Kibu Vicuna: It's good that we created chances, bad that we didn't score

The Kerala Blasters head coach also shared his thoughts on the team's difficult schedule in January.

Kerala Blasters will face Odisha FC on Thursday in search of their second victory of the season. Kibu Vicuna and his men are coming on the back of a 2-0 defeat against table-toppers Mumbai City FC. Their inability to finish off goalscoring chances hurt the team’s prospects in that game. Kerala and Odisha occupy two of the last three spots in the points table after eight matches each. Coach Vicuna along with winger Seityasen Singh addressed several aspects of the upcoming half of the season in their pre-match media interaction.  

Team’s inefficiency in final third

Kerala took 19 shots and four of them were on target against the Islanders. However, they couldn’t convert even one of them into a goal. Reflecting on the improvements that could be made on that front, Kibu Vicuna said, “Working in training, it’s the only way we can improve. The good thing is that we created chances. The bad thing is that we didn’t score. If you want to score goals, you have to create chances and we are working to try to improve in this aspect.”

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The Spaniard was also sympathetic towards Odisha’s previous result, as he mentioned, “Every game is different. We respect the Odisha team. In my opinion, watching their games they didn’t deserve to lose the last match against SC East Bengal.”

Transfer dealings in January

The Blasters have added the duo of Subha Ghosh and Juande Lopez to their squad midway through the season. Probed about the possibility of any further transfer dealings, the head coach said, “We are not looking for anything. We have the team we have. I am happy with the team we have. It’s true that this change, we can change between Subha and Naorem (Nongdamba). Juande also came and he will be available from Monday.” 

He added, “You know, in football everything is possible. Until the last day, everything is possible. Some players can go out, some players can come in. But, if you are asking me if we are looking for a signing, no we are not looking for anything right now.”

Thoughts on schedule for second half of season

The fixtures for the second half of the campaign were released a few days ago. The Blasters are slated to play eight matches in January and Vicuna spoke in depth about the situation. The Spaniard believes that different players require varied recovery periods, but he also admitted that every team has to endure similar challenges. 

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“It’s going to be hard, intense for recovery. Sometimes, we don’t have enough time, not only us but for all the teams. You are playing every three days, it’s difficult to recover. Every player is different, there are some players, that in one day, they recover. Other players need 2-3 days to feel better. But, it’s going to be difficult for all the teams,” Kibu Vicuna opened up. 

He further stated, “You know, the schedule, we cannot do anything about that. It’s true we play eight matches, it’s too much. For example, in December we play only four. So, we have time between game and game, now we have not. It’s better to have for example, five days between one and the second game, because you have time to recover well. If you are playing every seven days or every 10 days, you are playing three matches, it’s hard to recover.”

I-League without Mohun Bagan and East Bengal

Kibu Vicuna had led Mohun Bagan to the I-League title in 2019/20. However, the Mariners along with SC East Bengal have deserted the second tier now. The upcoming edition of the competition is slated to be held in West Bengal from January 9 onward. Coach Vicuna reflected on the league’s stature sans the presence of the two Kolkata powerhouses. 

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Vicuna was asked whether the I-League serves as a good scouting platform for teams in the ISL. “Sure, you can see now this season, a lot of players where they played last season in I-League are performing well in ISL, especially the young players. Sure, it’s an interesting competition,” the head coach responded. 

Seityasen Singh’s brief remarks

The 28-year-old has been associated with the Blasters since the previous campaign. He is among the domestic players who were retained by the team this year. Players such as Holicharan Narzary and TP Rehenesh arguably didn’t have great spells with the club in 2019/20. However, they are performing brilliantly for their current employers and the winger was asked to comment on that. 

“I think it maybe depends on the playing style. Now, we have a new coach and they also got a new coach. Maybe, this depends mainly on the playing style,” Singh replied. Speaking on preparations for the game against the Juggernauts, the player remarked, “Of course, we are working more. We are focusing on this Odisha match, we are focusing well. We will try to take the opportunity to score and take three points.”

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