Which two areas does Mikael Stahre think Kerala Blasters should focus on following Bengaluru FC defeat?

Mikael Stahre reflected on his side’s second home defeat of the season.

Mikael Stahre’s Kerala Blasters suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Bengaluru FC in their third home fixture of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season. The Tuskers were well and truly in control of the game, but a comedy of errors led the game to slip away from them.

The Blasters’ head coach Mikael Stahre, responded on the result, “I’m extremely disappointed. We are playing in an electric atmosphere in a full stadium. It’s a world-class feeling.

“I believe we executed the tactical plan perfectly. Sometimes you make mistakes in a game but these kinds of huge errors are unacceptable, especially the first one.”

Bengaluru FC’s first goal resulted from a defensive error by Pritam Kotal. The home team took control of the game from that point on and equalized with a penalty. However, another error from the Blaster’s goalkeeper Som Kumar gifted the lead to the opposition against the run of play.

Mikael Stahre commented on the individual errors that cost his side the game. “This is important for me as a leader, as a coach to not throw anyone under the bus. We are a team and we have to support each other. Everyone knows it was a mistake in the back line, by our goalkeeper but once we admit that, we go forward and support each other.

“I hope that the yellow family is also supporting our players. It’s easy in this situation to point fingers. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes. I’m pleased with the game from some perspectives. Still, I’m frustrated, and it’s really hard to accept that we lost this game.”

Mikael Stahre commented on how Som Kumar’s error affects the youngster at the moment, stating, “In life, everyone will have setbacks. It’s really hard right now, but in the long term, he will learn from this. For me, it was just a second of lack of concentration. Hopefully, it will be better for him next time.”

ALSO READ: Bengaluru FC’s Gerard Zaragoza hails impact of substitutions in Kerala Blasters win

Noah Sadaoui has been one of the most impactful players for the Tuskers this season. Mikael Stahre, on Noah Sadaoui’s absence from the game, stated, “He has an injury but we will see him soon. It’s not a serious injury but he wasn’t even close to playing after the evaluation from our medical team.

“I think we dealt with it in a good way but of course, you’re missing one of the best players in the league. I think we handled it well but we missed him a lot.”

Mikael Stahre, sharing his insights from the game, stated, “I’m disappointed with the result but everyone can see that we played well tonight. We have been doing well for a while. I think we have our DNA. We want to play with intensity and pace. We want to be aggressive.

“Now, I feel that no matter who is playing or what kind of formation we are using, we’re more tactically flexible than before. If you dig into the game in detail, you’ll see that we played in another way today, and I think we handled it well.”

“We made some tactical adjustments, and they weren’t only due to Noah Sadaoui’s absence. We had the idea, and I’m pleased with how the players handled that and executed it. This gives us more opportunities to handle games in different ways. as a coach, it also gives me, a bigger chance to rotate the players.

“I know that we have only a certain number of foreign spots, and we also have good young players. So, if you have a flexible system, it’s easier to rotate and bring in different players. That way, everyone can contribute, and I’m really glad for that progress,” Mikael Stahre concluded.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.