Kochi: It will be 60,000 fans against them but ATK head coach Teddy Sheringham, wants to keep the ‘Yellow Army’ quiet with their brand of play, when the defending champions face last season’s finalists Kerala Blasters in the first match of the Indian Super League at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Friday.
The former Manchester United legend is aware of the overwhelming support of the ‘Yellow Army’ for the Blasters but refused to understudy his own team’s performance in this hostile atmosphere.
“It’s what every boy dreams of, every player, every manager dreams of – to play in front of 60,000 fans. They won’t be supporting us tomorrow but we will know we are doing great, if we can keep these amazing fans quiet,” said Sheringham ahead of the match.
The Kolkata based franchise will also be without their marquee player Robbie Keane, but Teddy refused to play it in his mind, instead informing that the squad has enough goal poachers and they would do the job against Kerala.
“We have worked hard on our defensive game, but we also want to go forward. We are going to play to win tomorrow,” said the gaffer, as ATK looks to begin their new journey with a win.
Interestingly, ATK has scored the second highest number of goals (11) against the Blasters and lead five to one in head to head battles. Kerala on the other hand have won just once, the 2-1 victory at home, three years ago.
Meulensteen, however has one of the goal scorer of that match, Iain Hume with him this season and the Canadian with be aware that the only time ‘Manjappada’ failed to win a season-opener was against ATK.
The Kochi stadium has been a fortress for the ‘Men in yellow’ but the visitors on Friday have never lost a first away match in the last three seasons. History favours the defending champions but “The past doesn’t matter tomorrow” for Rene Meulensteen as leads Kerala Blasters to a new journey.
The former assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United wants his team to play incisive one-touch attacking football to break through the wall of ATK’s defence. Am astute technician, he intends to apply the same methods in Kerala, that he believes in – delete needless touches and play a fast brand of football, to create spaces and score.
“I have always told players that they should figure out who their favourite players are in their best position, see their clips and try and figure out what they’re doing right. If you analyse the top players, the reason they stand out is that they don’t take touches that they don’t need and that creates a different rhythm and speed of play,” he said at the pre-match conference.
“Hopefully we can get that integrated into the team and see it in the games we play. It’s not easy, of course, but that is what we’re aiming for,” added the former United Reserves coach.
It however be a battle between one of the league’s best home sides against one of the finest away sides. Kerala won six matches in a row at home, last season, while ATK won four of their seven away matches. They were the only side that beat Kerala in their own backyard last season before defeating them in the finals once again.
But come Friday, Meulensteen’s challenge will be to make his players realise that it’s a game of football – and records change like tides.
“I always tell my players to focus on the game. Not on the occasion – the occasion is for the fans. The match is for the players,” he concluded.