If you were to ask 1,000 people who the best goalscorer in the ISL is, there’s a high probability that the response is going to be Ferran Corominas, Coro to me and you. From six starts this season, he has bagged eight goals – the only player remotely close to him was NorthEast’s Ogbeche, however, after the last round of games, Coro is now the undisputed top goalscorer in the ISL. It’s also probably worth nothing that FC Goa’s Coro missed two games as well due to suspension, which should give you some indication as to how well he’s performing in front of goal this season.
Rather than look at all of his goals from this season thus far, what we are going to do today is put his performance against Kerala Blasters under the microscope, when he hit a brace. It’s not just goals that are a big part of Coro’s game, not any more as his overall link-up play has improved vastly meaning that the opposition never truly know what Coro is going to do with the ball. That’s a frightening proposition, not knowing what Coro is going to do.
Movement Away From The Marker
We shall take it from the very top and look at his two goals, to begin with. This all starts with a corner on the left-hand side. Naturally, Coro is being paid close attention to. Well, for the first phase of the corner he is. See below.
I’m not sure whether or not the corner is overhit or whether it’s a well-planned moved, but either way, Coro makes a run towards the near post, but the corner goes over his head. The difference from this moment onwards is that Coro still believes he’s going to get the ball, his marker doesn’t.
If you look at the two images in comparison, there is clear daylight between Coro and Mohammad Rakip (his marker) in the second picture. You can either put it down to youthful naivety on Rakip’s part or good movement from the Spaniard. In all honesty, I think it’s a combination of the two and bad player allocation on Kerala’s part at the set piece. Why would you put someone with Rakip’s inexperience against someone of Coro’s ability? Anyway, this what happens next…
Coro nonchalantly makes his way to the front of the queue before rising pretty much unattended and heading home. Despite the fact he didn’t have any real pressure on him when he jumped for the header, let’s take nothing away from the finish. Straight into the corner. There’s maybe a question mark around Naveen Kumar in between the posts as he seems slightly taken aback by the header and reacts quite slowly. You could argue that although it was a strong header and even better movement from Coro, Kerala should have perhaps done better.
His Second Is Even Better
While his first is all about his movement off the ball, his second is all about his movement with the ball. Again, questions could do with being answered from a Kerala perspective as Coro has the ball from the halfway line before he scores. Let me explain…
Coro is looking behind him to see where the ball is, planning his assault on Kumar’s goal yet again. Seeing as this move has come about directly from a Kerala attack, David James’ side are light on numbers at the back, even still, FC Goa don’t rush the situation.
The closest goal-side defender to Coro is Sandesh Jhingan and he had a decision to make. Stay touch tight with Coro and risk him playing a quick one-two and being left for dead or give him a bit of room. After all, what’s the worst that could happen with Coro on the ball just over the halfway line?
In this particular situation from an attacking point of view, Coro has one thing and one thing only on his mind. He wants to get the ball onto his stronger right foot to either play in one of the players on his right or take a shot for himself. Jhingan has got the right idea by trying to show him to his left, nonetheless, the gap that is signified by the white arrow tells us that the gap is too big. When Jhinghan and nobody else decides to put a tackle in, it’s perhaps inevitable what was going to happen next…
Two Goals From An xG Of 0.26
In spite of there being five yellow shirts around him, Coro is still able to get the shot away. From the two goals that he scored, there was an xG of a whopping 0.26. Again, I’m not sure if that says more about that striker or the keeper. Nevertheless, to have the audacity to run with the ball from just inside the Kerala half and shoot from there must be applauded. How many other players in the league would even try and do that, let alone pull it off? Double figures? Maybe. Now that we’ve looked at the goals, it’s time to see what else Coro gets up to during the ninety minutes.
Solid Numbers
Something which took me very much by surprise was Coro’s passing accuracy. 36/40 of his passes were successful or 90% if you’re a percentage kinda person. It’s not just simple passes that Coro plays, either. Let’s take a look at his pass map from the game.
It wasn’t just the number of accurate passes that took me aback ever so slightly, either. The volume of backwards passes also caught my attention and it’s with one of those that we shall begin our look into his passing.
His off-the-ball movement enables him to find the space that he does. From the position he’s in, he could quite easily turn and drive at the Kerala defence, however, his awareness of what’s around him is particularly evident here. He allows himself to have a couple of touches before relaying the ball back to his defence where FC Goa can then build again.
Not only does he play the ball, but he also makes sure he’s in a position to have it straight back if necessary. Although this may sound like schoolboy stuff, you’d be amazed at the number of players that pass the ball and then think that’s their job done. Coro is the complete opposite of this, always on the move, his brain always ticking.
Unselfish In Front Of Goal
For his second goal, you might’ve seen a player that drove with the ball and refused to pass it. That doesn’t define Coro, though, not by a long shot. In the pattern of play we are about to look at, Coro has ample opportunity to get a shot away, but he recognises that a teammate is in a better position. It all starts from Coro finding another ridiculously-big pocket of space.
Coro’s intelligence allows him to occupy space in between the Kerala lines. Quite how Kerala are still allowing him to do that in the 81st minute, I have no idea. Let’s focus on the Spaniard rather than Kerala’s inept defensive work. As you can see, Coro has room to move into and collect the ball.
With the ball approaching Coro, he’s got two choices. Does he play the simple ball to Brandon Fernandes or take a touch out of his feet and go for the hattrick? It’s not outside the realms of possibility that Coro could score from that far out and considering it would have given him the match ball, nobody would’ve blamed him for trying. In this instance, he plays the ball out to Brandon, Kerala sort their act out and win it back. Coro picked the right option and it does demonstrate his desire to bring others into the game.
Final Thoughts
It’s no surprise that FC Goa’s only loss of the season thus far came when Coro was suspended. He’s so much more than a striker, he links up the play, finds space between enemy lines and brings his teammates into play. Coro’s availability for FC Goa as the season progresses will be vital if they want to win any silverware. Lobera’s unwillingness to shut up shop is fine if Coro is playing as he tends to be the difference more often than not. Against Jamshedpur, without Coro, Lobera’s system ultimately cost them the three points. Mark my words, if Coro plays every game left this season, FC Goa won’t lose more than twice.
Until the next time.
