Kerala Blasters FC have had a terrible start to the Indian Super League and have been punished by getting dropped to 13th in the table before the international break. While there have not been any “spectacular” defensive performances, the Blasters have been offensively insecure as well for most of their games. This is a notable structural collapse compared to last season, where defensive issues persisted, but we still had an offensive edge.
The club had to contend with factors such as the departure of the Football Sports Development Limited from ISL, the loss of key foreigners, and going into the season with an unevenly filled foreigner quota. Along with these, ex-head coach David Catala couldn’t do a fine job to ensure his side remained out of the relegation battle, and the club currently sit on one spot above the relegation zone.
A Tale of Two Halves?
First half under Catala: Catala’s ISL debut was disappointing but not unexpected as his side lost 2-0 to a star-packed Mohun Bagan in the season opener. While the first half offensive performance of the Blasters was mostly unwatchable, the Blasters’ attacking sequences in the 2nd half did give some hope to the spectators that things would be better going forward.
Things just got worse.
2nd match against Mumbai in Kochi – a game which had drama both before and after the match. Blasters had a decent first half, conceded a goal at the start of the second, and failed to meaningfully threaten the Mumbai goal. Result 1-0 defeat, 2nd defeat in a row.
3rd game against Kashi, expectations from the fixture were to at least gain a point or three, but got dunked by a worldie from Nauris and a late goal by Planas despite finally scoring a goal in the season via Victor Bertomeu, 2-1 defeat.
With 3 games and 3 defeats, Catala’s men played against Chennaiyin, another frustrating 1-0 loss, with the poor attacking performance adding insult to injury. 3rd home fixture defeat in a row, a club record.
Game no. 4 against East Bengal, away, everyone expected an easy victory for East Bengal and 5 defeats in a row for the Blasters. Despite having all the odds against them and even conceding as early as the 10th minute, the Blasters in blue fought their way to a stoppage-time equalizer, thanks to the academy graduates Ajsal and Ebindas.
The 1-1 draw against a flying East Bengal gave hopes, but most took the result with a grain of salt as the game looked more like a bottle job by East Bengal rather than a convincing comeback from the Blasters.
But anyway, the Blasters had their first point of the season under David Catala and hoped something would finally click, but what the near future had in store for them would prove that the pessimists were right all along.
6th game of the season and 4th home match of the season against Punjab FC. Catala decided to field the same lineup from the previous game. The cracks were visible since the 1st minute.
The Blasters struggled beyond redemption, and this game was the ultimate culmination of everything that plagued the Blasters this season. 3 goals conceded in the first half, and all three were directly or indirectly a result of amateurish individual errors.
Everyone was at their worst.
Catala was forced to make two major changes as early as the 33rd minute in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, but to no avail. The Blasters did score an open-play goal via Fallou Ndiaye in the 65th, but any remaining hope for a comeback was thrown out of the window when Marlon Roos-Trujillo got himself a lazy red card.
The final score was 3-1 in favor of Punjab FC, a team that came into the game without their only goal scorer of the season, now had three more different goal scorers, a gift from KBFC. Record 4th home defeat in a row. The lowest recorded attendance in club history. One of the worst displays in the history of the Blasters. It was game over for Catala at the Blasters.
Second half under Westwood: After a few days of uncertainty, Catala was officially sacked, and Ashley Westwood was appointed as the new head coach till the end of the current season. The club also roped in Moroccan Midfielder, Karim Benarif, prior to Ashley’s first game in charge.
Ashley Westwood eulogized the Blasters fanbase in interviews, but the relationship between the club and the fans, however, soured. The biggest Blasters fan group, the Manjappada have officially announced a season-long boycott, stating a multitude of reasons with the core focus on mismanagement of the club by the current management.
With Blasters sitting just a point above the drop zone at mid-season, Ashley has a herculean task at hand, and Kerala Blasters, known for their ever-passionate fanbase, will have to find a way through without them, hopefully only till the end of this season.
Tactics and team selection
Under Catala, it was a mess. 5 different lineups in 6 games, all failing to get the 3 points. Except for the Naocha-Yoke combination in the left wing, nothing else has worked decently for the Blasters, and they have struggled in all 6 of their games, resulting in extremely frustrating performances to add insult to the already disappointing results.
