Errors from Sachin Suresh proved costly for Kerala Blasters in their two recent away fixtures in the ISL, but head coach Mikael Stahre has placed his trust in the young Malayali goalkeeper.
"Sachin is a great goalkeeper, he has been good for us. He's coming back from an injury. From that perspective, there won't be any changes," Stahre said when enquired about the possibility of dropping Sachin for the match against Mohammedan SC in Kolkata on Sunday.
Three of the six goals the Blasters conceded in the first four rounds were down to Sachin's poor handling. First, in the match against NorthEast United, Sachin let a routine freekick from Ajaraie roll between his legs. That third-round match ended 1-1. Second, in the fourth round, he failed to collect a low cross from Jahouh, turning it onto a hapless teammate for an own goal as Odisha FC reduced the deficit after conceding twice. Thirdly, Diego Mauricio nutmegged him for Odisha's equaliser in the 2-2 draw. Sachin ranks in the bottom three for saves percentage (57%) among ISL's regular keepers. He has also yet to punch a ball clear.
But Stahre has defended his young goalkeeper. "First of all, everyone makes mistakes; coaches, staff members, defenders, midfielders, strikers..that's part of the game. It is about avoiding the number of mistakes and not repeating the same mistakes again and again," Stahre said.
Som Kumar, who was injured in the Durand Cup, and Nora Fernandes are the other goalkeepers in the Blasters squad.
On clean sheets
Sachin's mistakes aside, the Blasters have not kept a clean sheet in the ISL in 15 matches, a run stretching 11 games into last season under Ivan Vukomanovic. Stahre acknowledged that keeping shutouts has been an issue but is confident of fixing it.
"Clean sheets are always important and I love clean sheets. But the most important thing is winning games. We have only played four games this season, I can't focus on what happened last season. We work every single day to solve our problems. But we have not been struggling a lot with our defence, still we can do better," said the Swede.
