Shafeeq Hassan, the Kerala Mourinho, ‘micromanaging’ a Santosh Trophy dream

Shafeeq Hassan likes positive micromanagement. It is probably his way of satiating his younger self that wanted to do an MBA in Liverpool before turning into football coaching. This silent obsession to leave no stone unturned is the reason behind some of the decisions that make him different from most of his predecessors, who were Kerala's Santosh Trophy head coaches.

Hassan insisted that the team shift its training base from Kannur to Wayanad because he figured the hilly district in northern Kerala had conditions similar to Dhakuakhana and Silapathar in Assam, where the Santosh Trophy final round matches will be held, starting January 22. He hired a video analyst, though it is a position often left vacant in the backroom staff of state teams. He has also got the paid versions of most football streaming platforms on his phone, and was engaged in reliving moments from the last Santosh Trophy campaign on a long bus ride to Kochi for the team launch on Thursday.

"My football philosophy is that no scenario should come up as a surprise during a match, whether it is information on an opposition player or even the weather. We have done all possible micromanagement," Shafeeq Hassan told Onmanorama.

"In a practice match we played the other day, there was an incident similar to one that led to the conceding of a goal in the last Santosh Trophy. I know this because I was watching replays while on the bus. I immediately called my defenders and showed them the pattern because no detail must be ignored. I don't want us to find excuses once we are playing the final round."

Kerala are in Group B alongside Services, Punjab, Odisha, Railways and Meghalaya. It is arguably tougher of the two groups because the other one has hosts Assam, holders West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Rajasthan. Kerala came agonisingly close to lifting the Santosh Trophy for the eighth time last season, only to lose to Bengal with a late goal. Hassan was not part of the campaign, but he understands that the objective remains the same. "The target is to go a step further than last year. Yes, it is to win the Santosh Trophy."

Fortunately for Kerala, Hassan is quite ambitious and needs no external motivation as the state aims to lift the Santosh Trophy after 2022. Last February, Hassan guided a young Kerala unit to gold in the National Games after 28 years. In December, he managed Kannur Warriors to their maiden Super League Kerala title. Remind him he is onto a hat-trick, and Hassan immediately objects: "I'm not. It is the players who won those titles, not me."

Coincidentally, such humility doesn't sit well with his 'attitude', which he takes to his coaching role model, Jose Mourinho. The iconic Portuguese manager famously said, 'I think I'm the Special One', when he was introduced as manager of Premier League side Chelsea in 2004. It is Mourinho's demand for excellence using Tactical Periodisation that Hassan relates to. He likes his training sessions to mimic real-game situations and wants even players in rehab to attend video analysis sessions.

"My idea is to make training as close as possible to game situations. We start the warm-ups with 11 v 11. In Wayanad, our training timings are between 7 and 9, but the preparation is longer. Video analysis sessions are held after lunch to set the objectives for next day's training.

"A defeat could be seen as a fault in the process. But like I told one of the players who joined the camp from the state championship, the most important thing is to have a positive mindset. As a coach, what I try to do is give clarity on the roles each player has to do."

Hassan's coaching staff comprises Ebin Rose, a fellow AFC A-licence holder and K T Chacko, former international and a veteran of Santosh Trophy championships. The native of Wayanad began football coaching in 2010 and has also secured an MPhil in Physical Education. "I'll also get my MBA from Liverpool because now they allow it to be done online and the next intake is in September. But now the focus is on the first match against Punjab," Hassan said.