Although the Blasters couldn't win their first title, the team from Kochi can be proud of their performance, having reached the final for the first time in six years.
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Kerala Blasters FC failed to secure their first Indian Super League (ISL) title as they lost the final on penalties against Hyderabad FC. But the team from Kochi can be proud of their solid campaign under head coach Ivan Vukomanovic, making it to the playoffs for the first time in six years. KBFC, which has one of the largest fan bases in the world, hasn’t had the kind of success the supporters deserved. After reaching two finals (2014 & 2016), the team went into a slump. Last season was probably the worst as they finished 10th in the 11-team tournament.
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Thankful for the countless moments of pure happiness that this bunch has given to us over the past 8 months. ☺️
We can’t wait to see this family back together again! ?#YennumYellow #KBFC #കേരളബ്ലാസ്റ്റേഴ്സ് pic.twitter.com/dzkKqe6rGm
— K e r a l a B l a s t e r s F C (@KeralaBlasters) March 21, 2022
The Yellow Army went into the 2021-22 season low on expectations from the die-hard fan base. Serbian coach Vukomanovic was brought in to replace Kibu Vicuna. He wanted his team to be fit, strong and to be competitive throughout the campaign lasting five months.
The Blasters were the first team to start the pre-season. They participated in the Durand Cup, although they failed to make the semi-finals, it helped Vukomanovic to find out their underlying issues and know more about the Indian players in the squad. The 44-year-old tactician was quick to address the issues as they won all but two of their remaining pre-season games. The long pre-season prepared the team for a gruelling campaign.
KBFC started the season with a 4-2 loss against ATK Mohun Bagan and at least a few of the supporters would have thought that it could be the start of yet another poor season. However, that wasn’t to be as the Blasters then went on a 10-game unbeaten run, winning five of those and that included 3-0 victories against defending champions Mumbai City FC and Chennaiyinin FC.
The most impressive thing about the run was that the Blasters managed to keep five clean sheets. Vukomanovic had built a team around a strong defence. The Blasters had the second-worst defensive numbers in the 2020-21 season. So, from one of the worst to suddenly becoming one of the best defensive units in the league, Vukomanovic did a fabulous job.
Marko Leskovic, Ruivah Hormipam, Enes Sipovic and Bijoy Varghese were the four central defenders in the squad. Leskovic and Hormipam formed a stable centre-back partnership while Sipovic and Bijoy chipped in with decent performances whenever the team needed them.
Meanwhile right-back Harmanjot Singh Khabra was another key player in the back line. The 34-year-old’s experience and physicality played a pivotal role in the team’s successes. Left-back Jessel Carneiro started the initial few matches but then suffered a shoulder injury and was sidelined for the rest of the season. Nish Kumar and Sanjeev stepped up and did a fine job to make up for Jessel’s absence.
Vukomanovic took the best out of his players, two of the best examples are Sahal Abdul Samad and Puitea. Sahal has been touted as the next big thing in Indian football for a while now but was struggling to live up to the expectations. Meanwhile Puitea had a breakthrough season. Sahal finished the season with six goals and an assist while Puitea delivered a solid performance in the middle of the park, making a whopping 98 tackles and having a passing accuracy of 76% in 20 games.
The trust Vukomanovic had in the Indian youngsters was impeccable. Ayush Adhikari was another youngster to have a breakthrough season as the 21-year-old chipped in with some solid performance in the absence of central midfielder Jeakson and mostly as a substitute.
The best thing about Vukomanovic’s side was that it wasn’t centred around one or two players, they played more like a team. The forwards Alvaro Vazquez and Jorge Diaz both scored eight goals each while the two attacking midfielders Adrian Luna and Sahal also netted six goals each. The goal-scoring duties were pretty much evenly shared.
Vukomanovic had a stunning debut season in Hero ISL and didn’t just help KBFC get back to the top of Indian football but did so while playing attractive football and by promoting a lot of Indian youngsters in the team. The diehard football fans in Kerala would be hoping to see their Ashaan (coach) in the dugout next season.
