With 11 matches of the ISL 2016 over and each team having played at least two matches, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams get clearer. Here are some insights into how every team has fared this season:
Mumbai City finally hit the ground running
After two disappointing campaigns, the Ranbir Kapoor co-owned franchise has finally hit the ground running. While the discussions before the campaign focused largely on their prolific attacking quartet of Diego Forlan, Sunil Chhetri, Gaston Sangoy and Sony Norde, it is the midfield and the defense that has made the difference so far.
Kristian Vadocz has been the star in the middle of the park with Pronay Halder and Sehnaj Singh also looking comfortable in the fluid formation. However with three defensive midfielders, at times they have lacked guile going forward and have been heavily dependent on Matias Defederico to pull off something extraordinary.
It is evident from their showings that they had a great pre-season and now will hope that Diego Forlan gets fit soon and starts scoring, especially with Gaston out on a long-term injury break. Mumbai will only get stronger with the arrival of the Bengaluru FC players Sunil, Amrinder Singh and Lalchhuanmawia but it will be interesting to see how they can be accommodated in the current set-up.
For the first time ever, they seem to have the balance and the dressing-room chemistry to make it to the knock-out stages.
Atletico de Kolkata haven't found their mojo yet
The champions of the inaugural season had undergone a change in personnel before the start of the season and are yet to find their mojo. In Helder Postiga and Iain Hume, they have two match-winners upfront, but the duo has not started firing yet.
Sameehg Doutie and Javi Lara, who were both part of the rosters in 2015, have continued to impress on the flanks and for now, the Red and Whites have been dependent on goals coming from the midfield.
Custodian Debjit Majumder is nowhere close to his sublime form of last eighteen months and head coach Jose Francisco Molina, who had made nine appearances between the sticks for Spain before the arrival of Iker Casillas, may opt to drop him in near future.
Robert Lalthlamuana’s unsure performance as a left-back has forced the gaffer to slot in right-footed Prabir Das in that position and this problem will continue to sting them before the arrival of Bengaluru FC defender Keegan Pereira.
Marquee player Helder Postiga and skipper Borja Fernandes are both injured and the Sourav Ganguly co-owned franchise will once again look up to the former Leicester City striker Hume to seal a semi-final spot. The back-line also need to better their co-ordination, with the team paying prices of faulty offside traps.
Bumpy start for FC Goa
Grappled with injury problems of five potential starters, Zico’s team has had a bumpy start to their journey. Robin Singh, Denzil Franco, Gregory Arnolin, Luciano Sobrosa and Subhasish Roy Chowdhury all spent time on the treatment table but it is the absence of Roy Chowdhury, the goalkeeper, which has hurt them the most.
Laxmikant Kattimani, who was guilty of giving away easy goals in last year’s final, has had a horrid start this time, with his howler gifting NorthEast United a win in the first match.
In the absence of Leo Moura, the team may lack the moments of individual brilliance and will be dependent on the Rafael Coelho-Reinaldo pair if they are to repeat their goal-scoring record from last two seasons.
In defence, they have a number of options but the same cannnot be said about the midfield. Joffre Mateu continues to be their most elegant player on the pitch, but he needs help from Richarlyson and Mandar Rao Dessai to break opponent defences. The team will be playing four of their last five ties at their home ground and can spring off a late surprise after Zico gets his full arsenal to choose from.
Chennaiyin FC missing the spark
The start has been far from ideal for the Abhishek Bachchan co-owned side but it’s too early to draw any negative inference about them, given they had lost three of their first five encounters last season also.
With the departure of Stiven Mendoza and Elano — the livewires for the first two editions — the defending champions seem to be missing the spark up front. Former Palermo forward Davide Succi has failed to make a mark so far while veteran I-League striker Dudu Omagbemi has not looked lethal as well.
They will now be waiting for the availability of Italian attacker Maurizio Peluso, who has been serving a three-match suspension. The absence of injured left-back Dhanachandra Singh has been a big problem for the side, with his replacements Nallappan Mohanraj and teenager Jerry Lalrinzuala both underperforming.
