"This year the team has less character" - Hyderabad FC boss lashes out at players after draw against Chennaiyin FC

Hyderabad FC rued their plethora of missed chances as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin FC in the ISL on Thursday. Head coach Manuel Marquez lashed out at his players for their lack of reaction after their previous 0-1 defeat against Kerala Blasters.

The Nizams were flying high in the league after going unbeaten in eight games before that.

Hyderabad FC have yet again failed to come away with three points after creating plenty of scoring chances, this time against Chennaiyin FC.

In the post-match conference, the Hyderabad FC gaffer questioned his team's character. He said:

"This game showed the character of the team. In some moments we created clear chances. In other moments, when the other team created the team the team didn't react well because it is a team without character. This is something that can't be trained. Either you have the character or you don't."

Marquez further added:

"It's true that the Indian players, not the foreigners, are very young and it's a difficult situation. It was very similar to the game in this stadium against Odisha FC last season. In some moments we played very well, in some moments, we played very badly. But I think this year, the team has less character."

After racking up four yellow cards, this season's top scorer Bartholomew Ogbeche was suspended for the game. He is currently the top scorer in ISL this season with nine goals.

Asked if Hyderabad FC missed his presence on the field, Marquez praised Ogbeche's replacement Javier Siverio, who also scored their goal. The coach said:

"Javier Siverio was I think the Hero of the Match. He was the best player on our team. Maybe the doubt now is if it would be better to play both together. But then we would need to change the system. But I felt Siverio played very well. I didn't miss Bart (Ogbeche) in the game today."

---

"Think we did well today even with this scoreline" - Chennaiyin FC boss lauds team after draw against Hyderabad FC

While both sides shared the spoils, Chennayin FC boss Bozidar Bandovic came out as the happier of the top head coaches. The Marina Machans opened the scoring through Mohammad Sajid Dhot. However, the Chennai club failed to hold on to the lead.

Speaking about the game, the Chennaiyin FC gaffer opined that irrespective of the scoreline his players played well for most parts of the game. He said:

"Yes, we did well. Because in some games we did very well in attack. Today we started the game very well, maybe the last 15 minutes, the last period of the first half it wasn't good in attacking, but most of the game, it was good. I think we did well today even with this scoreline."

Chennaiyin FC are sixth in the points table after 11 games with 15 points. They have only won one of their last five encounters. Asked if the head coach was worried about the slump in form, Bandovic said:

"It concerns me when you don't play a good game. But if we play even like this today and of course with the problems that we have without Ariel Borysiuk and Vladimir Koman. Of course, we wanted to win today and the boys gave everything today. For most of the game, they did well."