I-League: Mohun Bagan are the favourites but is this the last season?

Another season of the I-League was launched in the national capital on Wednesday. The question that dominated the discussion was the obvious one: was this the last season of the oldest of India’s two existing leagues?

To answer that would be to delve into a web of questions. What will happen to the I-League teams once the All India Football Federation’s planned re-structuring goes through? Would the new league, heavily reliant on the constituents of the Indian Super League, be open to promotion and relegation unlike the ISL?

The questions aren’t new either. Some of them are as old as AIFF’s re-structuring plan, suggested four years ago but repeatedly thwarted by the ‘others’ in Minerva Punjab and Aizawl FC.

Future uncertain

An AFC and FIFA-backed report which spoke of an AFC ban if the two leagues weren’t merged by the summer of 2019 may have finally forced the discussion into the open forum.

Questions about re-structuring have been spuriously avoided in the recent past; answers to the non-existence of a pyramid and compact league structure a rarer commodity in the public domain. On Tuesday, the League Committee chairman Subrata Datta called for scribes and stakeholders not to be myopic and spoke of inclusiveness which took into account the top division clubs, the second division clubs, and the age-group leagues.

While the AIFF hinted at re-structuring, Lalrindika Ralte of East Bengal was more forthright in his assessment of next year. The left-footed Mizo did admit that he had ‘heard’ that the Red and Golds would play in the ISL starting 2019 and that this was their last chance to win the league.

The AIFF’s original plan did call for the inclusion of East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC in the ISL. The plan hasn’t changed; only the timeline delayed. Bengaluru has joined the ISL, while the two Kolkata giants are reportedly a summer away.

A resolution to this conundrum is unlikely to please all I-League clubs but the saga has dragged on for far too long for any of the clubs, top-tier or otherwise, to benefit. Football’s most primitive structure, the pyramid, has been surprisingly ignored for two parallel stumps with no beginning and no end in its place and the incentive to develop, compete and rise to the top, conveniently forgotten.

The question remained unanswered after Tuesday as well: What will the league structure for 2019 and beyond be?

Bagan’s title to lose

As with their city rivals, 2018-’19 will be Mohun Bagan’s last-chance to win the I-League. The man who won them their last league title is gone and Sankarlal Chakraborty, mind-mannered as compared to his fiery predecessor, has taken charge.

Mission uno has been accomplished with minimal fuss, and the Calcutta Football League trophy has been won after a gap of eight years. Youngsters have stepped up for the domestic players that have left for the Indian Super League and the attack, top league scorer for the last two years, Dipanda Dicka and Gokulam’s Henry Kisseka, seems like a formidable proposition.

More importantly, the new man in charge, Sankarlal is seen as a polar opposite of Sanjoy Sen, exuding calm while remaining more technically flexible. Sony Norde, re-hired after an ACL injury, could be the golden question for their chances of winning the league. Over-reliance on a barely match-fit Norde could prove to be detrimental, while a plan to provide support to the Dicka-Kisseka partnership is the most obvious solution.

The Japanese Yuta Kinowaki was immense in last year’s Kolkata Derby, but his injury problems could force Sankarlal to look elsewhere. If the former Shillong Lajong man pulls his weight, then it should be Bagan’s title to lose.

That is easier said than done, and if the two preceding seasons have proved anything, it is that the I-League has remained wildly unpredictable.

Unpredictability the USP

Bagan are rightly the favourites, but many teams will be fancying their chances this season. East Bengal, although underwhelming in the CFL, are under new ownership and should mount a challenge as always. Whether they fizzle out at the business end and implode as has become their unwarranted signature, remains to be seen.

Real Kashmir are the team that have been most talked about after their promotion campaign, where they beat Hindustan FC 3-2 on the final day. The team is the first from the valley to play top division football, and it will be interesting to see how they get along in their first season.

Minerva Punjab, defending champions, have re-built after losing a number of players and will attempt to become the first team to lift successive titles since East Bengal in 2003-’04. Gokulam Kerala had a strong end to last season and the Kerala team’s priority will be to replicate the exploits of Kivi Zhimomi and Kisseka, having lost both players.

Churchill Brothers have indulged in shrewd business and a 2-1 win over FC Goa in pre-season leaves them in fine fettle, having been exempted from relegation by the AIFF. Chennai City, with a legion of Spaniards and under the experienced Akbar Nawas, formerly of Tampines Rovers, will hope to get off a better start than their 3-0 humbling at the hands of the Indian Arrows. The opening fixture from previous season will once again be the curtain raiser on the 26th.

Aizawl, champions from 2017, look to be a mid-table side once again, having lost more players this year. Neroca’s play under Manuel Retamaro Fraile, Aizawl’s first I-League coach, should be curious to watch. If the Manipuri club can marry Aizawl’s attacking flair from that season to their defensive rigidity from the last, they should indeed be a prospect to watch.

Lajong, the flag-bearer of NorthEast’s clubs for the longest time, look to be in for a tough season ahead after twin 0-3 losses to Langsning FC in the Shillong Premier League. They did earn a 5-2 win over the I-League 2 side in a dead rubber with second string sides involved, the same squad that played the SPL will play the I-League, and even the most optimistic of Lajong supporters must fear the worst for the Meghalaya side.

The Indian Arrows finished bottom, but with one season of league action under their belt and a new coach, they are a different outfit. Captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam called for more possession-based football and it will curious to see how they perform in their new Odisha home.

As always, the I-League’s unpredictability and the tendency of teams to go for it remains the league’s USP. Two fantastic finishes to the league, including a situation last season where four teams were in the hunt on the final day, have added a pleasant touch and if this is to be the final hurrah for the league, more of the same would not go unnoticed.