#4 The marquee players are not pulling their weight
The concept of a marquee player is one that can inspire the team to play much better. The ISL franchises erred in the first season, hiring big names that were past it in footballing terms. Most sides this season reversed the trend, opting to sign players who could make a significant contribution as their marquee players.
You cannot fault Delhi for retaining Florent Malouda – he was the assist leader last season. However, the Frenchman has been downright awful this season, as he does look a couple of yards off the pace. He was poor against FC Pune City while his teammates were superb in attack, resulting in Zambrotta substituting him.
As for Pune, Mo Sissoko has been quite decent in the middle of the park for much of the season, but the former Liverpool midfielder was strangly subdued in the middle of the park tonight. He was the victim of a bad tackle, but Pune were unable to control the midfield like they normally do, which resulted in them only having 40% possession.
