Players of Kerala Blasters FC and ATK in action during the ISL match at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi on Friday. PTIKerala Blasters should consider themselves incredibly lucky to salvage a draw and a point in the Indian Super League (ISL) opener against ATK.
To be frank, Blasters did not live up to expectations. Playing in front of a full-house partisan crowd, they were expected to come up with a decent performance.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Fans booing this team was something that had never happened in Kochi!
Of course, the knowledgeable fans here would react strongly to underwhelming performance even if by their favorite team.
ATK did their reputation no harm, while Blasters did just the opposite. They spent big on some signings, but that did not reflect on their performance on the field.
Berbatov (Dimitar) is someone whom I admire a lot, but I was expecting much more from him in a key match like this.
The formation with lone striker turned out to be a flop. Sandesh Jhingan and the goalkpeer (Paul Rachubka) executed their roles pretty well. Hume (Iain) toiled manfully. I want Vineeth to play more energetically.
The Men in Yellow have to pull up their socks, given their poor show in this match, and try and learn from mistakes. Otherwise, this is going to be another disappointing season for them. Remember, luck will not always be on your side!
(The author is a former Indian footballer)
