Bengaluru FC coach Simon Grayson rues individual mistakes after defeat against Kerala Blasters

Bengaluru FC’s slumber continues as they lost 3-2 against arch rivals Kerala Blasters. The match started on a very strong note for the Blues but then as the match went on the Blasters came back in the game and scored three to completely drive away their opponents. Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson highlighted how they were made to pay for their mistakes.

The visitors got a penalty and Sunil Chhetri calmly converted the spotkick, handing Bengaluru FC the lead in the game. The early goal silenced the Kochi crowd but soon they would be back again on their feet when Marko Leskovic scored the equaliser whereas Dimitrios Diamantakos and substitute Apostolos Giannou scored a goal each to get two goals ahead in the game for the hosts. Javi Hernandez scored a great goal on the volley but it ended up only as a mere consolation.

Grayson completely blamed the errors made by his team. He highlighted how his men allowed the hosts to play with possession and also win individual battles and hence they secured the win. “If I am being honest, We probably scored against the run of play. I thought Kerala Blasters FC started getting better and that is a big disappointment how they started in terms of how we allowed them to play. You have to make sure you do things out of possession better, win your individual battles, and pick up second balls. Win your tackles, win your headers. We didn’t do enough of that in the first 20 minutes or so or even in the first half, but we got that opportunity and then we just kept making mistakes again,” he said at the post match press conference.

Grayson shared how the defensive unit was very good against FC Goa and ATK Mohun Bagan in their previous two matches. He went on highlighting individual errors as the primary reason for their defeat against the Blasters.

“Individuals have to make sure that they don’t make mistakes. We worked extremely hard on the training ground and especially in the last two performances (against FC Goa and ATK Mohun Bagan) our defensive side was really, really good. We kept the clean sheet and limited ATK Mohun Bagan to one opportunity, in which they scored a fantastic goal. But we didn’t do that well enough tonight. Individuals didn’t win the battles, didn’t win the tackles. If you make mistakes, it doesn’t matter who you are, you will get punished by the good footballers and Kerala Blasters FC are playing with a lot of confidence, with good footballers but we gifted them some easy goals tonight,” the Bengaluru FC coach explained.

Lastly speaking about their star player Roy Krishna, grayson shared how good strikers like Chhetri or Krishna dont turn bad overnight, it is about form and dry spells which come in every striker’s career. He even shared Diamantakos’ example as the Kerala Blasters forward is in red hot form.

“I said it the other day that good players don’t become bad players overnight. Sunil Chhetri and Krishna’s records are there for everybody to see and strikers go through lean spells but then they go through spells where they can’t stop scoring and you see (Dimitrios) Diamantakos he is on a roll, five goals in five matches. We need one of our strikers to find a way in scoring,” he concluded.

Bengaluru FC up next will face Jamshedpur FC in a bottom of the table clash. Both clubs are placed in ninth and tenth position and it will be a very exciting clash between the two.