couldn’t watch SC East Bengal’s full matches in the 2021-22 season before joining the club as I had other commitments. However, I watched all their matches last season. In fact, I watched 80 percent of the ISL matches last season.

Q: When you joined the team in January, it was in a shambles. How challenging was it to take charge of the team amid such circumstances?

Rivera: Yeah, it was very challenging because in a bubble the emotions increase. If you’re winning, you’re in a very, very good mood. But if you’re not winning and the ambiance is not good, it’s much worse. That’s the problem with the bubble.

I wanted to change the direction of the team. The mood and the playing style of the team changed after I came in, but we conceded way too many goals. We couldn’t score many goals either. That said, the bubble experience helped me develop a better bonding with many players and the support staff. I’ve also realized that nothing is more important than human relationships in a team.

Q: Renedy Singh deployed an ultra-defensive style while he was SC East Bengal’s interim head coach after Manolo Diaz’s departure. His coaching philosophy is diametrically opposite to that of yours. How difficult was it to get the players to adapt to your style of play?

Rivera: The most difficult task was to change the players’ mindset and convince them that they’re good players. It’s indeed difficult to play under three coaches in one season. Before I joined the team, the players only kept on defending for three matches. That didn’t help their confidence. It was very challenging because you had to earn the players’ trust and make them believe in your philosophy.

I think I achieved that pretty fast because after only two matches since my arrival, we started playing well in transition and recovered the ball well. We reviewed our performance after every match to identify the mistakes. I am proud of all the boys because they worked very hard irrespective of the results.

Q: Do you think it was Kiyan Nassiri’s individual brilliance to which you lost the second leg of the Kolkata derby? You were 1-0 up until the 64th minute…

Rivera: The team wasn’t fully ready for the derby. As you said, we were leading until the 64th minute, but suffered a lot after that. The team still didn’t have the best fitness level and confidence with the ball. Kiyan was their [ATK Mohun Bagan’s] game changer. It was a heart-breaking loss.

Q: Would you say that the team lacked mental fortitude and needed a psychologist? Last season, a psychologist named Nicola McCalliog was part of Robbie Fowler’s support staff...

Rivera: I think the players’ psychology got better with every match. The team’s morale went down if we conceded early goals. It’s very difficult to change the mentality of the players when a team is stuck at the bottom of the table. That said, we did show improvement on the mental front in the second half of the league. In a lot of matches, we came back stronger in the second half because I told them that they could create chances and score goals.

All you need is someone who can make you believe in your abilities. The first five to 10 minutes after conceding a goal are very crucial because your confidence is low, whereas your opponents are charged up. You might have noticed the same issue with Chennaiyin FC as well. After failing to make the playoffs, they conceded many goals.

Q: You can speak English comfortably unlike Manolo Diaz who had to rely on a translator. How big an issue is the language barrier in Indian football?

Rivera: You need to speak English if you’re coaching in India. You need to speak simple English rather than perfect British English. Young Indian players can understand simple English. However, if you cannot even speak basic English, it’s almost impossible to coach an Indian club. That’s what I believe. In my first stint at East Bengal, when I was assistant to Alejandro Menendez Garcia, he couldn’t communicate without my help because he didn’t know English.

Q: Daniel Chima Chukwu achieved redemption after moving to Jamshedpur FC, scoring seven goals for them and helping them claim the League Winners Shield. Was it a wise decision on SC East Bengal’s part to let him go?

Rivera: I think Chima is a good player. The problem with East Bengal is that if you can’t convert your chances, people start trolling you. Sometimes, you shouldn’t evaluate a player if he can’t score off the first one or two chances. Chima was always close to scoring goals. He did miss some clear chances at times, but it happens with every striker.

Even Igor Angulo missed many chances. I think the fans were a bit unfair to him. They always judge players in extremes. Either you’re very, very, very good or very, very, very bad (laughs).

Q: Hira Mondal was undeniably SC East Bengal’s best player in ISL 2021-22. What are your expectations from him going forward and where does he need to improve?

Rivera: Hira is a very good boy, but he needs to learn many things. I had a long conversation with him at the end of the season. He has become famous in just a few months, so he now needs to learn how to deal with all the fame and attention. He shouldn’t forget that he hails from a humble background and has made it to the ISL at twenty-five years of age, after working so hard.

I remember that Alejandro didn’t want him in the team in 2018 when he had just broken into East Bengal’s senior side from the academy. It’s remarkable to see him evolve the way he has and prove himself in the ISL.

Hira, never forget where you’ve come from or else you’ll go down rapidly. If you keep working hard, you can be an important player for India in the future.

Q: I’ve also heard a lot about Siddhant Shirodkar even though he played for only 14 minutes. How do you see his future shaping up?

Rivera: He was injured for most of the time after I took charge. He recovered seven to eight days before our last match and got some game time. I think he’s a good player, but he needs to learn to move without the ball and a lot of other things – how to move, when to move and so on. His defensive orientation needs to improve as well. He has good technique for professional football though.

Q: Marcelo Ribeiro’s performance must have been very disappointing for you as he couldn’t convert the chances that came his way…

Rivera: It was bad luck. Marcelo is a good player. He can play both with and without the ball, exploit open spaces and has good finishing skills. He was very happy to join SC East Bengal, but picked up a minor injury after the Chennaiyin FC [second leg] match. We tried to help him recover fast and he was desperate to play the remaining matches. As the tournament has such a tight schedule, recovery does become an issue. He couldn’t speak English but gelled well with the Indian boys. It’s a pity that he couldn’t perform to his full potential.

Q: What is your honest opinion about Shree Cement Ltd. as the club’s investors? Did you get the desired support from them?

Rivera: Shree Cement management got me whatever I required of them. They never imposed any restrictions on me. They were always eager to help. The management was very keen to get good results and did everything possible for that. But sometimes, if the ball cannot go inside the goal post, you can’t do anything (laughs). It’s wrong to blame Shree Cement without knowing what they did for the club.

Q: What, according to Mario Rivera, should be the way forward for East Bengal? How can they revive their lost glory?

Rivera: I think the club officials, management, players and fans have to realize that in order to get good results in football you have to go step-by-step. It’s important to have a long-term vision. It’s impossible to build a team from scratch and become champions in just one season. You’ve to sign many young players, work with them, strengthen the grassroots and get good foreigners. You have to work for the future and plan for the next two to three years in advance.

The current mentality needs to change. If you want a good East Bengal in the future, start believing in the process from now. Build a good academy and produce good talent. It’s a very difficult thing to achieve in Indian football. Only one or two clubs believe in the process.