Another exciting weekend in the I-League saw a re-shuffle in positions in the table, especially towards the top. Minerva started the round off with their first ever victory in the top division of Indian Football, as two teenagers scored for the men from the North against a faltering Mumbai FC side.
Mohun Bagan and Aizawl FC played out a cracker jacker of a game at the Rabindra Sarobar stadium, which the Fed Cup champions eventually won thanks to Daryl Duffy’s late penalty. Shillong too, continued their rise up the table, winning their third-fourth game in a row at home against Churchill Brothers.
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Bengaluru FC’s troubles away from home continued, although they came from behind to earn a point, buoyed by a goal by their captain Sunil Chhetri. East Bengal strolled through against bottom of the table Chennai City FC. Let’s have a look at the main talking points from this round of fixtures.
#1 Poor telecast of the I-League games will start affecting audiences
There has been a lot of talk around how Indian Football has been on the up in the past year and so, especially with money being pumped into the sport. The Indian Super League and the big names have helped obviously, plus they FIFA World Cup, but it is sad to see that the top division in the country doesn’t have a proper telecast for the games.
A popular network have bought the rights of telecasting the League as in the last few years, but they have no highlight packages, no half-time shows or any kind of pre-match analysis. In the situation of two games taking place at the same time, despite them having four channels broadcasting in India, one game is chosen over another.
So was the case, when East Bengal vs Chennai City FC and DSK Shivajians vs Bengaluru FC played, as the East Bengal fans got the rub of the green on this occasion. Credit to I-League’s official website take matters into their own hands and stream the game, but all the goodwill they created for streaming the game was lost when the stream broke and showed a ‘404 Error’ on multiple situations.
Not only that, the commentary on many occasions have been poor, the quality of the broadcast so bad that you can’t read the numbers on the back of the player’s jerseys. If you want Indian Football to grow, advertising for three months in a year won’t cut the issue.
#2 Minerva’s trust in youth finally pays off
After six games, two draws and four losses, Minerva FC picked up their first win of the campaign. That not only pulled them out of the bottom of the table, that they managed to do so with two teenagers scoring for them, beckoned goodwill from all corners of India.
A 17-year-old Boaringdao Bodo became the youngest ever goal scorer in the I-League, and that is saying something. Not only that, they have given game time to the likes of Germanpreet Singh, Souvik Das, Vinit Rai, Uttam Rai and Anirudh Thapa, all bright youngsters.
It might not be the easiest thing to play youngsters when you’re bottom of the League, but credit to Surinder Singh for his sticking to the youngsters.
#3 Mohun Bagan’s system might need a re-think
Mohun Bagan, along with East Bengal are the only team in the League still unbeaten. But, that record was under serious examination against Aizawl on Saturday, and DSK Shivajians last time around.
Sanjoy Sen has played with effectively a 4-2-4 system with four uber-attacking players. Instead of two banks of four, Mohun Bagan play with two holding midfielders, among which one often joins the attack. What that allows is, Mohun Bagan to attack very fluently and sometimes effectively with the likes of Jeje, Daryl Duffy, Katsumi and Sony Norde (or Prabir Das as on Saturday) in the team.
On the flip side though, when they lose possession, they become incredibly easy to open up for the opposition, with the midfield in more than one occasion being overrun. DSK exposed them, having considerably more possession with Moun Bagan finding it difficult to win back the ball. So did Aizawl, with Jaryan in the middle, and Mohun bagan were lucky to have not been punished more severely.
Against East Bengal though, who play with a three midfielder system, things will be different, and they might well be punished. Sanjoy Sen needs to re-think the formation, or drop one of the strikers to play a midfielder like Katsumi Yusa at number 10.
#4 Bengaluru FC’s struggles are born in their midfield
After the AFC Cup campaign, Bengaluru FC’s most influential midfielder (in that campaign) Rubio was released from the squad. There were a lot of tributes, but no tears. On the evidence of the team in the last four games, there ought to have been.
Cameron Watson and Lenny Rodrigues are both solid, good midfielders in their own right, but they are not playmakers. They do break up play and pass economically, but they don’t create as many chances for the forwards as Bengaluru need them to do, especially with a team sitting back.
Eugeneson Lyngdoh too has been uncharacteristically poor since he has played in the advanced role, and the Blues do miss his industry from deep. With Alwyn George and Malsawmzuala on the bench, both more aggressive passers of the ball than Cameron and Lenny, is it time to drop one of them? Albert Roca has a lot of thinking in his hands.
For a more in-depth look at Bengaluru’s struggles, go read why Bengaluru FC are struggling for results this season.
#5 East Bengal are favorites to win the Derby at the moment
East Bengal have the most balanced and in-form team among the top teams. They have 19 points on board, and they have three forwards who are scoring goals.
Plus, they have no midweek fixture to think or worry about. Add the fact that they have no injuries to their squad, apart from Bikash Jairu, it is definitely East Bengal’s derby to lose next weekend. Putting things into perspective, Mohun Bagan have Eduardo, Kinshuk Debnath, Kean Lewis injured, and Sony Norde doubtful for the game.
Trevor Morgan, with time, has got his squad playing as he wants them to, and the Ultras will hope that it is them who get the bragging rights after next weekend’s fixture.
Picture Courtesy: I-League Media
