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The reigning champions will be looking to defend their Championship success in the upcoming season of Hero Indian Super League and the Blues will look to hit the ground running from day one against Bengaluru FC at Kanteerava Stadium on September 30th.
Following a season to forget under the Italian Marco Materazzi, Chennaiyin FC and John Gregory have done well to re-emerge and bring the trophy back to the South part of India. The Englishman is not willing to rest on his laurels and will be fighting to bring back the prestigious award to Tamil Nadu once again.
The pre-season was set up at Malaysia for the Blues. Since the early days are made up for constantly rotating the team to find the best eleven of young and experienced campaigners, they failed to win all the four games at Malay against Felda United, Terengganu FC, Malaysia U-19s and Malaysian Indian Football Association.
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In addition to this, they failed to beat the I-League outfit Indian Arrows at Goa. The Blues faced the same scenario last season with just one victory before the kick-off of the Indian Super League, but they performed when it really mattered to win the League title.
Chennaiyin FC Squad:
In the press conference today, Chennaiyin FC unveiled their 25-man squad, which saw the likes of Hendry Antonay, Bedashwor Singh and Zonunmawia getting promoted to the first team roster from the reserve squad.
In addition to this, 12 players were retained from last season, which includes their local star Dhanpal Ganesh, who is likely to miss any sort of action until Christmas due to a knee injury.
John Gregory was not able to keep his former Skipper Henrique Sereno, Bikramjit Singh, Rene Mehelic, Jaime Gavilan and Chennaiyin's longest-serving player Dhanachandra Singh at the club. This paved way to Andrea Orlandi, Carlos Salom, Eli Sabia, and Tondonba Singh to represent the two-time champions this season.
Goalkeeper: Karanjit Singh, Sanjiban Ghosh, Nikhil Bernard.
Defenders: Mailson Alves, Eli Sabia, Inigo Calderon, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Tondonba Singh, Laldinliana Renthlei, Zohmingliana Ralte, Hendry Antonay.
Midfielders: Raphael Augusto, Gregory Nelson, Andrea Orlandi, Francisco Fernandes, Thoi Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Sinivasan Pandiyan, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Bedashwor Singh, Zonunmawia.
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Mohammed Rafi, Carlos Antonio Salom.
Chennaiyin FC Coach:
Coach John Gregory and his compatriot Niall Clark (Sports Scientist) stays put at Chennai for another season. But, there has been a couple of shuffles in the backroom staffs after assistant manager Mark Lillis and goalkeeping coach Tony Warner deciding to walk away.
Paul Groves is the newly appointed assistant manager and Kevin Hitchcock will take care of the club's goalkeepers.
Paul has experience with Bournemouth and Portsmouth, whilst the Chennaiyin FC goalkeeping coach has had stints at Fulham, Manchester City, West Ham United, and Queens Park Rangers.
It will not be an easy job as Lillis and Warner were crucial towards players development last campaign. Another huge season awaits for the players and the backroom staffs as the Marina Arena faithful are eagerly waiting for the season kick-off.
Chennaiyin FC Probable XI:
The Blues are expected to line up with the same 4-2-3-1 formation this season. The 32-year-old shot-stopper Karanjit Singh is expected to be number one in between the sticks for the upcoming campaign. There will be an inevitable change in the back four which will see the Brazilian Eli Sabia being slotted in for former Skipper Henrique Sereno. Inigo Calderon, Mailson Alves, and Jerry are foreseen to cement their place.
In the absence of Dhanpal Ganesh who is likely to miss half of the season, the midfield duo Anirudh Thapa and Germanpreet Singh are expected to shield the back four. The front four - Raphael Augusto, Francis Fernandes, Gregory Nelson, and Jeje Lalpekhlua are capable of tearing up opponents defence. They should keep their place intact unless something dramatic happens.
Predictions for Chennaiyin FC?
Chennaiyin FC have been ruffled by the departures of Henrique Sereno and Bikramjit Singh. But, John Gregory has bought decent replacements for these players and filled in the biggest loophole from the last season with decent backups to Raphael Augusto and Jeje Lalpekhlua.
Newly appointed Skipper Mailson Alves is anticipated to step up his game to help the Blues at the back. Likewise, the front four is expected to keep up their good work by securing goals like they did last season.
Given the strengthening of other sides in the league, Chennaiyin FC will face a tough challenge to get their hands on the title for the second consecutive time.
Predicition: Play-offs
