Mehtab Hossain will be aiming for an eighth start in a row for Kerala Blasters FC when they take the field against Delhi Dynamos FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Friday. The Indian midfielder has been crucial at the heart of the park for the men in yellow this year and has completed one successful take-on as well as three key passes so far. He has also contributed heavily in the defensive third having completed four blocks, five clearances, nine successful tackles and 10 interceptions. The 31-year-old midfield general spoke to indiansuperleague.com ahead of the clash against Delhi. Here are the excerpts from the interview.You are one of the most senior players in India and you have seen the ISL evolve over three years, so what impact do you think it has had on Indian football?I think the ISL has had a tremendous impact, especially on the younger generation and the atmosphere which the ISL has created is really great. There is not much publicity. We don’t know when the ISL starts but when it ends everyone knows what it’s all about. Which player plays for which team and people have an idea and know that football is developing in India and the national team is also developing as we are getting good players because of the ISL and we are also playing with good players and we know now what is the shape, how we need to defend and how we have to position ourselves, so all this has developed.What do you have to say about your slow start to the season?Actually the team that we had last year, there were two-three Indian players like me Ishfaq Ahmed and Sandip Nandy, and when you make a new team, it takes a while and it was bad luck in the first two games that we conceded as they were deflected goals and also we didn’t play well but from the Delhi game on, we have played well and we have improved, and after Azrack Mahamat coming in, there has been a great understanding between us, like he knows when he has to charge or when I need not to charge and as you know the midfield is the backbone of the team and as we play we will improve more and we were unlucky we could not win against Chennaiyin. We should have got the three points and hopefully from our missed chances we will learn and win the next games.What’s your take on Kerala fans, by far the most passionate ones in the league?Yes, it can be said and I have seen fans in Bengal and they are crazy about football but in Kerala what I have seen is that irrespective of us winning or losing we always get support and I have seen on Facebook that Kerala fans are watching Barcelona vs Manchester City wearing a Kerala jersey and this passion is unbelievable and you will not find it in any other state. If you go watch Barcelona play, you will wear their jersey or if you’re supporting Manchester City, you will wear the Manchester jersey but watching Barcelona vs City wearing the Kerala jersey… it is a message for football that there are such passionate fans even in India.
