ISL 2017: 5 reasons why Chennaiyin FC can win the title

2017 is the year of expansion as far as Indian football is concerned.

The country expanded its international footprint by playing host for the first time ever to a FIFA event in the form of the Men's Under-17 World Cup. Its national team has made huge strides in the FIFA rankings. And the Indian Super League (ISL 2017) will also be a new, expanded tournament this time around, stretching over four months and featuring more teams.

Winners of season 2, Chennaiyin FC, will look to once again be in the race for the title and expand their own trophy cabinet. They have been one of the most consistent teams in the ISL and will look to keep up their level in the face of added competition from the new teams.

We take a look at five things that could help Chennaiyin in their quest this season for a second ISL title.

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#1 An intact core

In the face of massive changes at all of the remaining teams over three seasons, Chennaiyin have been an exception by opting to go for continuity and largely playing with the same group of players. This year though that's not the case as the draft and retention system introduced has led to plenty of player movement.

Despite that, Chennaiyin made a conscious effort to retain five players, the second highest of any team behind only Bengaluru FC, who retained six. It's not just the number, but the positions that these players play that are important. Jeje Lalpekhlua, their lead striker, has been retained. Jeje is the third-leading goal scorer in the competition with 14 goals in three seasons. The team will look to him to lead the frontline and bounce back from a disappointing 2016 campaign.

Their midfield general, Raphael Augusto, has also been retained. The Brazilian has established himself as one of the best central midfielders in the competition with his ball control and touch.

Jerry Lalrinzuala, the breakout star for the team last year, is also another crucial piece that the team retained. The 19-year old has made the left-back position his own showing fantastic instincts both defending as well as going forward.

In addition to the above trio, Chennaiyin retained keeper Karanjit Singh and youngster Anirudh Thapa. And in the draft, they went out and got their old boys Thoi Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh and Dhanachandra Singh.

So a solid home-grown core of the team has been brought back, personnel that has been part of the title run in 2015. The continuity should serve them well this season.

#2 A new face in the dugout

John Gregory is the new Head Coach of Chennaiyin this season

One person who won't be returning this time around after three years at the helm is Marco Materazzi. Chennaiyin and Materazzi parted ways after last season by mutual consent and John Gregory, former Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers manager, is the new head coach of the side.

Materazzi was hugely popular with the fans due to his charismatic and outspoken nature. He never refrained from speaking his mind and supported his players to the hilt while pushing them to the limits at times. However, one got the impression towards the end of last season that his attitude and confrontational approach had begun to cause tension with both management and some of the players.

On a personal level, he had gotten very irate with the organizers as well. It almost looked inevitable that he wouldn't return for a fourth season. So very Jose Mourinho like, where Jose doesn't return for a fourth season because the team is mentally sapped with his tactics and approach in three seasons, despite all the success.

A new voice might kickstart a new chapter for the club and help move in a different direction. The ISL is very similar in nature too to the English game which should help Gregory in his debut season.

#3 Out with the old, in with the younger

The old legs in defence like Mehrajuddin Wadoo have been replaced

During the first three seasons, Chennaiyin leaned heavily on some very seasoned veterans such as Mikael Silvestre, Alessandro Nesta, Elano and Benjamin Mendy. John Arne Riise was their marquee player at the age of 36 last season, for crying out loud! Mendy was the club captain and lead defender.

He was good in the air, a very good organizer and a fan favourite but was exposed against younger, fleet-footed attackers. Likewise with Mehrajuddin Wadoo at right-back. None of them are now at the club anymore.

In come Inigo Calderon, Henrique Sereno and Mailson Alves. While Calderon is 35, the other two are much younger and it means that the defence will get a new look this time around. Mailson, in fact, returns for a second stint with Chennaiyin after having been a part of the title-winning team in 2015.

Chennaiyin also roped in Keenan Almeida in the draft and Calderon and him could duel it out for the right-back position. The new recruits represent a considerable upgrade on the ones they've replaced.

#4 The return of Thoi Singh

Thoi will hope to play a larger role this year after being marginalized last season

One of the reasons for Chennaiyin's struggles and eventual seventh-place finish was a lack of good partners for Raphael Augusto in midfield. Materazzi tried many combinations, but somehow none of them clicked. One midfielder who was conspicuous by his absence was Thoi Singh who got very limited minutes. It was quite the puzzling decision as he had been one of the most instrumental figures in their triumph in 2015 with his lung-busting work from the first minute to the 90th.

It looked like he had had a falling out with Materazzi, the Italian steadfastly refusing to play Thoi even in crunch situations. Thoi has been central to every team he's played for. He was part of Bengaluru FC's I-League triumph in their debut season. he starred for Chennaiyin in their ISL victory and was very good for a poor Mumbai FC outfit in the I-League last season.

He is a man desperate for a fresh start and should get one.

#5 Turning those draws into wins

Constant draws from winning positions hurt Chennaiyin last season

In 2015, Chennaiyin missed out on making the semis for the first time after they finished seventh with 15 points to their name. Only one team finished lower, FC Goa, and they were abysmal while Chennaiyin wasn't that bad. The one bad habit they picked up last season though were an inability to win home games, drawing plenty.

Goa lost eight matches last season while NorthEast United and Pune City, who both finished above Chennaiyin, lost six games each. Chennaiyin lost fewer games than this trio (5), but suffered due to their six drawn games, a figure bested only by last year's champions ATK. One of those draws was a gut-wrenching 3-3 result against NorthEast United in a must-win game at home. In a classic encounter, Dudu Omagbemi's hat-trick had brought the roof down and his third gave Chennaiyin a 3-2 lead. But in the final minute of stoppage time, some lax defending in the box allowed NorthEast to level from a corner and that proved to be the end of Chennaiyin's hopes.

So, the focus for them will be on how to turn those draws into wins and with familiar personnel and a strong core present, a lot of that is likely to get fast-tracked.