Kochi: Kerala Blasters' magical run in the ISL 2016 fell short of a dream end as they went down to a formidable Atletico de Kolkata in the penalty shootout 3-4 after being tied 1-1 after extra-time in the final of the ISL at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kaloor, here on Sunday. And Blasters’ English boss Steve Coppell was not at his stoical best post the match, “we got through on penalties and we lost the tournament on penalties. it’s cruel.”
Coppell, however, felt that the loss was an expected outcome to a balancing act he was performing for 12 weeks and the unfair scheduling of the competition.
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“Right from day one, I had said that the squad wasn’t balanced. But, we did great to adapt to that situation. Josu (Currais) played most of the year there (left-back) and we missed him tonight. Having said that, I thought, Ishfaq (Ahmed) did a terrific job on a real dangerous player (Atletico’s) Sameehg Doutie.”
Though giving full credit to Ishfaq on a job well done, the former Manchester City boss felt that Josu’s presence and ability to executing set piece moves would have made a difference on the big night. The Spanish player missed the final after picking up two consecutive yellow cards in the two-leg semifinals.
In a campaign, which had 14 group matches, the gaffer had to try his combinations in 10 to 11 games to identify a full-time defender. However, he added that the “lessons are learned” and expected to come up with a better line-up in the future.
Coppell, however, did not answer about his future with the club. “I think that when you are feeling bad after a result, it’s the wrong time to talk about it and I want to go home and see my mom. After that, I will speak with the owners and see what their plans are.”
YellowArmy’s own Aashaan
Coppell, who is Aashaan (the teacher) for the Blasters fans called #YellowArmy or #ManjaPada, appealed to the management to reward the fans properly by giving them a strong team. “There is a lot to be done at this club to reward the supporters with the right set-up. We have discussed it. In the future, I am sure that the ownership will make sure that the club is better prepared. It does not guarantee that they will be successful, but lessons learnt from this season will be carried forward,” Coppell said.
Coppell had a few words of wisdom to the organizers of the ISL. Certainly unhappy about being made to travel to Delhi for the second leg of the semifinals when his side enjoyed a better position on the table against their rivals Delhi Dynamos, Coppell said: "The game was even and anybody could have won it. Two very tired teams played today. From our point of view, we played three games in seven days and we had to travel to Delhi when we shouldn’t have had to travel to Delhi."
Blasters lost two crucial days post their match against Delhi due to logistics issues. “We couldn't get any flights out and had to stay there for a day. We couldn't recover properly. Next day, we had to fly back to Kochi as five different groups. The players started flying back at 5 am and the last batch of players got to Kochi at 8 pm,” Coppell said and suggested to the organizers to give teams enough time before the final.
"Both the teams have played so many games in the last 7-8 days. Maybe, going forward, for the league as a competition, there should be a longer gap between the semifinals and the final. (It will help) to put the finals on the pedestal it deserves. The teams have played 14 weeks to get here, so give them a chance to field the strongest team, rather than patch-work,” said Coppell.
