ISL 2019-20 | I want consistency, says Kerala Blasters Head Coach Eelco Schattorie

ISL 2019-20 | I want consistency, says Kerala Blasters Head Coach Eelco Schattorie

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ISL

Kerala Blasters head coach Eelco Schattorie has stated that he wants consistency from the team ahead of Kerala Blasters’ second fixture against Mumbai City FC at home on Thursday. He also stated that Rehenesh was his first-choice goalkeeper but had to choose Bilal Khan because of Rehenesh’s injury.

After Kerala Blasters’ opening match comeback win against arch-rivals ATK by 2-1, Schattorie hailed his team's performance despite having difficult a pre-season and injury to major players. Sahal was away with national duty, key defender Sandesh Jhingan was ruled out of the squad and the available foreign defenders were not in full fitness.

However, the manager has asked for more consistency from his players before the upcoming games. “A team is all about consistency and building relationships. We had a very difficult pre-season. We won the last game, which is a top result. We were against a good team,” said Schattorie in the pre-match press conference, reported ISL website.

“We had a very difficult pre-season, especially at centre-back and midfield, we didn’t build any relationships and consistency.  Sahal was away for four weeks. We lost Sandesh (Jhingan) and our other two centre-backs got injuries,”  he added.

Blasters had to replace Nemanja Lekic Pesic with Gianni Zuiverloon and get in Jairo Rodrigues in the defence this summer. They also brought in Nigerian Bartholomew Ogbeche in place of Matej Poplatnik, apart from roping in Mario Arques, Sergio Cidoncha, and Musthapha Gning into the midfield. However, the coach has stated he wouldn’t want to experiment with his squad a lot.

“You will never see me make a lot of changes. I like to build consistency and if somebody is not doing well, he will be replaced by someone who is next in line to get a chance. It’s all about trying to build relationships. The one who performs best in training will get a chance. I like consistency,” the 47-year-old added.

Schattorie also revealed that his first-choice goalkeeper would always be TP Rehenesh, who he bought with him from Northeast United FC last season, Ad it is only his injury that has spurred a chance for Real Kashmir FCs Bilal Khan.

"TP (Rehenesh) is my number one goalkeeper simply because he has the most experience. All three of my goalkeepers (Rehenesh, Bilal and Shibinraj Kunniyil) have my full confidence. Unfortunately, TP got injured. The next one in line was Bilal because Shibinraj also had an injury," Schattorie said.

"Both keepers (Bilal and Shibinraj) need support, need time. That is something we will work on, the goalkeeping coach conducts video sessions every day and talks to them. These things will take time," Schattorie added.

The coach also spoke about Spanish midfielder Mario Arques' injury. The former Jamshedpur FC midfielder was not fully match-fit but was substituted in the second-half, only to get injured and stretchered out of the ground in the dying minutes of the match. He also stated his midfielders were struggling at the end.

“Even in the last game, I was hesitating to put him in because his fitness level was not on par. But in the last game, towards the end, Jeakson (Singh) and Cido (Sergio Cidoncha) were struggling a little bit. So, you want fresh players. That is why Sahal (Abdul Samad) came on and also Mario. Mario, right away, changed the game - you could see that. There was a very positive impact. We are going to do everything we can to help him recover quickly.”

“Mario, unfortunately, has an injury. How long it is going to take to heal is not determined yet. We will get the result of the scan today. Mario arrived on the first day with an injury. We tried to get him fit as quickly as possible, which unfortunately didn’t work out.”

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