Two 1-0 defeats, struggles up front, at the back and with the conditions – the ISL 2016 season has not been too kind to the Kerala Blasters so far. Steve Coppell's men will hope for a turnaround when the Delhi Dynamos land in Kochi to play an Indian Super League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday.
For all the new signings and the change in coaching staff, the Blasters' season so far has been a continuation of the struggles of last season. Despite having arguably the best crowd in the entire league, the Kerala Blasters seem to struggle to cope with the heat and opposition pressure in home conditions.
That cannot go on. Coppell needs to figure out solutions for the obvious issues and ensure the Blasters find their goalscoring mojo and turn their fortunes around on Sunday.
"We have to improve in all departments, though I feel defensively we are good, the last one [a 1-0 defeat at home to Atletico de Kolkata] was a heavily deflected goal. Midfield also got a little bit detached at times.
"Our forwards need to start scoring. We know where we need to improve and we are working on it, each and every player is working individually and as a team. As all the other coaches say, we will look to attack together and defend together."
Coppell has tried a back-five and a back-four so far this season and with Aaron Hughes still on international duty, he is likely to stick with the same defence that played against ATK. The midfield and attack, though, is a problem.
For much of the game against ATK, balls completely bypassed the midfield, with Elhadji Ndoye a mere spectator. While going direct and asking your two forwards to link up and try and score is fine, there also needs to be plan where the buildup comes through more ways than one, so that the defence is left guessing.
There were no such worries for the Dynamos in their opening ISL 2016 match, with Gianluca Zambrotta's men overwhelming the defending champions Chennaiyin FC at their own backyard.
After such an impressive show, the Dynamos will be buzzing with confidence as they face a struggling Kerala Blasters side.
Zambrotta, though, believes his Delhi Dynamos team are in for a really difficult match. "It is the worst time to play them because they lost the last two games to two good teams," the former Italy defender said. "They play at home, they are hungry and of course they are playing in a stadium with 65,000 supporters, so it's a big advantage for Kerala. For them this will be a very important match.
"At the moment we have won just one match, so we just have to think about this match and hope that in the future we do well."
Where to Watch Live
Kerala vs Delhi is scheduled for a 7pm IST (2.30pm BST, 9.30am ET) start. Live Streaming and TV information is below.
India: TV: Star Sports 1/HD1, Star Gold, Asianet Movies, Jalsha Movies. Live Streaming: Hotstar (also available in other territories).
Europe: TV: Star Gold and EuroSport.
USA and Australia: TV: Fox Sports.
Canada: TV: CBN, ATN Bangla.
South-East Asia: TV: Eurosport.
