Mikael Stahre divulges Kerala Blasters' squad status ahead of Bhubaneswar trip

The Tuskers will look for their first away win of the season.

Kerala Blasters FC had a mixed start to their Indian Super League-ISL 2024-25 season, registering a win, a draw, and a defeat in their first fixtures. They are set to battle Odisha FC in their second away fixture of the season. The Blasters’ head coach Mikael Stahre reflects on his team’s progress so far this season.

Odisha FC come into this fixture in winning form, having won their last two matches. Stahre, when asked about how he plans to counter their momentum, responded, “We have to focus on our own performance. We were very pleased with our second-half display against NorthEast United. Although we couldn’t score more than one goal, we were confident and energetic on the pitch. We will rely on that confidence, even though we didn’t win the game.”

Mikael Stahre on his approach for the Odisha FC game

Odisha’s defence has been resilient despite the absence of their key centre-back Carlos Delgado. The Blasters’ coach, on his plans against the opposition, stated, “Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses, and we need to focus on our own game. We know they have a lot of quality in their squad, and it’s important for us to optimise our team. We must have a specific game plan for this match, and we will.”

Importance of instructing players and team talk at halftime

Mikael Stahre’s sideline instructions and half-time team talks have been crucial throughout the course of a game for Kerala Blasters. The manager said, “People, sometimes, underestimate these daily activities. We have plenty of team talks and daily training sessions. Of course, you need to pass on your message every day—sometimes in small pieces, other times in bigger or even tinier pieces.

“Then, leading up to the game, you have match meetings, and during the game, you have a 15-minute break to discuss and highlight key points or make changes if necessary. You also need to read the game as it unfolds. In addition, we have small breaks, like the water or cooling breaks, so you must make the most of every opportunity and read the intensity of the game as well.”

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Concerns about creating chances and the tactical side to it

Kerala Blasters failed to register a winning goal despite having the opposition reduced to 10 men in their previous game. The Swedish tactician, regarding their attacking issues, stated, “If you look back at the game against NorthEast, we created a lot of chances in different ways. We created chances from set pieces, from crosses, from shots from distance, and from combinations.

“We also created chances through individual quality. Obviously, if you look at some stats, you’ll see the expected goals, and we had five or six good chances, with an expected goals figure of almost 2. We are creating enough quality chances. So, I’m not worried from that perspective. I believe we’re on the right track.”

“Ideally, you would want to create 50 chances per game, but that’s not realistic. That might happen against lower-division teams, but in a professional game like the one we played, you can’t always expect to create more chances than we’ve generated in recent matches.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t win that game, but our offensive performance was more than good enough to secure three points in an away fixture. But that’s football—you have to accept it, move on, focus, and improve. Hopefully, we play a good game tomorrow,” he added.

Injury concerns

Mikael Stahre, reflecting on his team’s progress despite multiple injury issues, said, “I’m happy with the improvement and that we are on the right track. If you compare our last game to our first match in the Durand Cup, I believe we are significantly better now. We’ve had some injuries, especially Vibin (Mohanan), who is just coming back and has made a huge impact on our team, particularly in terms of quality and passing. He is naturally gifted and has a promising future. We’re also waiting for Luna to return to his best form.”

“We definitely still have some injury concerns. We’ve had some minor setbacks, and that’s quite normal. However, we can manage that. After this game, there will be an international break, and hopefully, we can recover and train effectively during that time,” he concluded.

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