PRE-SEASON TEST: It's home advantage, as Taylor stays back in God's own country

RECENTLY AT THE ISL Media Day event, Kerala Blasters head coach Peter Taylor was asked why he didn't take his team to some foreign location to carry out his pre-season activities. His reply, short and precise as always, was:

"We decided to stay here because the players need to know the weather conditions and we are happy that we remained here."

And this is true. Many of the players, especially English signings Peter Ramage, Chris Dagnall, Sanchez Watt, Antonio German, Marcus Williams an Stephen Bywater, have never experienced playing football outside their home country. For Peter Taylor, too, this is the first time in the subcontinent. The inaugural ISL season was full of foreign players who well into fatigue after the first few rounds. So staying back at a place like Trivandrum and preparing themselves made a lot of sense. 

While all other #HeroISL teams are training abroad #kbfc is staying rooted to the capital city of Kerala! :) pic.twitter.com/u2pa3hJ2ku

— Varun George (@verkigo) September 21, 2015

What was more unusual was the thick veil of secrecy around the Blasters' camp, where few things were shared with the public. This beats FC Pune City who, throughout their camp in Turkey, didn't even play a single friendly with a local side, but still shared extensive videos of their workouts and other routines with the fans. Nothing other than a few pictures here and there was shared. The amount of showing off that comes with an ISL franchise's pre-season operations was more or less absent from Peter Taylor's camp.

Working silently and efficiently has always been the way for Peter Taylor. During the early months after taking on the coaching role, when he was busy making signings in pin-drop secrecy, there was so little buzz that fans mistook it for inaction and unleashed their outrage online. But things turned around quickly as the signings were revealed to the public, presenting a surprisingly young and balanced side. 

And to test this side ahead of the real battle, Peter Taylor chose to hold friendlies against local league sides. His first two friendlies, against KSEB and SBT, saw the  Blasters dominate the game from start to finish and claim victories by 8-2 and 7-0 margings. And it revealed a squad that could stand on its own without over-relying on any particular player or group of players. In the match against State Bank of Travancore, for example, most of the riot was run by Indian forwards Manandeep Singh (hat-trick) and Mohammed Rafi (2 goals), with Chriss Dagnall and Antonio German pitching in with one goal each. 

But it wasn't all just happy camping for the Blasters. Soon afterwards, injury struck. Antonio German picked up a knock. But the real blow was Carlos Marchena. The Spanish defender, the marquee player no less, has flown back to his home country to receive treatment and is set to miss the season opener against NorthEast United on 6th October. 

The Blasters, however, have carried on with their pre-season routine, and played another friendly against Calcutta Football League side Southern Samity. This match was more tightly fought than the previous friendlies and Kerala Blasters had to sweat it out to earn a 2-0 victory, thanks to a goal each from Josu Currais and Sanchez Watt. 

Great performance of team, 2-0 for @KBFCOfficial pic.twitter.com/XKq4SKCV2f

— Josu Prieto Currais (@CurraisJosu) September 24, 2015

The Kerala Blasters squad is expected to leave for Goa for a few days before returning to  Kochi for their first match. And from how the team has done so far, Peter Taylor would be cautiously optimistic. While the boys have gelled well and the foreigners have faced more than enough of the Indian heat, they will be facing teams much tougher than their friendly opponents when the ISL begins. This is one area where teams like FC Goa and NorthEast United, who faced top division clubs from countries much better at football than India, will have a slight advantage: they have tested themselves against a much higher difficulty level. 

And the injuries, too. Multiple franchises have had to suffer after losing an important player to an injury halfway into the season. But if Peter Taylor's previous teams are anything to go by, the Blasters will be forged as a unit designed specifically to avoid that kind of extra dependence on a player. In the long run, that might end up being one of the biggest advantages.