ISL 2021-22: Kerala Blasters outplayed Odisha FC as Nishu Kumar and Harmanjot Singh Khabra were on target for the Yellow Army in their 2-0 win over the Kalinga Warriors on Wednesday night at the Tilak Maidan. Follow all the ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic was delighted with the result as he addressed the media after the brilliant win.
Unbeaten in 🔟
Back-to-back wins 🆆
Back-to-back clean sheets 💪🏻It's a good time to be a Blaster! 😌#OFCKBFC #YennumYellow #KBFC #കേരളബ്ലാസ്റ്റേഴ്സ pic.twitter.com/HkT8IJKeWw
— Kerala Blasters FC (@KeralaBlasters) January 12, 2022
Thoughts on both fullbacks scoring
Vukomanovic pointed out the diversity in his team when he was asked about both the fullbacks scoring against Odisha FC. He said, ” Yes ofcourse it shows the diversity and lets say the different things that we possess in our team. We have players with quality, players who can be dangerous from the second line, players who can infiltrate and can also be dangerous on setpieces. So I think step by step we are improving in many different ways as a coach I am very happy. When you are evolving in such a competition, starting score goals then your opponents will put more focus on your key players. That’s where you need to diversify and try to mix things up and find other solutions.”
“I am very happy for Nishu (Kumar) as he scored such a beautiful goal on his first game of the season. After so long period he is coming back to the pitch as he was suffering from injury and could not play for some time. I am very happy for him and hope that he will build on this and get back stronger. I hope he gets back to the level that he deserves even for the Indian national team.
Speaking about Harmanjot Singh, Vukomanovic added, “He is always dangerous from setpieces so he scored a nice goal, something which he was practising in our training sessions. So of course as a coaching staff, it makes you happy and we are happy with the win today.”
“Ever since we started we never wanted to have any kind of pressure on your team. I always said to them that football is joy and pleasure. If you are not having pleasure or joy by playing together or playing the sport then something is wrong. Since we started training we always wanted to have that joy and positive energy but it is not that easy. When you start to build up it is never easy a strong unit that won’t be conceding goals. It is good to see players playing good football with great combinations, running and press together. Also especially at this point when our captain is suffering and will have to undergo surgery. So we want that positive energy to stay with us and we want to keep going.”
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The joy of not conceding goals
The Serbian tactician pointed out how not conceding goals give them the license to score and win matches. It adds a different perspective for the players and they surely do not want to concede goals. Kerala Blasters have achieved great balance once Ruivah Hormipan slotted at the back. The youngster gave them stability and also the license to play another foreigner upfront.
“It gives you a lot of confidence and pleasure when you don’t concede goals. It means you are working very hard defensively, the team is compact and proves that the team does not want to give anything away. So it is one of the most important fact as a coaching staff aswell as we see that the team can become unbeatable. So when you don’t concede and create more chances there are more chances of winning games that way.
“We are pleased with the clean sheets against Mumbai City and Chennaiyin and this one. I think we are the only team with five clean sheets this season. But we won’t be getting occupied with it as we want to develop a team that can play in many different situations,’ asserted Vukomanovic after they kept a clean sheet against the Kalinga Warriors.
Thoughts on ISL’s competitiveness
The Indian Super League has been very competitive as Jamshedpur FC went top of table yesterday and then Kerala Blasters have reclaimed it again with their win over Odisha FC. Despite being at the top of the table, Vukomanovic highlighted how they need to stay humble as the league is tough anything can happen.
“Well, again, it’s good for the league. I will repeat something that we’ve said a long time ago. We as a team, are coming from far away. And if you look at the statistics from previous seasons, you know, in football, you have to build up step by step, you know that nothing can happen over the night. And we have to stay again, I will repeat, we have to stay humble, we have to stay focused and concentrated. Because if you look from where are we coming, far away, you know, last year, we were second from bottom. So we must never announce big roles we want to compete. The league is good, the league is tough, many teams want to compete to be at the top of the table,” he concluded.
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