Kerala Blasters: Gary Hooper and Jordan Murray - an upgraded attack?

As the saying goes, strikers hunt in packs. Last season, Eelco Schattorie tried to deploy Bartholomew Ogbeche and Raphael Messi Bouli together on the pitch but the injury-hit campaign did not end well.

Ogbeche's brilliance in front of goal, however, was appreciated by the fans. The club captain was simply unstoppable and carried the team on his shoulders at times.  How do you replace a player like him, who became the club's all-time top scorer in just a single season? 

Kerala Blasters turned to the United Kingdom to find an answer like they have done so many times in their first few years in the Indian Super League (ISL). They now have former Norwich City striker Gary Hooper who will lead the Yellow Army's front line in the seventh season of the league. 

They also had to replace their Cameroonian Messi - Raphael Bouli, who despite being hit and miss in hindsight, scored eight goals and had an assist to his name last season. In Messi's place, they have brought in the mandatory Asian Football Confederation (AFC) signing Jordan Murray who has flown in from Down Under. 

Gary Hooper, a handy striker

Ogbeche scored 15 goals last season and was in the race for the Golden Boot in back-to-back seasons. Gary Hooper scored eight goals in 21 appearances for Wellington Phoenix last season and much will be expected from him, like Ogbeche. 

But what could work in Blasters' favour is Hooper's work rate in the attacking third and link-up play in Kibu Vicuna's system. He has the likes of Facundo Pereyra, Sahal Abdul Samad and Rahul KP to depend on for passes from the midfield and crosses from the flanks. 

Kerala Blasters

Hooper's best years in front of goal were during his Celtic days in the Scottish league. He spent three years there and was on fire - he had 63 goals in 95 matches when he left Celtic in 2013 to join Norwich City in the Premier League. Like Blasters' foreign defenders (Costa Nhamoinesu and Bakary Kone), the English striker also knows the feeling of winning league championships, having won it twice in Scotland.

While his recent returns prior to his A-League stint doesn't make for stellar reading (compared to some of the other teams' foreigners), his athleticism and experience will come in handy for the Yellow Army as they look to manoeuvre a difficult ISL season in Goa. 

Jordan Murray - no-risk signing? 

With ISL guidelines stating the requirement of a foreign player from an AFC member nation in the squad, clubs had been busy raiding the A-League during the summer. While the club had set their eyes on multiple targets, the ticket finally was given to 25-year-old Murray who was ambitious for a fresh challenge outside his home country. 

There is nothing on paper that suggests Murray will take the league by storm but he is a decent addition to the Blasters squad and an important one as well, given the new set of rules. In a way, he will have the task of bettering Messi's stats from last season depending on where Vicuna deploys Argentinian Facundo Pereyra. 

Murray scored four goals in 18 A-League appearances for Central Coast Mariners last season. It will be interesting to see how much he develops and plays in India this season as he is firmly down the pecking order at Blasters and has his work cut out after serving his mandatory quarantine period. Vicuna is known to use a second striker in an unconventional role but it remains to be seen whether Murray will fight for that place with Pereyra or if that slot is reserved for an Indian player - someone like Nongdomba Naorem who was a hit at Mohun Bagan last season. 

With Hooper, Murray and Pereyra in the squad, Vicuna has a decent attacking arsenal at his disposal. With plenty of Indian talents also available to choose from, Blasters are likely to be anything but boring.