The top four of the ISL has been decided and just like the first two years, FC Pune City and NorthEast United have not made it to the semifinal. Mumbai City FC’s progress to the semifinal this yaer means that the other team from Maharashtra and the Highlanders are the only teams still to make it to the last four, in at least one season.
The biggest factor that has prevented the two teams from achieving anything significant is the lack of continuity. In all three seasons, both sides have had different managers from the previous years. Ricki Herbert, Cesar Farias and Nelo Vingada have been in the hot-seat for NorthEast whereas Franco Colomba, David Platt and Antonio Habas have been at the helm for Pune.
Another thing that hasn’t helped is that both teams have retained very few players and head into every season with almost a fresh squad. For Pune, only Lenny Rodrigues, Dharmaraj Ravanan and Arindam Bhattacharya have been with the squad for all three seasons. For NorthEast, only TP Rehenesh and Robin Gurung have stuck around. And none of those players struck down a marker to prove they were undroppable.
All of those players were on the fringes, meaning that the starting XI and the key slots in the teams were filled by different players every year. In a league like the ISL, you don’t have enough time to adapt to the rigours once the season starts. It gives teams the best chance if there is not a completely different method and style to adapt to every year.
Also Read: ISL 2016: Best XI of the group stage
Now compare this with Atletico de Kolkata, Chennaiyin FC and Delhi Dynamos who have made the last four on multiple occasions. Borja Fernandez, Arnab Mondal and Ofentse Nato have been lynchpins for Kolkata over the three years. Chennaiyin have had Bernard Mendy, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Harmanjot Khabra and Dhanachandra playing huge roles in all three seasons.
For the Dynamos, the case is slightly different. They had a forgettable first year, and after that, revamped everything at the club, including their kits. Last season, Roberto Carlos guided them to the playoffs and even though Gianluca Zambrotta has taken over this year, it has not been a disruptive one for them because the playing staff has not changed much.
Florent Malouda, Anas Edathodika, Souvik Chakraborty, Toni Doblas and Richard Gadze, all played starring roles for Delhi last year, and they have carried their form on to the current edition as well, ensuring that the legendary Italian has not had to do anything out of the ordinary.
Lack of proven goalscorers
But perhaps the biggest worry for both Pune and NorthEast has been the lack of a consistent goal-scorer. Despite having David Trezeguet and Adrian Mutu, Pune just never got enough goals from them. Similarly, for NorthEast, inspite of having Simao Sabrosa and Diomansy Kamara in their ranks, they never managed to get the required number of goals.
In 2014, Pune scored 12 goals and NorthEast scored 11, the lowest in the league. In 2015, NorthEast scored 18 and Pune managed 17, the lowest in the league. Even this year, Pune and NorthEast are the bottom two in terms of goals scored. Pune have scored 13 and NorthEast 14.
It was only this time that the Highlanders had two proven goalscorers in the squad – in Emiliano Alfaro and Nico Velez. But over the last two years, they have been hit hard by the uncertainty surrounding the Argentine’s fitness.
Velez has missed several crucial games in his time at NorthEast, none more important than their last game of the 2016 season, a must-win game in Kochi against the Kerala Blasters – a game that NorthEast lost 1-0 to a CK Vineeth goal, knocking them out of the tournament.
For Pune, their top goalscorer over the three years is Anibal Zurdo, who joined them only this year. Trezeguet scored two goals in the first season, behind even defensive midfielder Kostas Katsouranis. Mutu fared slightly better than the Frenchman, scoring four goals – he was Pune’s joint top scorer in 2015, along with the Nigerian, Kalu Uche.
Especially for NorthEast, it is not all doom and gloom. They have found some fantastic young Indian players who could serve the club well in the future. On top of that list is Rowlin Borges, the young defensive midfielder who impressed one and all. He reads the game very well, is not afraid to make tackles and was very assured in his passing throughout the tournament.
For Pune, especially this season, the absence of Eugeneson Lyngdoh for a huge part of it left them handicapped in midfield. Although Momo Sissoko and Jonatan Lucca did do a consistent job in midfield, Pune desperately missed contributions from their Indian attackers. Both Arata Izumi and Sanju Pradhan flattered to deceive. Izumi scored only one goal this season and Pradhan did not score any goal. Both the players didn’t register a single assist.
So largely, the problem for Pune and NorthEast have not scored too many goals
