Kibu Vicuna: We simply cannot afford to make such defensive mistakes and concede goals

The Spanish tactician lamented his team’s mistakes that caused them to lose against the Islanders.

On Saturday, Kerala Blasters FC went down fighting against Mumbai City FC as the latter struck twice in the first 11 minutes to grab all three points. After the match, Blasters head coach Kibu Vicuna explained that the main reasons for their defeat were the mistakes made by his team’s defence.

While speaking to the media, the 48-year-old also lauded a few individual performances like that of Sahal Abdul Samad and stressed that they played the game with their best available line-up.

Vicuna on whether he wants changes in his team

The Kerala Blasters squad is not short of talent or experience, with players who have plied their trades in Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1 and other high-octane competitions being a part of the side. But much to the disappointment of Kibu Vicuna, some of them have not risen up to expectations.

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Despite so, the coach assured them of his trust, saying that Saturday’s loss happened because of other reasons. “Today we lost the game due to defensive errors. We should not concede goals like the ones that Mumbai City scored. They played fantastically and for us so far, it has been a case of conceding many and scoring very few.

“Today also we had very good chances to score and come back into the game,” he said, before adding: “It happens in football. The good news is that we were able to find chances. I am not sure if any other team has created so many opportunities against Mumbai City FC who are a very good team. We created chances from set pieces, by pressing hard when they had the ball and also in open play. We didn’t score, that was the problem and we need to work on it.”

On the half-time talk

The Yellow Army found themselves at a precarious position at the end of the first-half, trailing 2-0 with Mumbai City wasting a lot of opportunities to go further ahead.

However, they played a good game in the second half and came close to scoring on two more occasions as well. Upon asked about what inspired this change, Kibu Vicuna said, “During half-time, I reminded the players of the game against NorthEast United, where we were in the opposite situation at the end of the first half. In that game we were leading by 2-0 at the start of the second half, and they came back into the game by playing well.

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“If they could do it, I thought we would also be able to do it and told the team so. I wanted the team to be proactive and fight till the very end. They shouldn’t give up, rather they should try to win till the very last minute. That’s what they did and I am very happy about it,” he further added.

On the work rate of Sahal Abdul Samad

Sahal had a good outing against Mumbai City and would have seen his own name on the scoresheet had he finished off some of his scoring chances. When asked about the 23-year-old, the gaffer stressed that he continues to be a valuable part of the team.

“Sahal is a very good player. We are happy to have him. He has to work on his finishing and that will happen with time. Before the game itself (during the pre-match press conference) I had told that he is improving in terms of performance and that you’ll see a better version of him in future. I will say the same thing now as well,” he said.

On the defensive mistakes and players’ attitude

As mentioned above, a few defensive mistakes from the Blasters’ end made things easier for Mumbai City as they wrapped up the game inside 12 minutes. Vicuna felt that those had nothing to do with players’ attitudes.

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“It (mistakes) happens sometimes. The team was very focused in the beginning but then went on to commit an error in the very first minute. Mumbai then scored from a penalty and the situation changed,” he said, before explaining: “But it’s not a question of attitude. Their attitude was fine throughout the game and it’s just that we cannot afford to score from defensive mistakes like today.

“Especially the second goal which Boumous scored. We simply cannot afford to make such errors,” The 48-year-old commented.

On picking Costa over Hakku

Abdul Hakku, the 26-year-old defender who had a brilliant outing against Hyderabad FC last Sunday was benched as Zimbabwean centre-back Costa Nhamoinesu returned to the starting XI against the Islanders. With the 34-year-old committing mistakes on the pitch, questions were asked about his inclusion in the team but Kibu Vicuna did not agree.

“It’s true that Hakku played well in the last game, but according to me, we played with the best available team against Mumbai City,” the tactician concluded.

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