Kerala Blasters had another disappointing Indian Super League season last time out and therefore the Yellow Army are focused to overturn their fortunes in the upcoming season. To achieve that feat, India U-17 international Jeakson Singh is an important figure in the middle of the park for the Blasters.
The Manipuri youngster became a household name when he scored the only goal for the India U-17 in the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017 against Colombia. That goal is still India’s only goal at a World Cup event. The youngster has had a slow start to life in the ISL but he has shown enough glimpses of his talent and is destined to be a top player for the Kerala Blasters.
Jeakson joined the club in 2018 but waited for a year to make his ISL debut. He explained how his move to Kerala Blasters worked out.
“I played the 2017-18 I-League season with Indian Arrows, signed with Kerala Blasters and then returned to the Arrows on loan for one more season. As I’ve already mentioned in previous interviews, whenever I watched the ISL, I always paid attention to the Kerala Blasters fans. They loved their club and the players. Additionally, they are a team that have always promoted youngsters. In seven seasons, three ‘Emerging Players’ – Sandesh Jhingan, Lalruatthara and Sahal Abdul Samad – are from KBFC,” Jeakson shared in an interview with Khel Now.
“These are the two main reasons why I signed for them. In my first season with the Blasters, I played in the Second Division League with their Reserves team, before making my ISL debut the following year,” he added.
Jeakson made his debut against ATK in the ISL in October 2019 and played a pivotal role for the Yellow Army in their 2-1 win. Sharing his experience regarding his ISL debut, Jeakson added, “The first few ISL matches that I played was a nervous experience for me,” Jeakson Singh said. “Looking back, I was worried about how fans will take it if I perform poorly. I ended up thinking too much about it. But, once it started taking a toll on my mentality, I realized the need to get back to the right state of mind. Things were much better afterwards.”
However, Blasters still could only manage a seventh placed finish that season and former Minerva Punjab graduate feels that there were similarities in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 season. He went on to say that the club did not get the results that they wanted and hence ended in an underwhelming position.
“I think in both seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21), we did not get the results that we expected. But, that was the only problem according to me. In my first season at the club, we had many injuries too. Both years so far have been pretty good in terms of performances,” he highlighted.
“Personally, we got too many draws. We should’ve aimed at winning every match and that will be our objective going forward.”
With Jeakson in the middle of the park, Kerala Blasters have a promising talent who can be their mainstay in midfield for a long time. Both the player and the Blasters will hope to improve next season.