The Blasters also failed to have a fixed identity under Catala, who switched between possession and transition-based football in between his tenure, in hopes of better results, but the only result it had was the Blasters looking clueless on the field.
The regular inclusion of underperforming players also didn’t help much, and the injuries only worsened the situation. All in all, it was terrible from the perspective of the Blasters fans, and the less said about it, the better. Under Westwood, well, we’ve got to wait and watch.
Till then, check out what we think about the same in our article about Ashley Westwood, click here.
Issues to be rectified
Attacking:
Chance Creation-Conversion: The Blasters have failed to create adequate, meaningful chances in their previous games, and in games where they’ve had those chances, they have failed to convert them as well, making them one of the lowest scoring sides in the league. With the Blasters having lost out on the majority of their games on a 1-goal deficit, an improvement in the way the Blasters attack is much needed.
Lack of movement: Talking about chance creation, it is also necessary to mention that the Blasters have not been making the movements needed for chance creation. The players have appeared static in many games, allowing the opposition to mark and defend the Blasters’ attacks with ease, and even with better creators like the Blasters’ latest signing, Karim Benarif, on board, the Blasters won’t be able to make much betterment if they don’t bring any improvement in their movement.
Defensive:
Errors in buildups: The Blasters have conceded 10 goals this season, and the majority of them have come from mistakes while trying to build up from the back. Even in their last game against Punjab FC, the lion’s share of errors from the Blasters occurred during the same buildup phase, playing a major role in the Blasters’ defeat that night. Building up from the back is a crucial part of the game under most systems, and without fixing their errors there, the Blasters’ chances of progression, both on the field and on the table, look dim.
Standout Player(s)
Ebindas Yesudasan – While the 20-year-old midfielder’s ISL debut might not have had anything to write home about, his performance in the remaining games set him up to be one of the better players in the current KBFC squad.
The Thiruvananthapuram-born playmaker gave hope to the Blasters fans when everything else seemed to fall apart, and he has repaid the trust put in him by becoming the top assister of the Blasters this season and one of the top assisters in the whole league. His performances also earned him a call-up to the U-23 National Team this International Break, and he would be looking to secure his spot in both the Blasters and India U-23 sides with his performances in the upcoming games.
Fallou Ndiaye – While the 24-year-old Senegalese Centre-Back has only appeared in 2 games, he has been one of the better players in recent times for the Blasters.
The 6’6” CB has already scored for the Blasters in their 3-1 defeat against Punjab and has been one of the few threatening Blasters players in the offense despite being a Centre-Back. The no. 44 is expected to have a crucial role under new head coach Ashley Westwood, and Fallou would be looking to prove his mettle in the coming games as the Blasters look to claw their way up and away from the relegation zone.
X-factor for the rest of the season
Karim Benarif – The 33 y/o Moroccan midfielder is the only officially confirmed new foreign signing at the time of writing this article, and he’ll have a crucial role in the Blasters’ fight to stay up. He is another player expected to play a crucial role in Westwood’s system and is expected to be the creator-in-chief of the Blasters in the upcoming games. To learn more in-depth about the Blasters’ new midfielder, take a read of our article on him, click here.
The Blasters are also expected to sign another foreign player, possibly a forward, and he could also be an x-factor going forward. So let’s wait and watch if that move happens or not.
Key matches to look out for
vs Sporting Club Delhi – could set the basic tone for the Ashley Westwood Era
The Blasters have their first game under Ashley Westwood away against Sporting Club Delhi, who sit just above the Blasters in the league table with a point more and a game less played. The game could set the basic tone for how the Blasters would operate under Ashley Westwood for the remainder of the season, and a good result could propel the Blasters up to 11th in the table, slightly away from immediate danger.
vs Mohammedan Sporting Club – potential relegation decider
The Blasters face current relegation favorites Mohammedans on the 10th of May. This fixture could be of utmost importance to the club’s current goal of avoiding relegation as purely based on current form Blasters and Mohammedans could be closer on the table by the end of the season if things don’t go in favor of both sides and clinching a victory or at least avoiding a defeat in this fixture could ensure the Blasters’ survival in the Indian Super League.
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