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Without a trophy in the past five seasons, Kerala Blasters hoped to get things right in the sixth season with the appointment of head coach Eelco Schattorie. The Dutchman assembled a squad that looked superior to previous ones at least on paper. However, season six has turned out to be a bitter disappointment for the Blasters faithful.
Winless in nine matches, the season all but over. With no realistic chance of qualifying for the play-offs, the Blasters hierarchy should begin planning for next season in the coming weeks. Centre-back, central midfielder and a winger are three immediate needs. In this slideshow, we'll take a speculative look at players who would fill these aforementioned areas.
#1 Hans Mulder
The Dutch-Spanish midfielder was the heartbeat of the Delhi Dynamos team- driving attacks, tracking back, putting in tackles, winning duels, pressing opponents, setting up the strikers and scoring crucial goals.
With a passing accuracy of 80.69%, 98 tackles and 65 interceptions to his name, Mulder has been undoubtedly one of the standout midfielders in the Indian Super League. After two seasons with Delhi Dynamos FC, Mulder joined Chennaiyin FC for the third edition. The 32- year old currently plays for RKC Waalwijk in the Dutch Eredivise.
Although Mulder has played as central midfielder majority of his playing career, he is also capable of slotting in as a centre-back. In fact, according to WhoScored positional data, Mulder made more appearances at centre-back than central midfield this season.
A Mulder- Jhingan partnership could work well and give Blasters much-needed solidity in defence.
#2 Harmeet Singh
The Norwegian international of Indian origin started his career with Valerenga in Norway, spending five seasons with the club’s senior squad. His performances caught the attention of Dutch Eredivisie side Feyenoord. Lack of first-team opportunities cut short his stint at Feyenoord and he moved back to Norway with Molde.
Following that, Harmeet had stints in Poland and Sweden with Wisla Plock and Kalmar FF respectively. He currently plays in the Finnish top division with HJK.
The defensive midfielder also has seven caps to his name for the Norwegian national team. At 29, and still, at the peak of his footballing abilities, Harmeet can be a valuable addition to the Kerala Blaster roster. Signing Harmeet would be another major coup.
#3 Gustavo Marmentini dos Santos
Blasters head coach Eelco Schattorie recently complained about the lack of quality wingers at his disposal,
" I think we have a huge problem on the wings, all wingers are underperforming. It makes it difficult. We have a lot of crosses but the end product is not there."
The Brazilian wing wizard could be the answer to Blasters' winger problem. His magical left-foot, pace, and brilliant individual skills gave the defenders in the ISL a nightmare, getting past them like a knife through butter.
The former Delhi Dynamos player now plays for Alashkert in the Armenian Premier League on loan from Atlético Paranaense B. Interestingly, all three players continue to edge towards free agency. Both Mulder and Gustavo are out of contract in the summer, while Harmeet's contract ends in December 2020.
