Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 kickstarts at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi with two powerhouses locking horns to give the season a fitting launch. Two-time champions ATK travel to Kochi to face arch-rivals Kerala Blasters FC, in a repeat of Hero ISL 2016’s grand finale. After another final loss at the hands of ATK, Kerala will be hoping to get the better of defending champions ATK in the season opener.

In a team studded with stars and young prospects, Kerala’s head coach Rene Meulensteen is content with how the team fared in the pre-season and is looking to bring a difference to his team’s fortunes this time around. “I am very pleased with the pre-season in Spain. Firstly, I would like to thank the club, the owners for supporting us in having such a good pre-season in Spain. Not all have it. We’ve been working very hard. We were very cautious, especially in the initial stages of the pre-season to get the team along to play together, to get them used to the training assets, build them up, etc. The fitness levels have increased, (though) we are still not there yet. I think we are 4-5 weeks away from being at our top fitness. But we’ve been able to manage the fitness and in terms of injury, we’ve been fortunate. Everyone is fit and fine and ready to go. I’m excited about the first match and I can pick any player to play,” he told the media at the pre-match press conference.

Plying his trade for the first time in the Hero ISL, after managerial stints in some of the top leagues worldwide, Meulensteen is impressed with how the league has progressed in the past three years. “I expect an exciting season. I think the ISL has proved in the last three years how exciting it can be and the format that the ISL has chosen over the three years has been the right one. I think it has grown every year, it has attracted a lot of players, especially good foreign players and it has helped in developing and progressing Indian players and foreign coaches. I think that’s one of the reasons, I wanted to be a part of ISL,” he said.

Meulensteen admitted at being impressed by how well the Indian players have adapted to his coaching methods. “What I love and is the best and most challenging part of this job is that everyone has a unique style of play. They are professionals and you have to bring a group of people together. Indian and foreign players and in six weeks you have to make them into a team and hope they grow as the league proceeds. So, you have no idea as to how the team will be. You may have some indications about the skills, but not about their personalities. But I have to say I’m very impressed with the discipline and responsibility of the players and secondly the willingness to work, to learn and the ability to adapt and take things on board and I can’t ask for a better pre-season. I’ve seen improvement and good progress,” he added.

Meulensteen also seemed unperturbed by Kerala’s past results against ATK and wants everyone to view this as a fresh battle. “The game is decided by both forces. One team will try to attack and the other will try not to concede goals. And you can only win matches if you score goals and take your chances. That makes the game interesting and at the same time difficult as all the teams will try to do the same. So, this will be our strategy, this is what we’ll try to do. Whatever has happened in the past, is in the past. It’s not relevant now to what’s going to happen tomorrow. It's KBFC vs ATK. Only the names of the teams are the same. Rest is different. Head coaches, players, everything is different,” he stated.