The Delhi Dynamos franchise is in reconstruction mode. They have, for all purposes, demolished their three-year-old house and started reconstructing it from the ground up. This is in anticipation of a season which sees a brand new Indian Super League, replete with fresh challenges for franchises which were used to a two-and-half-month season.
Edition four, featuring two new entrants, JSW’s Bengaluru FC and Tata’s Jamshedpur FC, is expected to be twice as long, starting November this year. The Dynamos, still smarting from a loss on penalties in 2016 to eventual runners-up Kerala Blasters, in a gamble decided not to retain any players despite scoring the highest number of goals in the group stages last season (27).
Far away from the larger-than-life personas that were Roberto Carlos and Gianluca Zambrotta, the vastly experienced Miguel Angel Portugal, who may not be as recognised by Indian audiences, has been appointed coach. Portugal has 20 years of coaching experience across Europe, South America and Africa ahead of his stint in Asia.
Former Director of Strategy for Real Madrid Ivan Bravo’s Aspire Academy, based in Qatar, has tied up with the Dynamos in order to revamp their entire youth development setup in what may be a significant four-year deal for the ISL side from the capital. At the heart of the Dynamos’ new push, the two former Real Madrid men spoke to The Field.
Portugal’s deal is currently a short one, a one-year term, where the Spaniard, who is admittedly a huge lover of Bollywood movies, hopes to make a short-term impact. “I like projects like this,” he said. “We can start our work from scratch here. We wanted a clean slate, so I along with the team management decided not to retain any players at all.”
It must be noted that the Dynamos will go into the draft in round one, earlier than all of the other teams barring Jamshedpur FC, by virtue of nil retention. The Tata-owned club will have the first pick. The Dynamos, who are almost guaranteed to get their second choice, if not first, will also be one of the only three teams in round two.
Portugal said he is considerably prepared for the ISL draft on Sunday. “I have gone through footage from all of the ISL and I-League matches last season, and have prepared six pages of notes on the players that I want. I have communicated my preferences to the management who have kept them in mind for Sunday.”
Portugal’s name was recommended to the Dynamos by Bravo, currently Director General of Aspire. “We’ve come across each other in various contexts and roles over the years,” he said. “I suggested his name to the Dynamos and they agreed.”
Aspire’s association with the Dynamos now means that a sizeable chunk of the Dynamos youth will train in Qatar in a fully residential facility. “As of now, there are no plans to include them in the local league, but they will play against the best teams in the world, such as Real Madrid youth and Bayern Munich youth,” said Bravo.
The Dynamos’ new manager also stated that his role will extend beyond the first team. The former technical director of Real Madrid said, “We want to build a youth system on par with some of the best in the world.”
Portugal is also familiar with some of the Dynamos’ foreign recruits from previous seasons. “I have worked with [Jonatan] Lucca and Gustavo Dos Santos previously at Atletico Paranaense in Brazil, who were a part of the reserves there.”
When posed a question about Madrid’s own system failing to produce many talents for the first team, Bravo replied, “We get this question wherever we go. Madrid produces more talent than any other academy in the world. When a Morata comes up, he has to face a Cristiano Ronaldo for a spot in the team. That is why he was sent to Juventus to develop, why a Dani Carvajal was sent to Bayer Leverkusen to become the best right-back in the Bundesliga.”
With Aspire’s help and the guidance of these two men, the Dynamos are expected to start scouting for youth teams across three age groups, which will play in the junior I-League competitions.
Bravo said Aspire could extend their deal if their four-year target is met. “We want to put faces to all first teamers who will come through the system in five to 10 years,” he said. “See if we have considerably strengthened the reserve team and first team, while providing players to the national setup.”
Bravo agreed that four years may be too little a time to bring about radical change. “There is a lack of structure at grassroots and a lack of coaches. What we saw was a chance to extend our partnerships in Spain (Cultural Leonesa), Belgium (KAS Eupen) and England (Leeds United). India are, after all, our AFC mates.”
Despite coaching in several countries, Portugal, a former No 10 for Real Madrid said he prefers the Spanish system of possession-based football, but acknowledged the difficulties. “It is true that the number of defensively minded Indian players were higher in the ISL than the attackers. It is difficult to switch from a defensive system to an attack-minded one because the latter requires more confidence from the players. But most importantly for me, the player, young or old, experienced or not, should have football in his boots above everything else.”
The operational side of things have also seen a shake-up. Earlier this year, Wall Street Investments, promoters of GMS, a Dubai-based business group, acquired a controlling 80% stake in the Delhi Dynamos.
Anil Sharma, a Non-Residential Indian based in Dubai, is the founder of GMS and the father of Rohan Sharma, who has taken over as Director. Also newly on board is Ashish Shah, former President and CEO of Chennaiyin FC, who was in charge of the southern outfit when they won the ISL in 2015.
Having built a sizeable fanbase in Chennai, the Dynamos’ new CEO said he looked forward to the fresh challenge. “Here, you have a club which can cater to the entire fanbase in the north. That’s a population of almost 300 million for a single ISL club to target. Plus, we have owners who understand that change can’t be instantaneous but gradual.”
Shah also confirmed that the season’s priority was to take part in the age-group I-Leagues and national competitions where Pune City has been the most successful ISL franchise.
With the Dynamos in the process of rebuilding, it remains to be seen whether the draft goes according to plan for the capital outfit, in a season that sees the league transform itself into a longer, fiscally conservative, forward-looking entity. The Dynamos will hope they can mirror the league’s path.
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