SPORTS LIBRO FOOTBALL–FOOTBALL NEWS
Kerala Blasters head coach aims to get better of Kolkata in the INDIAN SUPER LEAGUE edition 3 final.
In the semi final after a thriller encounter with Delhi Dynamos the Kerala Blasters book their name in the ISL final.
The English coach thinks that his crew can seal the deal with in the 90 minutes as in the extra time both the teams wasted many clear cut chances.
Steve Coppell said that: ''Our best chance of winning the game was in normal time, I felt. So I pushed the players to go forward and get a goal. That left us vulnerable at the back. It's my thinking that I try to win the game by attacking, not holding on. There wasn't a lot going on in extra time,"
The English manager thinks that his team proceed to the final as a deserving team following they played well in both the legs against Delhi Dynamos,the coach also praise about their counterpart Delhi who they played in the second leg with 10 men.
Coppell expressed: ''Did we deserve to go through? Over the two legs, yes. But respect to Delhi (Dynamos), they were superb throughout the tournament and won with ten men tonight. As (Atletico de) Kolkata showed yesterday, being a man down isn't a massive hindrance if you're well organized, and Delhi were tonight. The shootout was dramatic and we're grateful to be in the final,'
This season ISL final will be held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kochi, and the English man and his men have to fly from the capital to their own home ground
And the journey could give them some discomfort the coach thinks.
The coach voiced: ''The league has made it difficult for us. Were we in Kochi (had the second leg been in Kochi), we would have been waiting for the final, but now we have to travel back. And there are no hotel rooms in Kochi so we're stuck here for a while.''
And questioned asked to him did in that second semi final his crew gave their best shot the coach answered: ''Did we go all out? Yes, of course. For almost 30 minutes in the second half we played a 4-2-4. In my eyes, we were very positive. Delhi played with two banks of four and were very difficult to break down,''
In this season the final will be the same repetition of ISL 1st season finale.
The Rajiblancos (ATK) will face the Tuskers (Kerala Blasters), and in the 1st edition of the ISL the Rajinlancos side won the ultimate glory by defeating the Tuskers.
The Kerala Blasters coach voiced: ''The teams met in the final in the first year. There's unfinished business. 'Kolkata are the only side to have made nine changes between the two legs of the semi-finals, hats off to their squad depth.''
Lastly, Coppell debated about the absence of Spanish midfielder Josu for the final match and the limited recovery period available to them. ''Josu (Currais Prieto) will be missing with suspension and we have 24 hours less to recover, which is a huge period at this stage. But we have our fans, and fan support would give us wings,''