ISL domestic players draft analysis: Kerala Blasters

Kerala Blasters were the third highest spenders

Total expenditure – 3.31 crore

Squad

Goalkeepers: Sandip Nandy (32 lakh + 50% loan fee share), Luis Barreto (12.5 lakh)

Defenders: Gurwinder Singh (17 lakh), Ramandeep Singh (14 lakh + 25% loan fee share), Nirmal Chettri (70 lakh + 33% loan fee share), Sandesh Jhingan (35 lakh + 33% loan fee), Avinabo Bag (10 lakh + 25% loan fee share)

Midfielders: Mehtab Hossain (35 lakh), Sushant Matthew (12 lakh + 50% loan fee share), Godwin Franco (13 lakh + 33% loan fee share), Ishfaq Ahmed (29 lakh + 25% loan fee share), Renedy Singh (25 lakh + 33% loan fee share)

Forwards: CS Sabeeth (17.5 lakh), Milagres Gonsalves (10 lakh + 50% loan fee share)

Overview

The marquee player-manager of Kerala Blasters, which is co-owned by Sachin Tendulkar, is rumoured to be former England goalkeeper David James. But the more significant signing for Kerala Blasters is that of former East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan as their assistant coach. Morgan is considered to be one of the best coaches in I-League history so his presence gave the Kerala Blasters an edge in the domestic players draft. Kerala made some significant additions on day one with four of the seven picks being current India internationals. It was no surprise to see Morgan go for names which he had worked with East Bengal. On day two, the Englishman added one more former East Bengal player in Sandip Nandy besides picking up a few players he worked with during the IMG-Reliance training camp last year like Avinabo Bag, Luis Barreto and Renedy Singh. In the end Kerala Blasters were the third highest spenders.

Strengths

The big advantage Kerala Blasters will have over other franchises is the familiarity that Morgan has with Indian football. The Englishman will be reunited with six of his former East Bengal players and is well aware of the qualities of the other eight members also. Kerala have plenty of experience and quality in the goalkeeping, defence and defensive midfield positions. They also have plenty of multifunctional players such as Sandesh Jhingan, who can operate anywhere in the backline, Sushant Matthew can play both in defence and midfield while Ishfaq Ahmed is capable of featuring in different midfield roles.

Weaknesses

Kerala lack a genuine left back in their Indian pool and are reportedly looking for one outside the domestic players pool. Barring Ishfaq, they also lack a quality wide midfielder in their Indian contingent with Avinabo Bag lacking experience while former India captain Renedy Singh hasn’t played much competitive football in recent years.

Player to Watch

The midfielder will be playing for a non-Kolkata club for the first time in his career

Mehtab Hossain

The East Bengal midfield general is undoubtedly one of the best current players in the country and was unsurprisingly the first pick of Morgan, under whom the medio has played the best football of his career. Mehtab is expected to be the heartbeat of the Kerala Blasters side and he will be looking to be consistent in his first-ever professional venture outside Kolkata.