Five talking points from Chennai’s frustrating stalemate with Kerala Blasters

1. English managers are in trouble

David James has often stated he’s here to ensure Kerala Blasters’ long-term improvement. He must have had a convincing plan to convince the club to hand him a three-year contract. However, it hardly looks like his plan, if there’s any, is working. Kerala continues to hoof the ball up and is inept at set pieces, a department Indian clubs are expected to be good at. Plus, his team selection has also been questionable.

His Chennai counterpart, John Gregory, on the other hand, has hinted he still hasn’t figured out his best system yet. “I admit that I have made some poor choices in selecting the starting eleven some games,” he said in the pre-match press conference. Going by the result, he didn’t get it right on Thursday as well or, perhaps, he never signed the right players for his vision to work.

A testing period beckons for the English duo.

Edited by Moderator -PJ