#TFGinterview - Albert Roca and Bengaluru's paradoxical pursuit of perpetual progression

ALBERT ROCA HAS BEEN a professional football coach for almost two decades. His portfolio includes significant amount of time spent at major clubs like Barcelona and Galatasaray, and national teams like Saudi Arabia and El Salvador. But never before has he faced a task - or challenge - like spearheading Bengaluru FC.

It's got less to do with the fact that it hasn't been long since he has been a manager on his own; away from the partnership that he had with Frank Rijkaard, than the fact that for the first time he is at a club whose identity is intrinsically split on two vastly different scales. 

In India, Bengaluru FC is the ultimate benchmark of what a club should be like. It plays in the real league (which, given the circumstances, is a big credit for a modern club), has a very elaborate youth development scheme, is not afraid to take risks and initiatives (putting out an all Indian attack in an international fixture, for instance) and in 3 years has won 3 major titles; apart from making history internationally like reaching AFC Cup final as the first Indian club. But the Blues are also one of the few clubs who are keenly aware of their idenitity in the world stage; as a club far behind the average mark in the Asian stage, as the flag bearers of a footballing nation that's still going through its growing pains.

About half a year into his new job, Albert Roca appears to be fairly cognizant of the central dichotomy that Bengaluru faces: they have an intrinsic drive to get better, but are hindered by the fact that in the domestic structure, they are already on top.

Speaking to TFG at his office overlooking the dense green turf of Bangalore Football Stadium, Roca laid out the objective behind his maiden venture into Indian domestic football in a nutshell,

"We need to stick to our core philosophy that we followed in the last three and a half months, and put all of our heart into it. Because that's the only way to achieve the goals that the club is aiming at. This team has the most difficult goal, and that's staying at the top. We want to win the domestic title again, and it won't be easy. All the other teams know we are the champions, and they will be watching us closely, trying their hardest to beat us. But we'll work to win the title again, to the best of our abilities."

But winning domestic silverware has pretty much been set as the minimum requisite at Bengaluru FC; and Roca believed its added objective can only be fulfilled by their mission in Asia,

"We have to keep improving. After all, we did not win the AFC Cup final. And even if we had, we should always believe that a team has to grow up and get better; the wheels always have to be in motion. At no point can you go, yes, this is perfect, we've made it. We're not Barcelona or Real Madrid. We're just a team that wants to make things work and we always have to adjust and correct ourselves on an individual as well as group level to improve."

Much of Roca's coaching career has been spent in youth development. After all, one of his biggest claims to fame is that he was a crucial figure in helping Lionel Messi move up the ladder at Barcelona and become the player that he is today. So it goes without saying that he has a lot of interest in how Bengaluru FC's new residential academy at Bellary, that just started its journey under acclaimed youth coach John Kila, pans out for the club in terms of producing home-grown players,

"Our intention is always to pay close attention to what happens in that academy. We will focus on making sure that the guys who deserve an opportunity get it here at Bengaluru FC. Mr John Kila, who is in charge of the academy, is doing a great job. But it's not easy; we can't expect an academy that's been around only 5 minutes to produce a player who can play all 90 minutes in a professional team. But the most important thing is to keep contact with them, to stay updated on how those players are improving. If any opportunity arises for a young player to play here, I'll give him that chance. It's not a question of age for me, it's about ability and talent. But they will have to deserve that shot. There's a long road ahead of them."

So what has been Roca's experience of youth football in India so far? What does the typical 15 year old Indian footballer, according to him, lack when compared to those from Spain or Saudi Arabia of the same age? Roca answered,

"One of the things that we have seen since we have arrived is that the level of the young Indian players was not good enough, because of the circumstances they have grown up in as a player. If at an early age you're not competing against quality opponents like they do in countries like Spain, where players as young as 7 or 9 get to compete against very difficult teams, you won't grow as a player. So it's important to develop a system where the youngsters can compete at a certain level and achieve a new flavour to their game; one that only comes from competing with players the same level as you." 

So what's the solution? Roca seemed to hint at a stronger pan-Indian youth league structure with a much elaborate final round so that the best teams from each region can spend a significant time playing each other,

"Competition is important: you have to give them enough number of quality matches every season. You must have a structured competition where you pick up the best teams possible in the early rounds and pit them against each other over a long tournament. It's the only way. Just compete and train, train and compete until you reach another level as a player."

Inefficiencies inherent in India's domestic leagues is part of the challenge for Roca. Never before has he had to let all his major players go away in the middle of the season to play in a private tournament where they have a game every 3-4 days and return to the camp with all the fatigue that comes with it just weeks before the actual league starts. When asked about the split domestic league structure that Indian football has, Roca elaborated upon how his work as a coach is affected by it,

"The fact is that this leaves me with not much time to prepare for the league season. This wasn't the case with AFC Cup, so it makes things more difficult. Because it's less than a month until the league and we're still waiting for some players to join the squad, and are yet to complete some signings... so I hope they understand the philosophy we're working to introduce here in Indian football, and let's go, let's work towards it together. Let's put all the teams in the same group."

While the merger of leagues that Roca wished to see is probably not far away, the meantime reality is that the Indian top division is in tatters, with clubs quitting the I-League in high numbers and the AIFF resorting to emergency fill-the-gap operations by cancelling last season's relegation and bringing in new clubs via direct entry on short notice. Roca was understandably restrained in talking about it but implied that bringing in new clubs that were bound to be less competitive did not help his cause of seeking improvement through quality competition,

"I don't want to talk too much about it. I'm trying to understand the reality of the country, which is not the best right now... they think that putting three more teams in the league would be a good thing. Okay. Nothing to say. What I want is just to compete against good teams, have a long season for everybody. That would be good for everybody, you know. A competition of 3-4 months is nothing. To develop, to help the players reach a new level of abilities, you have to compete as long as possible."

So how was Roca looking at BFC's opponents in the I-League; the most of immediate of his concerns as the Blues' head coach? Was there any particular team he viewed as their foremost opponents? The gaffer replied, 

"No. At the moment I know that Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have been hard competitiors in the last 3 years, but I'm sure that this season there will be 2-3 other teams that will aim for the title. So I'm sure that it's not going to be easy, so we have to make things better and keep improving if we want to win the title again."

Albert Roca exceeded expectations in his first assignment as the BFC coach by taking the club to the AFC Cup finals. It will be interesting to see how he can manage to repeat that feat in I-League, given that the Blues' tag of the defending champions.

But it's the idea of uphill battles that Roca has always reveled in; he announced himself as a quality coach to the footbaling world by getting the Real Zaragoza B team promoted to the Segunda Division. So how will he continue the upward graph in Bengaluru FC's success? Will it be by progressing in the AFC Champions League or winning the AFC Cup? Or will it be by asserting Bengaluru's dominance in the new, re-structured top division league that will finally see thrm compete against a high number of heavyweight domestic competitors with financial means and ambitions that match theirs? We'll have to wait and see.

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