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Both Kerala Blasters and FC Goa have made a dreadful start to their respective inaugural Indian Super League campaigns. Having scored only a single point, whilst sitting seventh and eighth respectively, the duo have failed to impress fans and critics alike.While FC Goa boast the legendary Zico alongwith the mezmerizing Robert Pires, Kerala Blasters flaunt former England goalkeeper David James and Michael Chopra.Still, these sides have fared poorly when compared to the other six franchises involved.We analyse 5 reasons that might be responsible for these lackluster performances.
#1 Players played out of position
The opening match of the Indian Super League saw Lalrindika Ralte operating as striker for Mumbai for some time. Soon the trend of many of the Indian players playing out of position developed with all the other franchises too. However, Mumbai City FC were quick to realize their mistake, as they reverted ‘Didika’ back to his favored attacking midfield position.
It seems as if the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned side has not learnt its lesson yet. Sandesh Jhinghan, Gurwinder Singh and even Penn Orji, have been deployed fairly badly. Although, Jhinghan who is naturally a center back, has operated to the best of his abilities as a left back, the other two haven’t been that good in their roles. Gurwinder Singh, who is also a center back, has been utilized as a defensive midfielder while Orji, who is a forward has played as a midfielder alongside Mehtab Hossain.
The problem has been that with Oriji bombing forward, space has been vacated behind him very frequently, and is too much for Hossain to cover and this has led to frequent counter attacks. Jhinghan is the only player to have adapted excellently to his new role, as the Blasters still look for balance.
#2 Glaring disconnect between midfield and attack
Although Kerala can count on the services of the prolific Iain Hume and Michael Chopra, performances by both these veterans have been disjointed with the respective midfields. Michael Chopra, who has occasionally featured for the side, has not yet displayed his true goal scoring prowess while a great conversion by Hume off a flick on from Milagres has been probably his best contribution.
Iain Hume, who is technically a ‘fox in the box’ type of player, has constantly dropped deep to collect balls and initiate things on his own, pointing out to the fact that the midfield has looked incapable of a decent defense splitting ball. Long balls aimed for Hume have many a time been way off target and rarely found the Canadian, who has impressed so far with his amazing work rate.
Even the wingers Pearson and Romey have failed to deliver quality balls in for Hume to thrive upon. All in all, the cohesion between midfield and attack has been absent, and is a major reason for their lack of goals.
#3 Fixture congestion for FC Goa
With the ISL being jam packed into a rigorous schedule, fixtures were bound to come quickly and more often than expected. However, with FC Goa lacking squad depth, these frequent fixtures have taken their toll. After facing Chennaiyin FC in their opening fixture on the 15th of October, the Zico coached contingent faced an away trip to NorthEast United four days later, and a home fixture against league leaders Atletico de Kolkata followed two days later.
3 matches in 6 days while possessing lack of squad depth, is perhaps the best possible explanation for FC Goa’s miseries, as the side slipped to 8th and last, following a 2-0 defeat to FC Pune City. Although, the contingent did not display signs of physical tiredness, mental tiredness could very well set in, resulting in patchy and uneven performances.
#4 Lack of attacking depth and penetration
There is no doubt that FC Goa are starting to impress with their attacking style of play, as their passing game is very strong. Although, this might be Arsenal-esque football for some, the Goans like the Gunners, have lacked penetration. The ball is often kept in possession in the final third of the opposition team, as defense splitting passes have eluded them.
The Goans have continuously dominated the final third and topped the ‘attacking index’ but without successful attempts on the goal scoring charts, they have continued losing matches in the process. The Virat Kohli co-owned side also lacks attacking depth and features only Ranti Martins as an out-and-out goalscorer.
Moreover Martins, who was impeccable in his stints with Dempo, Rangdajeid and United SC, is now showcasing signs of complacency in front of goal, for the Goans. However, replacing the misfiring Martins with 21 year old Miguel Herlein, could prove to be a failed experiment as Herlein hasn’t proven much so far, and has had one disappointing ISL start against Chennaiyin FC.
#5 Conceding goals at just the wrong times
The biggest problem though, plaguing the teams that sit seventh and eighth in the table is that both of them have conceded goals at odd times and against the run of play. Although Kerala dominated their game against Chennaiyin and FC Goa dominated against NorthEast United, victory eluded both the contingents, as goals against the run of play, short circuited their quest for three points.
These goals against the run of play have proven to be pivotal, as they reduce the morale, and make teams adopt a defensive mentality, that sees them either draw or lose the match. Bernard Mendy’s bicycle kick,which was scored when Kerala was enjoying a comfortable share of possession and were edging Chennai in the attacking index, is just another example of the way these teams have struggled.
