ISL 2022-23: "This was the way to show that we can also play defensively" - Kerala Blasters boss Ivan Vukomanovic analyzes FC Goa win

Kerala Blasters earned a 3-1 victory over FC Goa in their sixth match of the 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL) season on Sunday (November 13).

Adrian Luna opened the scoring for Kerala Blasters in the 43rd minute of the game, with Sahal Abdul Samad providing the assist. It took Dimitrios Diamantakos just four more minutes to double the Yellow Army's lead.

Ivan Kalyuzhnyi then found the back of the net for Kerala Blasters with a stunning long-ranger seven minutes into the second half. Noah Sadaoui pulled one back for Goa, but it was not enough to fuel a comeback.

Kerala Blasters notably toned down the intensity of their pressing in the game, especially in the first half. Instead, they channeled their energy towards restricting the likes of Edu Bedia in the middle of the park and reaped the rewards for it.

Responding to a question posed by Sportskeeda, Kerala Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic explained the reason for the tactical change:

"I always look, as a coach, at the global picture of everything, of our club and our organization, our point of working with these guys - because we have many very young players, who are starting their professional careers."

He added:

"And in that process of playing competition, organizing certain things on the pitch and in training sessions, you must always think about developing different approaches and different styles."

Vukomanovic stated that while Kerala Blasters play well while pressing high, today they demonstrated their ability in a low block as well. He said:

"It means we want to know how to play when we need to press high. We want to know, also, how we need to play when we sit in a lower block and all these things make one compact team, a team that can be tough to beat and actually trying to choose moments how you want to play against different opponents."

He added:

"Maybe it can happen that during one game, you want to press high, get the result, then you want to sit back. With these moments and these things, we want our team to be capable of recognizing the moments, how and when we need to play with different styles, like it was the case tonight."

The Kerala Blasters gaffer went on to say that they wanted to close down some key players of FC Goa to gain an upper hand:

"We knew, of course, that our tonight's opponent is one of the best teams in the ISL, especially speaking about ball possession. We knew that there are some key players in this team where if you press them or lock them down and put pressure on them, the value of that team can decrease for a certain amount or percentage."

He added:

"So, tonight we wanted to close down some of these key players, we wanted to be very intelligent in that moment to reduce the space between the lines because we analyzed and saw how FC Goa likes to play."

Vukomanovic further explained that by closing spaces down they were able to limit FC Goa's chances and create their own on transition:

"By reducing that space, locking down the key players, we wanted them to, let's say, orientate them in one part of the pitch and then lock them down in that part, pressing over there, recovering the ball, going in transitions and actually, creating chances, which actually happened in the first and a second half as well."

The Kerala Blasters boss also provided his thoughts on what unfolded in the second half:

"When you score some goals and you have a comfortable lead, you always want to stay focused, you always want to stay organized. Even after the first half, in the dressing room, in our team talk, we were saying that the first 15 minutes of the second half will be key of the game where we need to stay organized, focused altogether."

He added:

"[It was] where we scored the third goal, which gave us even more motivation and let's say comfort to stay organized, to stay focused, and then push each other till the end."

Vukomanovic went on to express his disappointment at not being able to keep a clean sheet:

"We're sorry to concede that goal. We wanted to go with a clean sheet again, but okay, that's football. We know that FC Goa are a marvelous team with great players. They can punish you anytime they want."

Kerala Blasters seemingly took a conservative approach in the second half as they looked to see the match through. Asked the reason behind this, Vukomanovic said:

"If we speak about our opponent tonight, you take any game they play in this league against any opponent, they will always dominate the game because that's the style they play. When you speak about Spanish influence, coaching staff, Spanish players. This is how they play."

He added:

"Sometimes, as a coach, you need to find the key, you need to find the way to beat them, how you want to score goals. So in the second half, of course, we wanted to be more organized because we had a 2-0 lead. And then I think we scored in the first 10 minutes [of the second half] the third goal, which gave us extra motivation."

The Kerala Blasters head coach complimented FC Goa's ability on the ball and explained how he studied them to find a counter:

"If you go with your guards open and attack this kind of team... you saw many times that when they start the game from behind with the goalkeeper, they wait for you, they want you to come high and then they want to exploit some spaces, they have great players on the ball, and then with these runs behind, they can punish you."

He added:

"So as a coach, you need to find a way, especially coming from the previous period where we had a bad feeling about the home games, we wanted to achieve that victory."

Vukomanovic lauded Kerala Blasters' versatility in playing style as they played in a defensive block today:

"So then, as a coach, you sit down to think about how we can do that. I think this was the way to show that we can also play defensively, we can also play with high pressing and it makes me happy because as a team you improve, as a team you grow up when you show yourself that we can do it."

Vukomanovic insisted that Kerala Blasters' ability to adapt to their opponents will stand them in good stead as the season progresses:

"For the boys, it's a great boost for the next period. So now, it's always up to us how we want to approach games against different opponents because this is the way how it is in football."

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Vukomanovic lauds Kerala Blasters players for dealing with provocations

Vukomanovic stressed the need for his team to control their emotions in his pre-match press conference. There were some heated moments in the match between Kerala Blasters and FC Goa and the Serbian thinks his players dealt with those situations well:

"Absolutely. When you play against these kinds of teams with such players on the opposite side, these are the players that will always try to use any possible detail, trying to provoke you, trying to provoke certain situations for you to get a yellow or red card, trying to kick you, trying to tell you bad words, this is how they play in their countries or back home, this is football."

He added:

"I want our players, especially young players, who are starting their careers, to know that this happens and they need to deal with those moments. Especially when you lead against some teams who have the habit of winning games, dominating games."

Vukomanovic claimed that there were some provocations during the match by FC Goa's players but his players dealt with it well:

"When you score three goals, you know that some of them will be a little bit nervous, trying to provoke you. This is what was happening tonight, I have nothing to say against it. This is a normal part of football, you can see it worldwide."

The Kerala Blasters boss added:

"So, our boys must be conscious and know that these kind of things will happen again. Then, we, from a character and mental side, we must be strong enough to avoid those things [provocations], to let it go and to continue being busy with our game and the way we want to play."

Kerala Blasters will now look to take their winning run in the ISL to three games when they face Hyderabad FC on November 19.