FC Pune City head coach Franco Colomba had cut a hopeful figure ahead of today’s home game against Kerala Blasters FC. After getting their first win against FC Goa in their previous fixture, Colomba had emphasised that the result would kickstart a run of winning form in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). However, Kerala put paid to these ambitions, with Pune suffering a loss to the Blasters despite taking an early lead.During the post-match press conference, a disappointed Colomba lamented errors by his team which led to the loss, but gave due credit to tonight’s opponents for their performance.“We made many crucial mistakes,” Colomba bemoaned, before going on to add, “Kerala played really well and it was very difficult to break them down.”Pune’s failure to build on their win in the previous game was a sore point with their Italian gaffer, who emphasised the need to develop a winning momentum in the ISL.“It’s very difficult, because it’s a very unpredictable league. When you win one match, it becomes very important to win the next one as well,” he said.Colomba addressed the difficulties of building team balance over a short span, although he expressed confidence that he would be able to develop his squad over the course of the season.“It’s not easy to build a team without balance. We have senior European players and young Indian players, so it’s difficult to maintain balance. But it can be resolved in the future,” Colomba said.The head coach signed off by saying that he and the Pune coaching staff would be putting their heads together over the next few days in order to effect a turnaround in his team’s fortunes, ahead of their game on November 3 at home against NorthEast United FC. “Now we must think about the next match and try to improve,” asserted Colomba.
