Fanzone: Kibu Vicuna or Sergio Lobera, who is better for Kerala Blasters?

A couple of the Yellow Army faithful put forth their opinions on which Spanish coach's philosophy suits the club best.

When Khel Now broke the news of the impending appointment of Kibu Vicuna as the new head coach of Kerala Blasters, a lot of buzz was created within the club's huge fanbase.

However, looking at how Kibu Vicuna led Mohun Bagan to an emphatic victory in the I-League, many started believing in the 'sensible' decision taken by the club's management. Moreover, before the deal with Vicuna was finalized, former FC Goa tactician Sergio Lobera too was reported to have been in talks with the club.

While the Kochi-based outfit is yet to announce the appointment officially, the decision may have caused a divide between the fans.

Let's look at the opinions put forth by two of the club's faithful in favour of either of the coaches:

Muralee Karthik (For Kibu Vicuna)

I am supporting Kibu Vicuna over Sergio Lobera for a few reasons. Both of them are interested in playing an attacking brand of football rather than defending. Both of them have great ability to nurture young players.

For instance, Vicuna has developed players like Sk Sahil, Subha Ghosh, Shankar Roy, Nongdamba Naorem and so on. On the other hand, Lobera has nurtured talents like Seriton Fernandes and others.

One of the major reasons behind supporting Kibu is that he has the ability to make even an average team champions. But, Lobera needs a lot of resources to do the same. We can understand it from the events of the ISL season just past.

Halfway through the sixth season, Ferran Corominas and Hugo Boumous got injured and Mourtada Fall and Ahmed Jahouh were suspended. This resulted in FC Goa not being able to play their unique style of football.

On the other hand, during the I-League season Kibu Vicuna faced many injuries, especially those to star defender Daneil Cyrus. At that time, he took the risk and played Fran Gonzalez as a centre-back and it turned out to be a success. During the campaign, Mohun Bagan played with three different formations - 4-3-3, 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 and all of them worked well for them.

Further, I think, Lobera is highly dependent on his foreign players, but Vicuna has the ability to make a playing XI even without foreign players and yet produce the same brand of football. It was something we saw in the Calcutta Football League, where he had once started with just two foreigners.

Lastly, Lobera's substitutions fail a number of times. In contrast, Kibu is a master of substitutions and Ghosh is a prime example of this. Often when he came on as a substitute he would score and bag the three points for Mohun Bagan.

These are the reasons why I support Kibu over Lobera, but he needs to show his ability in the ISL and I hope for the best!

Mohammed Haseeb (For Sergio Lobera)

Kerala Blasters are undoubtedly the club that boasts a large number of supporters across the country. But, the performance of the outfit has been sub-par since its inception. The club is seen towards the bottom end of the table since the Steve Coppell era. Eelco Schattorie was brought on to change the bad fortune of the club.

However, he too failed to meet expectations and the management decided not to renew his contract. While Kerala Blasters have been in the bottom end of the table for the last three seasons,  Sergio Lobera’s Goa were making huge strides in the league by winning games one after the other, that too by playing an attractive brand of football.

Sergio Lobera’s success with FC Goa can be considered as the No. 1 reason why Kerala Blasters should have opted for him instead of Kibu Vicuña. He changed the identity and mentality of the club. Teams were afraid to play against them. If you scored two goals against them, they would score four goals against you.

Everyone dreamt that their team would play like the Gaurs. He also developed many talents such as Brandon Fernandes. Brandon is now one of the sought-after stars in Indian football. Jackichand Singh, who had a disastrous season with Kerala Blasters became one of the key players under Lobera.

Kerala Blasters needed someone who has proven himself in the ISL. I don’t think there was a better candidate in the Indian circuit, who has proven himself like Sergio Lobera did in his three seasons with FC Goa.

Kibu Vicuna has been at Mohun Bagan only for a season. There is no doubt that he is a great coach. But, he is yet to prove that he can do it consistently. We need to remember that Eelco Schattorie was also successful with NorthEast United. However, he was not able to replicate that at Kerala Blasters. Lobera’s Goa were consistently in the top four for three seasons. 

Moreover, the I-League is different from the ISL. Everything including the budget of the teams and the quality of foreign players is different. Vicuna had a great season with Mohun Bagan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he would be able to replicate that success with Kerala Blasters.

Sergio Lobera boasts a higher profile than Kibu Vicuna. He has managed more clubs and his managerial career spans across more than a decade. Thus, it is evident that Kerala Blasters should have considered bringing in Lobera instead of Vicuna.