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NorthEast United FC team owner John Abraham will expect a spirited performance from his team in the forthcoming seasonsNorthEast United FC franchise was formed with a collage of players from 8 different states of the North East region of India. The region known to have immense passion for the game was expected to support the league whole heartedly. The fans did not disappoint the organizers and filled the stadiums in every single home game of the team and showed unconditional support.The team was formed with a blend of several young Indian footballers and many experience and quality foreign players. They roped in World Cup winning defender Joan Capdevila as the marquee signing. The team started well but slowly faded away as the tournament progressed. They were poor in scoring goals and that hampered their cause a lot.After 14 games In the Hero Indian Super League, NorthEast United FC finished last among 8 teams.Here are the 5 takeaways for the team in the 2014 season.
#1 Players who impressed
Northeast United FC gaffer, Ricki Herbert, rotated his players quite frequently in the entire league. He had plenty of youngsters from the various parts of the region and he utilized them quite well. The standout player among the bunch had to be undoubtedly their attacking midfielder Sergio Pardo or Koke, as he is known as. The Spanish midfielder came to the Hero Indian Super League with ample experience of playing top tier football in several European leagues. Koke marshaled the attack force of NorthEast United FC and scored the lion’s share of the team’s total goals count.
Among the Indian bunch of players, Rehenesh T.P is the best performer for the NorthEast United FC team. After the first two matches, Herbert entrusted young Rehenesh with the goalkeeping responsibility. The 21-year-old Shillong Lajong custodian honored his coach’s trust and consistently performed. He was simply outstanding throughout the tournament and pulled off quite a few brilliant saves. Irrespective of having a spare goalkeeper of Alexandros Tzorvas’ standard Rehenesh played 90% of the matches.
Durga Boro too showed his class in this tournament. The local Assamese player came back to national limelight with stellar performances in all the matches. Even though He scored only one goal, Boro consistently played well. His versatility also worked well in his favour. Herbert utilized him in midfield as well as forward and he did fairly well.
Zambian international, Kondwani Mtonga would probably come just after Spaniard Koke on the basis of performance. Mtonga was outstanding throughout the tournament. He played a pivotal role in the team. He scored two goals in the tournament and created plenty of chances. Mtonga used his physical presence in a superb manner and contributed to the team’s game play in a creative manner too.
NorthEast United FC’s Captain Miguel Garcia stood as a pillar in the backyard of the team. Garcia’s performance not only consolidated the team’s defense, but also inspired the whole team to perform well. Irrespective of having someone like Joan Capdevila in their defense, Miguel Garcia was undoubtedly the standout performer among the NorthEast United FC defenders.
#2 Players who disappointed
To be honest NorthEast United FC did not do well in their opening season in the Hero Indian Super League. They had more lows than highs in this season’s competition. Many players disappointed the fans with their poor show, even though a lot was expected from them. The highlighting name among the flops of the team has to be their marquee signing Joan Capdevila. While it is true that the Spanish maestro has well past his prime, fans still expected a better show from the World Cup winning defender. Capdevila played professional football until this season with Spanish top tier side Espanyol, thus it was highly possible for the defender to exhibit a better brand of football in a much lower standard league. Capdevila was slow, and never looked comfortable in defending. He mostly played as a center back but was overshadowed by fellow Spaniard Miguel Garcia all the time.
James Keene was another foreign recruit from whom we expected a much better performance. Considering his past experiences of playing in European football, he was expected to lead the team’s strike force. But Keene disappointed everybody including the gaffer and ended up starting only in very few games. He failed to make any difference and, as a result, NorthEast United FC’s goal scoring tally looked extremely unimpressive.
#3 Best and worst matches
Massamba Lou Sambou’s brace helped NorthEast United FC register their most convincing victory in the tournament against Chennaiyin FC
Best match: NorthEast United FC 3-0 Chennaiyin FC
NorthEast United’s standout performance in the entire league was against, final table toppers in the league stage, Chennaiyin FC. Comparatively an inferior NorthEast United thrashed the Chennai franchise 3 goals to nil in Guwahati. The home had cemented their fate as early as in the 23rd minute of the game when they already bagged all three goals. Chennaiyin FC, who remained a dominant force in the entire tournament, was completely grounded on that day.
Worst match: FC Goa 3-0 NorthEast United FC
After thrashing Chennaiyin FC 3-0, NorthEast United FC was exposed to a cruel defeat in the hands of a dominant FC Goa at Goa. 1 match later after their convincing victory, which raised their hopes of qualifying to the knock out stage, FC Goa shattered John Abraham’s sides’ chances. Romeo Fernandes, Miroslav Slepicka and Andre Santos toyed with the NorthEast defense to net goals in the match.
#4 Areas of improvement
It is still a doubt whether the NorthEast United FC team management would maintain the services of head coach Ricki Herbert in the coming seasons. Herbert is without a doubt a quality manager who has ample amount of experiences under his belt. But after finishing last in the league table, the team management may consider changes at the helm of affairs. Herbert’s style has been criticized by many in this season. Also, he had experimented with multiple formations which definitely did not help the side.
The team lacked genuine goal scorers. This simple fact has been proved by the team’s goals tally at the end of the league. Even though they have quality young Indian strikers, but let’s face it only foreign strikers can actually make a difference at least in the coming 3, 4 years. James Keene was highly unimpressive, thus they need to sign a genuinely good foreign striker who can atleast net 7 to 8 goals in the season.
Koke was simply outstanding this season. Not only in his team, but also in the entire tournament, he was one of the best performers. But the team management should consider signing another quality attacking midfielder who can replicate the performance of an ageing Koke. Koke cannot be expected to play the entire 14 games in a season keeping in mind his age. A quality replacement will also lower the burden from Koke’s shoulders.
Lastly NorthEast United Fc should consider signing a new marquee player who can at least play half the season in a commanding way. Joan Capdevila was good but never was he exceptional. A marquee player should always inspire the team with his own performance rather getting overshadowed by another player of the same position.
#5 Season Rating
NorthEast United FC started their campaign well by winning their opening game against Kerala Blasters FC. They faltered in the second match against Atletico De Kolkata but remained among the top four teams in the early stages. Unfortunately, due to poor finishing and missed chances they lost quite a few matches and lost their position in the top half of the league table. By the time the tournament reached midway, John Abraham owned side struggled at the bottom half. They won one or two games in the latter stages, but inconsistent performance finally saw the team finishing at the 8th position the rock bottom side of the Hero Indian Super League.
NorthEast United FC would love to forget their maiden Indian Super League campaign and focus to do well in the coming seasons. Among many lows, one of the inspiring aspects of the team is definitely the number of young Indian players which they have in their squad. Under quality coaching and management, this players are bound to improve and play quality football in the future.
Final rating: 3/5
