"Wanted to show India that even a 28-year-old could coach a team at this level" - Rajasthan United boss Francesc Bonet opens up about the ups and downs of the I-League season

Rajasthan United FC (RUFC) hogged the limelight in their debut I-League season with some fine bits of possession-based football under head coach Francesc Bonet and managed to crawl into the Championship phase.

The Jaipur-based club boasted one of the best defensive records in the league, conceding the second-lowest number of goals (16) and even went 600 consecutive minutes without leaking a goal in the league.

Many of these records could be attributed to the Spanish coach's playing style. Previously serving as a coach at the renowned FC Barcelona Academy, Bonet was influenced by their style of play and tried to implement similarly technical gameplay.

However, not everything sailed as smoothly as it seemed from the outside. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, the 28-year-old head coach opened up about the ups and downs of his journey with Rajasthan United.

In his very first I-League game, Bonet was nudged into a handicapped bout against RoundGlass Punjab FC. The debutants had to play with nine players on account of failing to register their new signings before the transfer window closed.

Rajasthan lost the match 2-0 before the league had to be suspended due to COVID-19 outbreak in the camps of multiple teams. The star-studded foreign ensemble that RUFC had assembled was torn apart during the break. The club had acquired the services of Marcelinho in the winter. But the Indian Super League (ISL) Golden Boot winner signed with NorthEast United FC without even playing a single game for the Jaipur-based side.

Tajikistan striker Komron Tursunov also dished out a similar treatment to Fran Bonet's side as he joined the Churchill Brothers a month after signing with RUFC. But using all these unfathomable emotions, Rajasthan United went seven games unbeaten after the restart.

The former CF Almogavers coach achieved a respectable seventh-place finish in Phase I of the I-League and secured a spot in the Championship phase.

In the second phase, Bonet's men had two crucial victories against NEROCA FC and Sreenidi Deccan, which catapulted them to sixth in the standings.

Further, the coach also discussed his future plans, his squad and the players who impressed him the most in the I-League season.

Here are excerpts from Francesc Bonet's interview with Sportskeeda:

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Q: Firstly, congratulations coach on a wonderful debut season with Rajasthan United. What made you choose Rajasthan United and Indian football? And what kind of expectations did you have?

Bonet: I like to know about and explore other cultures and other countries. If I can do that with football, it’s the best way. Because these two things are my passion. Earlier, I had also coached with Barcelona in the United States and Japan. I got this opportunity through my agent that I could coach in India and I didn't hesitate. Because in India, football is growing. And if I can contribute even a little bit to this growth with my work, I would be happy. That's why I chose to be a coach in this country.

Although there were a lot of difficulties, if I am given another opportunity to go to another team in India, I think I will go. Due to the pandemic situation, I didn't get to see the home and away matches as we were in the hotel all the time. I can explore and see a lot more in a full season.

Q: Obviously, once you signed with Rajasthan, all the talks were about how young you were and I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about your age too. But do you think people slowly need to start realizing that coaching or managing has very little to do with age? As the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Mikel Arteta, and many others have shown?

Bonet: That's true. I got my UEFA Pro License at the age of 21 and was one of the youngest to get it in Spain. I always knew that I wanted to be a coach and I thought that I could manage these situations. Look, when I am 50-years-old, if I continue coaching, I will have more experience and probably be a better coach than I am now. But even now that I am 28, I believe I can be better than other coaches who are 50 and maybe have more experience.

It’s the same with the players. We saw Vinicius Jr. starting and scoring in the Champions League final and he was 21-years-old. Meanwhile, Real Madrid had a lot more experienced players sitting on their bench. I think the mentality is changing. I know it's difficult, of course, because most of the clubs think “Oh, 28-years-old coach! How can he manage 35 years old players.” No. I think we are all adults and professionals. All the players want to play and they want to win. I also want to help them and for me, it's not a big challenge.

Q: In the build-up to the I-League season, the club did very well in the transfer market, landing some big names. What did you think of the players you had at your disposal before the start of the season?

Bonet: I think on paper, maybe we were not in the top seven if I had to say before the start of the I-League season. But now I see on Twitter or these young players tell me that they have offers from better clubs and even ISL clubs. So for me, this is the best result I can have with them. They finished the season becoming much better players than they were at the start. Before this season, nobody knew them and now people are talking about them. This made me glad.

Q: Talk to me about the first game and when you found out that Rajasthan could only field nine players. What were the emotions you were going through and what did you tell your players?

Bonet: At the time, it made us a little bit stronger. Of course, it's new for me and I think maybe for all the coaches. How do you plan to play with nine players? The club told me the night before match day that we had to play the game with nine players. In that position, I had to put more of my psychological skills, as I am also a psychologist, than working on the game plan. It was difficult but we only lost 2-0 to RoundGlass Punjab FC.

Q: Then the COVID outbreak happened. The league had to be suspended. So how did you motivate your players to stay in shape throughout that break?

Bonet: I know there were teams that continued training, but in our case, the players went home with the expectation of restarting the league. I was focusing on the new players because we had changed all the foreigners. We had players like Marcelinho and Komron Tursunov but we had to sell them and buy new players.

