I-League 2018-19: 3 things that helped Chennai City to win the title

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

So, when the football fans are cherishing another unlikely triumph in Chennai City’s I-League title win, the days of hard work, planning, strategising and implementing should not go unnoticed.

Chennai City deservedly clinched the I-League after beating Minerva Punjab 3-1 at home on Saturday. After conceding in the third minute and trailing the whole of the first half, Chennai City came with a different approach in the next half as they scored three goals to dash East Bengal’s hopes.

In the previous two years, Aizawl FC and Minerva Punjab made headlines when they won the title, beating bigwigs such as East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and others. Chennai City have repeated the tradition with this time too.

No one anticipated that Chennai City, a club which had finished eighth last season, would win the league. But there lies the mystery. Proper planning, hard work and the hunger of win can lead you to success.

In this article, we analysed the possible things that helped Chennai City to win the title:

#3 Nestor-Manzi-Sandro – the best triumvirate of the tournament

Nestor Gordillo, Pedro Manzi and Sandro Rodriguez have never played together. Though Pedro and Sandro had spent two years at Spanish lower division side Ibarra, they got little time to play together. Nestor, on the other hand, was playing in the north of Spain, in Cornella at Catalonia.

Apart from Pedro, who is Uruguayan in origin, the other two players belong from the Canary Island, a place off the coast of Africa. Yet, they have formed an impeccable partnership so many miles away in Chennai City.

The trio has produced 38 goals among the 47 goals that were scored by Chennai this season. Manzi alone scored 21 goals, being the joint top scorer of the league in the process. Sandro scored nine goals whereas Gordillo scored one less than his partner.

Even though Manzi scored 21 goals, the best among this trio is surely Gordillo. For, he has been the wrecker-in-chief in every game. Playing in the left wing, he takes all the load on himself and rips the opposition defence apart with his breath-taking skills. He has great vision and with his excellent speed, he often makes an inside cut and makes a perfect cross to either Manzi or someone else who is in a better position than the Uruguayan.

Manzi is lethal within the 18-yard box. Sometimes, he attracts the opposition defenders towards him which allows other players to score. His goal-scoring ability is compared to none and that is well and truly reflected in the four hat-tricks that he has scored.

Sandro is well known as the free-kick taker. He has scored at least five goals from set-pieces, including against Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. His corners are even so accurate that it is impossible for a player not to score. It was visible against Minerva Punjab on Saturday when Gourav Bora scored two goals from his crosses.

#2 Planning and strategy of Akbar Nawas

Akbar Nawas deserves the credit for making the team unstoppable

Even before the I-League 2017-18 season came to an end, Chennai City had appointed Singaporean coach Akbar Nawas as their next coach. Instead of sitting at his home country, Nawas came down to Chennai and even watched the last match, where Chennai City won 2-1 against Minerva Punjab.

Most of the coaches would go back to his country and come down only before the new season. But Nawas is so different from others. He stayed at Chennai and along with his assistant Jordi Villa, watched lower division leagues of Chennai. The duo handpicked not less than 20 players, whom they called for trial.

In the meantime, Villa went back to Spain and was desperately looking for Spanish players in the lower division sides who would play for Chennai. He had a list of 20 players, almost all of them belonged from the Canary Islands. Nawas, after consultation with his assistant, picked four among them.

After picking the Indian players, Nawas shifted his focus towards the style of play. He is usually a believer of possession-based football and asked the team to play in that way. He changed the age-old thought that Indians cannot play passing and possession-based football. Going by the statistics, Chennai had the greater possession in most of the games, even against East Bengal, which also plays in the same style under Alejandro Menendez.

Of course, he had the backing of the management, especially the owner Rohit Ramesh. Time and again, Nawas has praised Ramesh for believing his strategy. Finally, Ramesh and Nawas got the most prized award of Indian football.

#1 Influential performance from local youngsters

Alexander Romario Jesuraj in action in a match

Unlike other teams, Chennai City produced two magnificent players in the last season. Who can forget the exquisite performance of Michael Soosairaj for Jamshedpur FC this season? Nandhakumar Sekar was also impressive for Delhi Dynamos this season.

After taking the mantle of coaching, Nawas quickly understood what the local talents would possess for his team. He oversaw the trials of the players who are picked from the local leagues. The likes of Alexander Romario Jesuraj, Regin M, Pravitto Raju and Shem Marton Eugene are some of the local talents who had a great season under Nawas.

Take the example of Raju. The son of a fisherman, he started playing football by watching the seniors. In Chennai, football tournaments happen in every festive season. Playing for a local club, he suddenly caught the eye of some Chennai City scouts. After proving himself in the trials, he was selected by Nawas and Singaporean coach has played Raju in most of the games.

Jesuraj, on the other hand, came through the age level football representing his state. It was during his days with Madras Christian College that his talent caught the eye of selectors. He represented Indian Banks before switching to Chennai City and in an integral part of the team.