Kibu Vicuna laments lack of team balance following Odisha FC draw

The Kerala Blasters head coach also said that Jeakson Singh could become a good center-back.

On Thursday, Kerala Blasters were held to a draw by bottom-placed Odisha FC in the Indian Super League (ISL). Following the result, the Yellow Army's playoffs hopes have diminished further. Head coach Kibu Vicuna was not pleased with that fact, although he vowed to finish in the best possible position at the end of the league stage.

While Jordan Murray and Gary Hooper scored for the Blasters, Diego Mauricio's brace resulted in the Juggernauts earning a point from the game. After the final whistle, Vicuna shared his thoughts with the media.

The Result

Kibu Vicuna openly admitted that he was not happy with the result. He also believed that his team were the better of the two sides throughout the match.

"We wanted to win the match and get the three points. We were the better team in both halves. Despite having many chances, we scored only two goals," he said, before adding, "It's difficult to understand, digest and explain this situation. Altogether, it's just unbelievable that we didn't win."

Playing Style

"I am satisfied with the way we play. We played offensive football and created many chances," the 48-year-old said when questioned about his team's playing style. "But, we didn't have balance. We are conceding too many goals. It's not okay to concede two goals every game because we may not be able to reply in equal measure in every match.

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"We are good in terms of scoring, creating chances and playing in the opponents' half. But, the overall balance is lacking," he further added.

Improvements from previous game

The last time both sides met the game ended in 4-2 win for the Juggernauts earlier this season, in what was a shocking collapse by the Kochi outfit. Vicuna opined that his team have greatly improved since then.

"We were better than in the first game against Odisha FC. We were also the better team between the two sides, clearly, across all aspects."

Jeakson Singh's versatility

Defensive midfielder Jeakson Singh was once again deployed as a central defender on Thursday night. After the youngster made a few good impressions in his secondary role, Vicuna revealed that he is a player who can play in both positions. "I think Jeakson's a player that can play in both positions. For any player to play in any position, you need to have game-time, experience and you also need to understand the job.

"I think that he can do well as a central defender. He is also a good defensive midfielder," said the former Mohun Bagan tactician.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Kibu Vicuna stressed again that they wanted nothing less than a win, although the end result turned out to be just a draw.

"I think we created very good chances. We should have killed the game when it was 2-1. I think we should have scored more and closed out the match. They were happy with the draw and maybe they even celebrated, but we are not happy with this result," the Spaniard said. He concluded by saying that the team's goal would now be to try and gather the nine points which are up for grabs in their remaining three league fixtures.

"Nine points is the goal - it's very clear. We have to keep going and finish in the best possible position. We will be playing for the fans, for ourselves and of course for pride. Hence, we have to focus and play those three matches well, against Chennaiyin FC, Hyderabad FC and NorthEast United," the coach signed off.