Thoi Singh, a regular member of the championship winning team, is also nursing an injury and it will be interesting to see how Marco Materazzi uses him in the midfield that already has Hans Mulder and Raphael Augusto. Mendoza had bailed them out of uncomfortable positions many times during his stay and the outfit needs to elevate their standard further to fill the void.
It's not started well for the Kerala Blasters
After a horrible second season, the large supporter base had big hopes from the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned side.
However, the lack of depth in the squad has severely hit Steve Coppell’s plans and the fact that Barcelona youth graduate Josu Currais, undoubtedly the most creative footballer of the side has had to slot in as a makeshift left-back is the biggest testament to the crisis the unit is going through.
The team hasn’t scored a single goal in their first three encounters and even though it’s only a matter of time before they break the hoodoo, the profligacy in the opponent box will give Coppell sleepless nights.
Michael Chopra has been anything but match-fit while Duckens Nazon and Kelvens Belfort are yet to find their scoring boots.
The good news is that Sandesh Jhingan and Cedric Hengbart have gelled well in defence and once marquee player Aaron Hughes comes back from national duty, Sandesh and Pratik Chowdhury may feature as full-backs with the two foreigners starting at the heart of the back-line. For now, there is little evidence to make a case for Kerala Blasters’ title credentials.
Delhi Dynamos could be the dark horses
Touted as the dark horses of this edition, the team coached by Zianluca Zambrotta has indeed surprised all with their eye-catching football, earning four points from two away matches.
The team, full of young Indian talent, is not expected to face a fitness issue and the World Cup winner Italian seems to have done wonders in the pre-season, knitting together a new-look side.
In the 4-1-4-1 formation that Dynamos are expected to adhere to throughout the campaign, Souvik Chakrabarti and Chinglesana Singh will continue to be deployed as out-of-position full-backs, but they had flirted with this danger last season also.
Florent Malouda will continue to be the creator while in Badara Badji and Richard Gadze, they have two quality U-23 foreign strikers – unlike any other ISL franchise. The trump card, however, will be Brazilian attacker Marcelinho who has the trickery in his armour, reminding the fans of Gustavo Dos Santos.
Banking on unproven but incredibly fit rookies, if the team from the capital can make it to the summit clash, it may well change the landscape of the competition, posing serious question marks about signing foreigners who are well past their prime.
NorthEast United have found success in grit
The Highlanders had a compact schedule in the opening two weeks, having featured in four of the first eleven matches of the league. However, they have come out with flying colours and after notching up two back-to-back victories at home, have now defeated Pune City in an away match.
Former Lazio striker Emiliano Alfaro has already scored thrice, taking off the burden of scoring from Nicolas Velez, who also seems to be in fine form. Romaric, the former Sevilla midfielder has also shown his class and Yusa Katsumi has been as impressive as ever with his brilliant work-rate.
Nelo Vingada, the head coach of the side, has made his philosophy clear as the team has been content with the one-goal leads, bringing in ten bodies behind the ball after scoring.
They look a very tough team to break down and the only goal they have conceded till date was from a penalty-kick in Mumbai, keeping clean-sheets in other three matches. Blessed with an Arjuna awardee shot-stopper, a resolute central defense, industrious midfielders and in-form forwards, the minnows of first two seasons look well set to enter the last four.
FC Pune City are missing too many big names
The officials of the side had taken the risk to sign Antonio Lopez Habas as the head coach, knowing very well that the Spanish tactician will be banned for first four games.
However, the Orange Army have looked out of ideas with their gaffer missing on the touchline and have lost two of their first three matches.
The team was dealt with a heavy blow just before the start of the season as marquee player Eidur Gudjohnsen and defender Andre Bikey were ruled out with injuries. While the Hrithik Roshan co-owned franchise brought in Mohamed Sissoko as their new marquee player, their striking force looks depleted with Tato failing to reach the right positions and Dramane Traore looking wasteful.
The team needs more time to adapt to Habas’ 3-5-2 and the unimpressive showings by veterans like Lenny Rodrigues and Francis Fernandes haven’t helped them either.
The team is missing India international Eugeneson Lyngdoh as a box-to-box midfielder and Habas will have to figure out the tactical tweaks very soon to make this unit tick. For now, they have a number of aspects to ponder upon.
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