Kerala Blasters looking for a home win against Mumbai City

Kochi: Kerala Blasters FC player-head coach stressed on the adaptability of his players instead of professing his faith in a particular system as his side gears up to take on Mumbai City FC in their third home match of the Hero Indian Super League in Kochi Wednesday.

Asked at the pre-match press conference Tuesday if he has found a system that suits his team as he had utilised two different formations in his previous matches -- a 4-4-1-1 against FC Goa and a 4-1-2-1-2 (midfield diamond) against Delhi Dynamos FC -- James insisted that they don’t need a set system as the team can adapt to whatever is expected of them, especially with the players he has at his disposal.

“The nature of the side will change depending upon the players we use, whether there are changes tomorrow, you will have to wait and see,” the former England goalkeeper told the media. “But we will stick to the values and strengths of the players that we have, rather than sticking to a system because the system may not suit the players that we have got.”

Harking back to the previous game when his side had played out a goalless draw against Delhi Dynamos FC, James insisted that they could have taken full points off the visitors. “I believe that the previous game was two points lost more than one point gained. We planned to beat Delhi, and it was frustrating because in the first half we created some chances, hit the post, there were opportunities for them and there was a game which we wanted to win,” James asserted.

When asked about where Sandesh Jinghan, who has played at centre back, right back and left back, would be fielded, James mentioned that although the Chandigarh native is naturally a left back, he is versatile enough to play in various positions. “He is a good player, he is versatile. But Sandesh has played in a number of positions including right back, left back and now centrally as a defender. I believe that we have the players with the capabilities to play in different positions and we can utilise their strengths to get the right results.”

Given that his team is generally performing well and they have kept clean sheets as well as maintained possession, why is the team still struggling to score? The former Manchester City and Portsmouth goalkeeper believes that it is not the strikers’ fault.

“The team is playing well and we are creating chances, and in the last game the goalkeeper saved a good shot, there was also a deflection of a shot and then there was a hand ball; there is nothing that we can do about that,” he shrugged. “We have changed things up in training and this should encourage some of the lads to score, so we hope that this does not remain a problem. All we have to do is our homework, do our preparation, and make sure that we don’t switch off at the wrong time.”