So I was talking to the new Spanish players who had joined us. We didn't have a big pre-season at the time. We were training on a ground for three weeks which wasn’t very good. But once we reached the hotel, I think our minds were clear and ready for the league.

Q: There was another blip like you mentioned. Rajasthan had signed Marcelinho, but he then left for the ISL without making a single appearance. So when a crucial player like that, who obviously must have been a very important part of the plan, leaves, how does it affect the morale of the team?

Bonet: First of all, I think Marcelinho for me is a really good player. Komron, during the I-League season, also showed that he is at a great level, but he also left Rajasthan earlier in the season. Some people, players and fans thought that in matches that were tight and we were struggling to score, with Marcelinho we could’ve won it. Maybe it's true. I think Marcelinho can score a lot of goals and that was something we were lacking this season.

But for me, Omar Ramos, although he's not a goal scorer, showed really good quality, and Mauro Dos Santos gave his experience and leadership in the defense. I felt the team was balanced enough.

Q: Although the results were coming your way, there was a lot of talk about the team taking a defensive approach in games. But you’ve denied those accusations multiple times. You said the team hasn’t been able to score goals but has been creating chances game after game. So what's your opinion on the criticism of the team being too defensive?

Bonet: Well, if you look at the stats, I think we were the team with one of the most passes completed, the second or the third-highest team in terms of possession, and also the team with the most chances created, total actions, and percentage of actions in the I-League. I don't think we were defensive. We were playing with the ball and that's why we didn’t concede goals. The oppositions didn’t have chance to score. My mentality is to have the ball and create chances.

But yes, against the Indian Arrows, I think we had 22 shots but still weren’t able to score. So that's what we were lacking. We did everything except scoring and that's why I feel like maybe Marcelinho could’ve made the difference. But yes, we didn’t play defensively.

Q: Was getting into the Championship phase the goal for Rajasthan United right from the start of the season?

Bonet: See, I had to be realistic. As I mentioned earlier, we had only six players who have the experience of playing in the I-League. Then we played the first game with nine players so we can say that Rajasthan in reality had one less game to play than the other teams. Being realistic and getting into the championship round wasn’t the aim of the team. But I think it was a really great job from the players and the backroom staff that we had.

Q: Rajasthan were brilliant defensively throughout the season. You conceded just 16 goals, the second-lowest in the league. With Mauro Dos Santos leading the line, what did you make of your defensive line?

Bonet: We went 600 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal, which is some kind of a record in the I-League and ISL. Bhaskar Roy was one of the most important players because of course he was the goalkeeper. Then we had Mauro, whose quality we already knew as he had played in La Liga. But for me, Gurmukh Singh was one player who surprised me a lot. His level grew from the first match to the final game. He has also improved as a player on the ball.

But I think we can name the full team because we didn't concede goals because of the style of play. We had possession most of the time, we played secured passes and didn’t lose the ball. And once we lost the ball, we were in a good position to recover the ball. That's why we didn't concede a lot of goals and not just because of the defensive line. Although, of course, they also played their part.

Q: The club has a squad filled with young Indian talents. The likes of Gurmukh Singh, Tarif Akhand, Ricky Shabong, Biswa Darjee, Gyamar Nikum and Alocious M. How was it working with the young talents and how would you rate them?

Bonet: The same thing you said about me and the age factor, applies to them too. Nikum is 17 and was the youngest player to play with us. The others were around 20-22. People might say that we had more difficulties because we didn’t have players with massive experience like other teams, but I'm so grateful and glad for them.

I don't know if these players think that they would have these amount of minutes in another club These players had zero experience in the I-League but have shown that they can play at the same level and be great players for India in the future.

Q: Now that you’ve spent a season in Indian football, what have been your key takeaways, and were there some things that were different from your expectations?

Bonet: My expectation was to have a great season and show India that a 28-year-old coach can also manage a team at this level. I enjoyed it a lot. Talking about myself, I think I did well, especially given the challenges. But I was expecting to enjoy the country more, the audience and all these things, but it was not possible in this season with COVID. Let's see if next season I can come back to another team and have these experiences.

Q: Which Indian player in the I-League has excited you the most this season? One from your own team and one from the rival teams.

Bonet: In Rajasthan, we had a lot of very good young players like Gurmukh, Nikum, Ricky, Biswa and Anil. But I’ll choose a player who didn’t play a lot – Flan Gomes. He understood my style of play more than others from the beginning. Maybe because he’s from FC Goa and there they play a style of play that’s more similar to mine. I really enjoyed coaching him.

From the opposition teams, I’ll choose Jiteshwor Singh from Neroca FC and Lalchungnunga from Sreenidi Deccan FC.

Q: Final question, you’ve had a successful season this year. But will the fans and people who have lauded your work be able to see you back in Indian football next season?

Bonet: Well, I told all my friends and to the Indian players I still talk to, that my first intention is to coach another team in India. I want to experience a full-fledged season with home and away matches in the country. I only played two games in front of an audience and that was fantastic. I also think I can give more to the country to help football here grow. I also think with the passion the people here have for the game, they deserve it and if I can help a little, I would be proud.