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What's the story?
The Inaugural match of ISL 2017 between the Kerala Blasters and ATK was hyped up to be a thrilling encounter on Friday but at the end of the action, the fans were left disappointed as the game ended in a boring 0-0 draw
IM Vijayan, one of India's biggest footballing legends, criticized the Kerala Blasters after the game. In a column for local paper Malayala Manorama, he said that the Blasters were lucky to get a draw against ATK yesterday.
He said, "The fans had a lot of expectation from the team but the players did not showcase it on the ground."
In case you didn't know
Both ATK and Kerala Blasters are touted as two of the biggest heavyweights for the tournament this season, given the money spent by them in strengthening their rosters.
With the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Wes Brown going to the Kerala Blasters and ATK signing Robbie Keane, the season-starter between these teams was expected to be full of quality.
The heart of the matter
Vijayan also asked the team if this was the game that the fans had expected from them, given that they were played at their home ground in front of their fans.
He said that the match was poor in quality keeping in mind the money spent on the players. He stated that he respected Dimitar Berbatov as a player but he expected a lot more from him in a crucial match. He criticized the manager's ploy to deploy the lone striker.
The former Indian national team captain said that he was satisfied with the performances of goalkeeper Paul Rachubka, defender Sandesh Jhingan and Iain Hume, but was critical of CK Vineeth, stating that he was expected more energy from the forward.
What's next?
The Kerala Blasters will face Jamshedpur FC next, who are led by their former manager Steve Coppell on 24th November.
Author's take
IM Vijayan was spot on to criticize the performance of Blasters, who put on a disappointing performance in front of their fans. Fans will hope his words will motivate the team to raise their game in the next match.
Also read: ISL 2017: Kerala Blasters' big guns fail to fire on opening day against ATK
