Ivan Vukomanovic explains importance of pre-season for Kerala Blasters

The Serbian tactician spoke about Adrian Luna's signing, pre-season preparations and more.

After a disastrous season in the 2020-21 campaign, Kerala Blasters parted ways with their then coach Kibu Vicuna. However, planning for the next season began early for the southerners, who appointed 44-year-old Ivan Vukomanovic as the head coach ahead of the forthcoming campaign.

As many of you already know by now, Khel Now got an opportunity to interact with Ivan Vukomanovic recently. The 44-year-old spoke in great detail on a host of topics. Hopefully, you have read first part of the interview, where he expressed his optimism, reason for choosing Kerala Blasters, role of the club's sporting director Karolis Skinkys and more.

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This article pertains to the second and final part of our interaction. It largely covers the plans of Kerala Blasters in the ISL 2021-22 season, pre-season preparations, Adrian Luna's signing and more.

Reasons for Luna's signing

After opening up on why he signed for Kerala Blasters and what he could possibly do differently at the club next season, Ivan Vukomanovic spoke about the club's latest signing - Adrian Luna.

The Serbian tactician claimed that that the Uruguayan would fit well into his system, just like the other players who would join the side in the weeks to come. "Like all the players in our squad, I think he's a good player. I think he has the correct mindset, great body language, responsiveness on the field and a positive character that Kerala Blasters need right now," he revealed.

"The team need players like him who can give everything and fight for them. They should basically make that yellow jersey wet by working hard on the pitch. Besides all those details, he's a good player - if you want me to speak about his technical aspects or skills. I'd say that he'll add many interesting details to our game. We’ll see - we hope that not only him, but everyone else also will be ready to play the league soon," he added.

Although Luna's signing took many fans by surprise - mostly due to the time of the official announcement, at midnight, Vukomanovic maintains that preparations have been going on for months.

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"Maybe it took some of you by surprise - but we’ve been following him and many others for months now. With our mindset and an idea of how we want to play, you’ll soon see how he fits in the system.

"Luna is an experienced player and has already won some titles. He used to play at an international level and has no problem playing in front of crowds. He has a really positive mindset," he opined.

"All our players must know that we have to treat everything as very important. The warm-up routines, the games, the passes. Players who see them that way are welcome in our team and Luna is one of them."

Plans for upcoming signings

https://youtu.be/Yr2nbmz-DDY

Ivan Vukomanovic also spoke about the upcoming signings, albeit very cryptically. "As I said earlier, we're looking for players with the right thought process. At KBFC, we want to build a team that everybody will be afraid of. They should say, 'Oh, today's a tough day, we'll be facing Kerala Blasters' - that's the objective.

Later this off-season, we may take you in surprise again with our other foreign signings. They'll bring that extra quality needed by the club. This is not only in tactical and technical terms but also keeping in mind the right attitude," he added.

Thoughts on Kerala Blasters' young Indian core

The tactician revealed his two cents on the domestic contingent of Kerala Blasters, stating that they should not see playing as a daunting task.

"The fact that Kerala Blasters has a good set of young players is a good challenge for me. There have been similar situations in the past, where I work in developing similar talented footballers. Back then, you would never know that they would go on to become appreciated all over the world for their work on the pitch," he said, referring to the likes of Michy Batshuayi and Laurent Ciman, who are among his former students.

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"All these youngsters at KBFC, they don’t have to take playing as a hard thing. Rather, it should be a pleasure to feature in the league," he stated.

"There will always be older, experienced players who are better than them. Trying to improve is the first step to becoming like them. That's the right process in such a case," he expressed.

Ivan Vukomanovic felt that the development of young footballers in the squad should be a process and can result in helping the Indian football team in the future.

"Developing youngsters should be a process. If the whole process comes together starting from the lower leagues, it will ultimately help Indian football as a whole. The end results will also include a better national team - a case in point being Belgium," he said.

Having lived in the European nation for several years now, he maintained that the current Belgian national team is the product of a detailed process, which included youth development plans among all clubs especially in the top division league.

"A similar set-up can be implemented in India too, with help from all clubs. Let's hope for the best," the 44-year-old added.

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Pre-season woes, plans to change

One disappointing aspect of Kerala Blasters' last couple of seasons was their inability to prepare well before the league. Pre-season preparations were almost non-existent both times. The team paid the price for it as evident from their results and eventual positions in the standings.

Vukomanovic agreed that pre-season is an important part of every club's plans. "Those preparations are everything. They should neither be too long, nor short. They should be organised in the right manner," he felt.

"I speak from my experiences because there have been times when my former clubs planned an improper pre-season, before the squad ended up playing 60 or more games," he said, before adding, "Players are humans too, and the human body is not a machine. Organising things correctly is important for good results in the end."

"This year, Kerala Blasters want to organise a clean and good pre-season where we can filter out the players we need for the ISL. The situation is even more complex right now due to COVID. There have been plans to go abroad as well - but as of now we're waiting for confirmations. We have to be open to modifying our schedule as well, because things can change so suddenly," he said.

The tactician further revealed that he is set to arrive in India by the last week of July, and he is waiting to iron out some final details before boarding the flight to Kochi.

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Realistic targets for Kerala Blasters in ISL 2021-22

It may look unrealistic for Kerala Blasters to try and aim for a top-four finish. This is keeping in mind how they have been finishing consistently in the lower half of the table in the past few seasons.

However, their new head coach feels that it's not wrong to maintain such a target and work towards it. "We're building a good team right now. We have been working on finding the right combinations among both our domestic and foreign set of players, with a proper mix of youth and experience. Keeping that in consideration, our goal is to become better day by day," he said.

"Every team with good ambitions will have a goal to finish in the top-four and qualify for play-offs. So why shouldn't we? We do have that in mind, but for now we're just working on becoming better. As I've said earlier, hoping for the best," Ivan Vukomanovic concluded.

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