Kerala Blasters sporting director wants:

 

Kerala Blasters sporting director wants:

 

Kerala Blasters sporting director wants his team to stop thinking about trophies and work hard...

After what was an injury-hit 2019-20 season for Kerala Blasters, the club's sporting director Karolis Skinkys is cautious about the shortcomings of a pre-season amid the Coronavorus pandemic. 

The Kochi-based club, who are in Goa for pre-season ahead of the kick-off to the seventh season of Indian Super League (ISL) on November 20, will have only around two weeks with the whole squad training together. While the foreign players will all have arrived by Monday, they all need to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in accordance with the guidelines due to the pandemic.

During an Instagram live conversation with Manjappada, the Blasters sporting director said, "Our Indian players are working hard. Some foreigners are in quarantine, three of them are travelling to India. That is the situation all around the world, it is not ideal. There are risks (of injuries due to short pre-season) but we need to deal with that and move on. 

 

"Normally you prepare teams in 6-8 weeks. It is not a standard situation, it is difficult. It is a big challenge for the coaching staff. We need very good communication and understand that this is not a typical situation. Nobody knows how (it will turn out). You can have a short pre-season but we cannot have any football for seven months, like our Indian players here. This is not a life of professional footballers. This is (a reason also) for so many injuries."

"We still have time, we will play three more friendly games," Skinkys added. Blasters defeated Hyderabad 2-0 in their first friendly of the pre-season on Sunday. Rahul KP scored both the goals. 

Karolis Skinkys Kerala Blasters

Skinkys has had to oversee a lot of changes at the club after taking charge earlier this year. One of the first moves was to decide on a new head coach to succeed Eelco Schattorie who led the team to seventh on the table last season. 

"Of all the decisions I have taken, this (appointing Kibu Vicuna) was the one I was most sure about. I know the feedback from his previous clubs, he has already adapted to India. I am very happy we finally reached an agreement and now we're working together.

"The most important thing to address (this season) was COVID-19 and it was a crucial point in many of the decisions. We did not know when the season will happen. Not every player who left di so for sporting reasons, they also leave due to circumstances. We are professionals, we try to create the best team possible." 

He has also advised his team to stop thinking too much about trophies and focus on working hard every day. 

"The first thing to do is to not speak about the trophy, let others speak about it. We need to work hard every day. It is a different team and staff. I trust Kibu's qualities in this case. 

"This season, we must play 11 vs 11 and not 12 vs 11. So we lose that (crowd) advantage."