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The final match in this edition of the Toyota Yaris LaLiga World pre-season exhibition saw ISL side Kerala Blasters take on LaLiga outfit Girona FC. The Blasters had lost their earlier game 6-0 to Australian side Melbourne Victory while yesterday, the Spanish team had beaten the team from Down Under by the exact same margin.
In an encounter where the scoreline was the one meriting predictions prior to kick-off, it ended 5-0 to Girona. After scoring just once in the first half, the Spanish side put four past the Blasters in the second to finish with a convincing win.
Here are the main talking points from the game:
#1 Eight-and-a-half minutes
That is the amount of time that it took the Blasters to get the ball back after kick-off.
After Slavisa Stojanovic took the opening kick and the ball found its way to Sandesh Jhingan who lumped it forward and out for a Girona throw-in which took all of 30 seconds, the Blasters didn't get the ball back till the 9th minute.
It was a good indicator of how the match was going to progress.
Even when they did get the ball after that initial spell from Girona, their possession lasted all of 40 seconds and four touches as a quick attempt at an attack fizzled out. It wasn't until around the 25 minute mark that the Blasters actually had their first real spell of possession.
In almost anti-climactic fashion, it ended with a disastrous back-pass straight to Girona forward Kevin Soni who had to be brought down by Zakeer Mundampara to prevent any damage.
#2 Control yes, but no goals until late in the first half
While Girona pretty much bossed possession and did all of the running in this match, there were only a handful of chances created by the Spanish side.
A very good chance was passed up in the 15th minute when Kevin Soni's finish to Yhoan Many's low cross from the left was wide of the post. An outside shot from Alcaraz was collected easily by Blasters keeper Naveen Kumar.
It wasn't until the 36th minute though that Naveen was seriously tested as at full stretch he got his fingertips to a curling effort from Pedro Porro to push it on to the post.
The breakthrough eventually came from Eric Montes, sneaking an effort from a tight angle to get the ball past Naveen after a wonderful overlapping run. The Blasters' resistance had been broken.
#3 Blasters go with three at the back
David James decided to go with three in the centre of defence; Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika and Cyril Kali all started with two wingbacks operating either side of them.
While teams typically switch to three at the back to get more numbers in attack, in the Blasters' case today it was primarily five at the back to deal with the threat of Girona's attack.
The approach paid off for 40 minutes, but the flip side of the approach was that they didn't really have an outlet to relieve pressure and were completely hemmed in by their opponents.
Bodies in the box and in front of the penalty box was what the Blasters went with in order to prevent Girona's attackers getting in behind the defence. However, the Spanish outfit was way too crafty as they eventually managed to maneuver their way past the yellow wall in front of them.
#4 No goals from their two games for the Blasters
Courage Pekuson went the closest to scoring for the home team from a free-kick in the 60th minute. It was a brilliant effort from Pekuson who curled the ball into the right-hand corner only to see Girona keeper Gorka Iraizoz meet it with a strong fist to keep a clean sheet.
It was the only notable chance that came the Blasters' way.
Initially, David James' side tried to hit Girona with quick counters, but as the game went on and the visitors took complete control it was more of an 'all hands on deck' approach on defence for the Blasters.
In the end there was to be no goals scored for the Blasters from their two games with 11 goals conceded.
#5 An opportunity missed for the Blasters?
Since season one of the Indian Super League we've known that David James can get this Kerala Blasters team to defend and keep the opposition out.
Last year, after Rene Meulensteen's mid-season firing, James employed a similar approach in getting the Blasters to a few wins. He is good at setting up a team to be hard to beat. The attacking side of the game though was a different beast altogether.
Former Manchester United striker and Blasters player from last year Dimitar Berbatov was notably critical of his head coach's methods on that front.
So here in this LaLiga World challenge against teams from other parts of the world, yes while it was no doubt important to test that defensive mettle against superior opposition, perhaps it would have been worth it to be more expansive and try and sharpen the attack?
A lot of times, especially as the match wore on, the Blasters had upto nine players in the box, excluding the keeper, as they tried to keep Girona at bay. It meant there was no way they could do anything of note down the other end if they got the ball.
They conceded five goals despite this ultra-defensive approach so why not throw some caution to the wind, give the fans who turned up something to cheer about by being more adventurous and scoring a few goals?
