Kochi, Jun 20 (IANS): New Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic said on Sunday that there will be "no lack of effort and hard work" when the team begins its campaign in the 2021/22 Indian Super League (ISL) later this year.
"I like to win. Especially, you try to give that something extra, that winning mentality to your team. Because if you speak about a club like Kerala Blasters FC, with everything that is going around, this club must be in a winning mentality and winning will to improve and achieve something extra," said the Serbian, who has coached in the top divisions in Belgium, Slovakia and Cyprus.
"As a coach, I like to obtain certain things, titles, trophies. Of course, we will never promise certain things but we can promise hard work, trying to improve, trying to make this team better and trying to be as high as possible," said Vukomanovic on the club's YouTube channel.
Kerala Blasters slipped to 10th position during the 2020/21 ISL season after ending up seventh in 2019/20.
The 43-year-old appeared satisfied with the talent he has at his disposal but added that talent is not everything.
"Let's say there is a lot of talent, which is not the most important thing, if you speak about creating and becoming a football player on a serious level. It seems that there are many talented boys over there. I think that, with the correct work and the correct improvement, all these boys can become better, so there are many positive things," he said.
On the playing style he intends to bring to Kerala Blasters, Vukomanovic, who played for France's FC Bordeaux, Germany's FC Koln and Russia's Dynamo Moscow, among others, as a defender, said: "Every coach has his own style and the idea of how to play and how to improve certain things but it always depends on the quality you will find in the dressing room, the quality you will find in your players.
"If you speak about preferred style, I like offensive football. I like many things, to see how they evolve and of course, to score more goals than our opponents," he added.