Karim Bencherifa has become a household name for people who follow Indian football. After two very successful seasons with Goa’s Churchill Brothers SC the Moroccan has made the switch this summer to Calcutta to coach one of India’s biggest football teams, Mohun Bagan AC.

IndianFootball.Com Editor-in-Chief Arunava Chaudhuri caught-up with Karim to get to know more about him – as a coach, his football philosophy and the private man behind the coach.

Arunava: You have now been two seasons in India. How did it come about that you came to coach Churchill Brothers SC in India?

Karim: Well, back in 2006 when my time came to an end with Woodlands Wellington FC in Singapore, I received few offers and among them two from clubs in India which were East Bengal and Churchill Brothers. The second one was more convincing in having me and from there started my adventure in this lovely country.

Arunava: Were did you coach before you came to India?

Karim: The coaching job has brought me to many parts of the world, so I did work at the national and club level in Morocco, Malta, USA, Brunei, Middle East, Singapore and India. I consider myself very fortunate because beside the fact that coaching is a job it’s also a way of life that makes you understand and taste different kind of cultures and meet people from all over the world.

Arunava: Please tell us a little about the footballer Karim.

Karim: I played as a midfielder for few clubs in our National League in Morocco. But although I consider my playing carrier decent, it was definitely affected by the fact that I was brought in a family who believe that education is more important than anything else. So football was my passion it was not a priority. Also a knee injury did not help to improve the situation.

Arunava: Please tell us a little about the private Karim. Do you have family? What are your likings?

Karim: I am married and have little baby boy named Adam. Most of my likings are very much connected with my job; travelling, discovering different type of cuisine I also like music watching movies and golf when possible.

Arunava: You have had great success with a team of mostly nobodies at Churchill Brothers. You have made some of the youngsters Indian internationals and except striker Odafe Onyeka Okolie you didn’t have any stars in your team. What was the key to success with this team?

Karim: There is no secret, success in any team depends on hard work and how motivated the players are. I tried to instil some teamwork and professionalism with lot of communication and interaction with the players so they know what are there responsibilities and this give us results; many of these youngsters became known players, some were called for the national team and even our star player Odafe became a feared striker and top scorer in the last two seasons for the first time in his carrier in India.

Arunava: It might have been easier to handle the boys at Churchill Brothers, but now at Mohun Bagan you will have to deal with some of the biggest names in India football, the likes of Baichung Bhutia and Jose Ramirez Barreto. Any concrete plans on how to handle such stars and their egos?

Karim: I am asked frequently this question and I think it’s more of a concern for the media than for me. My approach is simple for the new job, as usual I will try to build the team based on good principals and with a lot of communication with my players. Regarding Baichung and Barreto no doubt they are icons of Indian football, I did had a chance to meet them and talk to them in the past and I can tell you that they are highly regarded by me both as players and persons, they do have enough human and leadership qualities to guide the several youngsters that we have in the squad.

Arunava: Your track record with Churchill Brothers looks impressive though you did miss the chance to win the inaugural I-League. Can Mohun Bagan’s legion of fans expect similar success in the first season itself?

Karim: Do I have a choice!!
Anyway I hope so, although success depend on lots of external factors that are sometimes out of control but I remain very hopeful and positive that this year we will see a different Mohun Bagan playing an entertaining football and getting results that bring back glory to this club that did not won the league for the last seven years or so.

Arunava: Will you approach the job at Mohun Bagan differently? Also keeping in mind the stature of the club and the job at hand?

Karim: Mohun Bagan AC is a special club, it’s the oldest and the most followed club in the country. So this is a new mission that will come with different specificities than my previous job, I have to quickly understand and adapt to it. I know what the expectations are and I will do all what’s needed to be up to the confidence that the officials and fans put on me.

Arunava: Have you thought of anything specific for your pre-season training?

Karim: We know approximately the schedule of the competitions ahead this season, Calcutta league comes first by the end of the first week of July that will leave us a 5 weeks preseason. Although its limit because you need between 6 to 8 weeks for the team to be ready physically, but looking at our first week of work I believe we are improving steadily. We also scheduled a 9 days camp in Durgapur by the 3rd week of June before heading back to Calcutta for the final touches before our first game. During this period we will have around 5 friendly games.

Arunava: You have developed some of India’s top youngsters into regular first team players like Robert Lalthalma, Govin Singh or Reisangmei Vashum. At Mohun Bagan you are getting eight Tata Football Academy cadets plus seven boys from the Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy. Do you already have plans on how you will give these youngster chances in your team, which does include a number of regulars on the Indian circuit?

Karim: I want to clarify here that the most important in the selection process is the quality and performance of the player not his age. So these youngsters have to be patient and prove themselves first, we also have to be careful to not burn them and put pressure on them and make sure they are ready. One of my first priorities is to guide them to make them improve and be successful players.

Arunava: You have now been in India for a couple of years and have seen a lot of football in our country in this time. Honestly speaking, how far behind is India in being a big player on the Asian circuit? What do you see as our weaknesses?

Karim: The advantage of India over many other countries in the same football situation is the fact that it’s a huge market with a lot of resources and its economy is booming. All this make the most popular sports in the world which is football attracting the interest and support from inside India (sponsors, powerful companies, government…) and outside as well (FIFA, AFC, EPL…). Now all depend on how the football authorities in India will take advantage from this favourable situation, and define smartly the priorities which for me are; infrastructure, youth development and education of coaches, referees and administrators.

Arunava: Have you seen any improvement in our football in the time you have been in India?

Karim: I think so; the National Team had done well in the Nehru Cup and still doing well in SAFF Cup. The I-League was also a success you just have to see how close and hard was the battle in the top of the league and in the relegation too. We also had seen some top class matches.

Arunava: What do you think about our site IndianFootball.Com?

Karim: It’s a great site, run very professionally by knowledgeable and passionate people. It’s also a very good source of information for fans, players and coaches who follow Indian Football.

Arunava: Thank you for talking to us at IndianFootball.Com!