Indian Super League outfit Kerala Blasters have roped in a new head coach in Ivan Vukomanovic a few days ago. They have appointed a fresh face for the upcoming season to rub off all the past blemishes and disappointments. The Blasters management feels that Vukomanovic can be the man to lead the Yellow Army to unprecedented success.
The Serbian tactician was recently interviewed where he touched upon a lot of factors that help the team flourish during the league. The fans also got to know more about his perspective and what he thought about the club and the project.
He was quick to credit the large army of fans which made his decision easy to choose Kerala Blasters. “From the very first contact with the club, I recognised a very professional approach, honesty and good people. That attracted me the most,” he revealed.
“If we talk about the army of fans, the energy around the club, for me it was an absolutely yes. It was very easy for me.”
Elaborating on the topic of fans and how they impact a club’s growth, Vukomanovic said, “When you see that army and when you see the energy they are pushing into the stadium, they are like the 12th player. I was educated at a club where there was the same energy so as a player and as a coach, this attracts me the most. That yellow wave of people pushing their team, I want to be a part of that,” he expressed.
Speaking about his style of coaching the Serbian coach is focused on improving talents and working with everyone at the club to take them to a higher level. “I like to work with players with the correct mindset and mentality. Especially when you talk about Kerala Blasters, having a kind of obligation that you have to ‘make your jersey wet with sweat’ in front of those fans.
“I am the coach that likes to improve players, to show them how they can become better. It (working with several players in different countries) gave me an insight to how to improve, especially when we are talking about young players,” he said.
“I would like to try to help the young players become better, trying to coach a team which will allow it to be better and achieve good results. That’s the goal for everybody at Kerala Blasters. If you look at all the top national teams, you will always find the mix of young and experienced players. All these experienced players when they are showing the right example, the youngsters will follow.” he added.
The Yellow Army have never won an ISL title and Vukomanovic was quizzed whether he can turn their fortunes around. To which he was very pragmatic and told the fans to trust the process. “Winning trophies is kind of a process. I cannot tell what was missing in the past years, as I was not part of that team. ISL is kind of interesting because it’s short, to act and be ready immediately the moment it starts.
“I think with the right approach and the right kind of work, we could make something special,” he commented.
