ISL 2023-24: We were clearly the better team against Kerala Blasters FC – Scott Cooper

Jamshedpur FC interim head coach Scott Cooper feels they were clearly the better team against Kerala Blasters FC after their 1-0 loss at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. Adrian Luna scored in the 74th minute of the game to give his team a crucial win.

In fact, both teams took three shots apiece on target as the defense at both corners was up to the mark. Jamshedpur FC had 44.3% of possession and took a total of five shots off target.

“We were clearly the better team. There’s no doubt about that,” Cooper said in the post-match press conference.

“Kerala (Blasters FC) had a 15-minute spell in the second half. They did absolutely nothing in the first half. They were at their home stadium in front of their own fans, but they couldn’t play out of the press. They could make three passes in the first half to break out of the press. So I’m proud of my team’s performance and proud of the press and our possession. We should have run away with this game with our possession and the press, and that’s what happens when you don’t use possession and pressing advantage you’ve got and finish your thing,” he said.

Cooper reckons their finishing cost them the game as they could not grab their chances against the home team.

“We knew Kerala (Blasters FC) were going to come strong at us with the fans. We took the fans and team out of the game in the first 20 minutes. That was always the plan and it worked. But you’ve got to get something for that (possession and pressing). You can’t just be doing it; you’ve got to get something for it, and we didn’t. Fair play, it was a good finish by the boy (Luna), but I don’t think we deserved to lose this game,” Cooper explained.

Earlier, the Red Miners had played a goalless draw against East Bengal FC and also could not find the back of the net against the Yellow Tuskers. Cooper highlighted they need to score goals in order to get the points under their belt.

“We’ve got to score goals. It’s two games with no goals. The goalkeeper, Sachin Suresh, made good saves, and in set-pieces, we were quite unlucky. But there are moments in our striking department where we can do better. The possession and the pressing were good; it’s just that the last third of shooting and finishing, it’s got to click. So there are areas to look at. But if you look at game one and game two, there’s been massive development in the team in terms of how we press and possess the ball. We were desperately unlucky in this game. I don’t think Kerala (Blasters FC) deserved to win, and I definitely know we didn’t deserve to lose,” he signed off.

Jamshedpur FC will next take on Hyderabad at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur on Thursday.