Showed we can win with different styles, says KBFC coach Ivan Vukomanovic

The Blasters snapped a 10-game winless streak against FC Goa.

The Kerala Blasters defeated FC Goa 3-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi. Ivan Vukomanovic's found the opening goal from captain Adrian Luna and Dimitri Diamantakos extended the lead for Kerala Blasters as they headed into the break. After seven minutes of the second half,  Ivan Kaliuzhnyi made it three for KBFC. Noah Sadoui, lone scorer of FC Goa. 

Kerala Blasters coach Ivan Vukomanovic met the media for the post-match press conference to discuss his side’s performance. 

Here’s what the Kerala Blasters coach said:

Thoughts about the game

Ivan said that his side took a different approach and style for today’s game. He said that, as a coach, he always thinks about the global picture of the club. He added that his side were aware of how difficult it is to face FC Goa.

The coach said that his team wanted to down some of the key players in Goa and they won in that process by collecting three valuable points. However, he also mentioned that the team wanted a clean-sheet but unfortunately, they conceded one goal. 

“I always look as a coach as a global picture of everything about our club. We have many young players who are starting their professional career. And in that process of playing competition, organising certain things on the pitch and training sessions you always must think about developing different approaches and styles.

"It means we want to know how to play when we want to press high. All these things make together one compact team, one team who can be tough to beat.” 

“We knew that today's opponent is one of the best teams in the ISL. We knew that there are some key players in this team where if you put pressure on them and then the value of that team can decrease. So tonight we wanted to close down some of these key players. We are sorry for receiving that goal. We wanted to go with the clean-sheet but it's okay. That's football. We know that.” 

Team's conservative approach in the second half

Ivan Vukomanovic said that after the first half they discussed staying focused and organised in the first 15 minutes after the break. And the players followed it and within ten minutes they scored their third goal. He also said that getting a 3-0 lead gave the team extra motivation in the game. 

“If you take any game FC Goa plays in this league, against any opponent they will always dominate the game. Because that is the style they will play. Because of their Spanish influences, coaching staffs, and Spanish players. And sometimes as a coach you need to find the way you want to be them; how you want to score goals. In the second half, we wanted to be more organised because we had 2-0 leads. And we scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half, the third goal. Which again gave us a kind of extra motivation.”

The coach said that the team has a very bad feeling about the home matches they have lost so far in the tournament. He said that they have learned a lot from those matches and worked on it and that’s something they have shown up today on the pitch. 

“We had bad feelings about the previous home games. We sat down and think about how we can do that. This was the way, tonight also to show that we can play defensively. We can also play with high pressing. 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. It’s a great boost for the next game,” he concluded.

Thoughts on some emotional moments during the match

Ivan Vukomanovic said that he had expected this kind of approach from the opponents. According to him, these players provoke the opponents to get yellow and red cards. He only wanted to say to young players that these kinds of things happen in football and they have to deal with it somehow. 

“When you play against this kind of team with such players on the opposite side, these are the players who always try to use any possible details trying to provoke you, for you to get yellow red cards, trying to kick you, trying to tell you bad words. This is the way they play, maybe they play in their country or back home. This is football. And I want our players, especially young players who are starting their career need to know that these things happen. And they have to deal with it.”