Thomas Brdaric: We can build a new Chennaiyin FC and play well going ahead

The Chennaiyin FC head coach also revealed why he didn't field Ajith Kumar.

Kerala Blasters beat Chennaiyin FC 2-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi. With this loss, Thomas Brdaric's side are almost out of the playoffs race and find themselves placed eighth on the league table with 18 points. Abdenasser El Khayati opened the scoring and scored the fastest goal of season 9, but Kerala Blasters bounced back strongly by scoring the equalizer inside the first half. The Blasters dominated the game after conceding, with Adrian Luna putting up a great show.

The post-match press conference was attended by head coach Thomas Brdaric. Here are the edited excerpts from what the coach had to say.

Positives from the match

El Khayati played well and scored the opening goal. The Chennaiyin defence once again proved to be porous, and have now conceded the second-most goals this season.

Thomas Brdaric opined “We started pretty well scoring the opening goal but couldn't control the game-losing duels. We had an improved show in the second half, especially in defending. We didn’t allow too many opportunities like in the first half. We were very good in the game. We deserved to bring at least one point.”

Any lapse of concentration due to the crowd?

Playing in front of the Yellow Army could be a daunting task for visiting teams, but Brdaric believed that his side were well in the game and looked ahead to the next fixture against East Bengal. The head coach said, "No. Overall we played well and were completely in the game by scoring, and tackling. Kerala is a good team and facing them in their home is a huge task. We have to play good football consistently. There is already a match lined up next so we do not have much time and need to go ahead.”

The reason why Ajith Kumar didn't start

Ajith Kumar was out of suspension and was the preferred right-back ahead of Edwin Vanspaul in previous games, but coach Thomas Brdaric persisted with Edwin Vanspaul and pinned high hopes on him.

The 47-year-old iterated,” Ajith wasn’t 100 percent ready for the match and he did not show up what he has to in the training. Edwin was confident and played well in the last game as well.”

Plans going ahead into the next three matches

The chances of qualifying for the playoffs look bleak, but the coach will consider giving youngsters some minutes on the football pitch to help build a good squad for the future.

Thomas Brdaric said, ”Every game is special for us. We have three games remaining and players will get enough experience playing those matches. Our aim initially was to get to the playoffs but we can build a new CFC and play well going ahead.”