FC Pune vs Blasters: English heavyweights lock horns in clash of veteran coaches

WHEN PUNE CITY HOST Kerala Blasters at the Balewadi stadium tomorrow, at the centre of the battle will be two English coaches who know each other well and have something of a history with each other.

That's not to say they harbour any enmity, or even a full-blown rivalry. The context to their confrontation extends to the fact that in 2004, as the manager of the England U-21 team, current Pune City coach David Platt failed to qualify for the U-21 European Championships. As a result he was sacked, and his replacement was none other than the reigning Kerala Blasters gaffer Peter Taylor. 

If there is any resentment between the two it has never found expression in public. But as the two prominent English coaches in ISL they are bound to be seen as direct rivals with each other; since both have common names in their CV and both have molded their respective teams with several English players in the thick of it. 

So as the English heavyweights lock horns for the first time in ISL, the occasion will be crucial for both teams for different reasons. Pune City, on 9 points from 5 matches, will want to win this match and go 2 points clear at the top of the table. Kerala Blasters, who have their back to the wall after 3 back-to-back defeats, will be desperate for a favourable result from this game to get out of their highly demoralizing bottom-of-the-table position.

But both teams are coming off 2-1 defeats. Pune City were bested by Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters lost to FC Goa, both away fixtures. But since this particular match is at the Balewadi Stadium, the home team's recent strong performance here must be playing in the mind of Peter Taylor.

Speaking of his team's recent run of form, Taylor was humble and diplomatic,

"It's disappointing but things like that happen. You have to stay strong because nobody is going to give you the next result. I am very disappointed with our recent run... we have to look now to win the next game and that's what we have to do."

David Platt, on the other hand, is treating this game with utmost importance. After the defeat in Chennai he knows how crucial it is to avoid a second bad result on the trot,

"Kerala are a good side and we now have to think about that game, and how we are going to take three points from there."

Platt has never been afraid to experiement with his team. He has bragged about his team-switching bravado many a times. Making more than a few changes has cost him in the past; he made 5 changes to a set side and lost at home to Delhi Dynamos. But that did not deter him and the loss to Chennai is unlikely to do so either. In fact, taking a guess at any of the starting line-ups that will take to the pitch tonight is much of a shot in the dark. By Platt's own admission,

"I can't predict the Kerala Blasters starting XI and I hope Peter Taylor is finding it hard to predict my XI."

Especially now that Platt has got his national team players back, it has given him an enviable squad depth of talented Indian players. And seeing the importance of the game, he might want to use most of them tonight. Bikash Jairu and Pritam Kotal could come into the squad, dropping Dharmaraj Ravanan and Manish Maithani. Kalu Uche, who in spite of not having much of an attacking style, has often found himself on the scoresheet coming off the bench, may be given another chance to prove himself from the start. He may replace Yandrick Ruiz in the Pune City attack. A bit of the sneaky striker sense that he possesses may come handy to trick the 5-man Kerala defence.

For Peter Taylor, injuries remain an issue. Peter Carvalho and Gurwinder Singh are both out, which has left the coach short of quality Indians on the bench. One good news for him, however, is the return of Pulga. The fully recovered Spanish medio can make his way straight into the team replacing Joao Coimbra. Other than that it's hard to guess who else will be replaced. Maybe Shankar Sampingraj instead of Cavin Lobo, but that seems unlikely.

Even though Kerala lost to Goa, they didn't play bad as a team. They even dominated much of the game. Breaking up a working unit against one of the table-toppers of the tournament may be unwise. But then Peter has never been afraid of giving youth and talent a chance at the biggest of stages. 

It's hard to say what will happen at Balewadi tonight. On paper it's a potential first boy vs last boy contest. But in reality, Kerala Blasters have a quality side and can pull off a comeback any night just as Mumbai City and NorthEast United did. 

And the ISL is a very very tight race. The top four teams on the table are still separated by just one point. And if the last boys manage to win tonight they will be just 3 points behind top boy FC Goa; one win away from catching up with them. That shows how neck to neck the fight has been so far, and how much can change, in just one night, with just one goal.

Probable Starting Line-Ups:

FC Pune City - Steve Simonsen, Nicky Shorey, Gourmangi Singh, Roger Johnson, Pritam Kotal, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Didier Zokora, Jackichand Singh, Kalu Uche, Bikash Jairu, Tuncay Sanli

Kerala Blasters FC - Stephen Bywater, Marcus Williams, Bruno Perone, Peter Ramage, Sandesh Jhingan, Rahul Bheke, Mehtab Hossain, Cavin Lobo, Pulga, Sanchez Watt, Mohammad Rafi