Kerala Blaster FC welcome home Mumbai City FC in their third consecutive home fixture of the Hero Indian Super League 2017-18 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. After two goalless draws, Rene Meulensteen’s men will be looking to score their first goal of the season against the Islanders.

In the pre-match press conference, Kerala’s head coach Meulensteen was asked why his team had failed to score two times in a row, even after having one of the most formidable attacking units in the league. The Dutchman though didn’t seem to read much into it and replied, “Well, first of all, we need to not make this (dearth of goals) an issue bigger than it is. We need to keep focused and remind the players that we are in the process of developing. You need to take a clear, realistic look at the games, and keep the emotions out of it, and I think we improved very much in our second game compared to the first one. We kept a clean sheet and kept the ball far better than we did against Kolkata. The next step now is to turn that possession into a more attacking threat. That is what has been lacking – the penetration, the decision making, the final cutting edge. The most important goal to score in a season is the first one because the moment you score the first one, it will bring confidence.”

When asked how he rates Mumbai as an opponent and what he will expect Alexandre Guimaraes’ strategy to be, Meulensteen said, “I think you need to see all the opponents and all the games in the perspective of the whole ISL. The ISL, in my opinion, is very erratic, and it is very hard to predict how things are going to go. Opponents who you think are on a bad run, can really surprise you, and vice versa. I feel there are a lot of differences in performances because there are different circumstances to play in. Good thing is that we now play our third game in the same circumstances. Mumbai will always be a strong opponent. They have always fielded strong teams, and they have that this time. We need to keep it simple – keep a clean sheet and score goals.

He further added, “The key is to break the lines quicker. Mumbai in their three games have shown that they are happy to give some possession to the opposition. That is probably part of their strategy. They have some good, quick players up-front, and we need to be aware of that. We need to build on what we did in our last game, which was to keep possession and moving the ball. We need to move the ball with more urgency and (in the) forward direction. Mumbai will do everything to stop us.”

Meulensteen is yet to field Wes Brown this season, but he believes that the former England international will be their ‘secret weapon’ when he gets over his niggling calf injury. Another aspect of his tactics which has grabbed eyeballs is his decision to play Dimitar Berbatov in a deeper role as a playmaker. He explained, “Berbatov has different traits, and I want to get my best players on the ball as much as I can. If you compare Berbatov’s touches in the second game compared to the first, there was a big difference. He gives that calmness and composure. It is an ongoing process, even for the Indian players to get used to. They need to trust him. They can give him the ball even when he is marked, and basically, you always know that he will come up with something good. He is measured in his approach, and we need to make sure that we can turn all those touches into attacks in a positive way.”