I-League 2018-19: How has Shillong Lajong’s all-Indian squad gamble worked?

When Shillong Lajong announced that they will field an all-Indian squad for I-League, many raised eyebrows. For, how can one survive without playing foreign players in a top division league?

Of course, there are Indian Arrows who will also field an all-Indian set-up. But they are a development squad playing for experience and have been kept out of the promotion-relegation battle.

Lajong doesn’t have that advantage and finishing at the bottom of the table will see the team relegated to the second division.

Almost two months have passed since the start of the season and the worst fears are becoming true. As the I-League reaches near the halfway mark, Lajong are languishing at the bottom of the table with only four points from eight matches.

Time is running out for Lajong and they are in desperate need to revive their campaign. In this analysis, we will try to find out the positives and negatives of their move along with a conclusion.

Positives:

#5 Naorem Mahesh’s Robbensque goal

We have already seen Indian players idolising foreign players. Due to the easy access of almost all the top leagues on Television, Indian footballers can now easily watch their favourite player on screen and try to replicate their moves on the field.

Naorem Mahesh also idolises Lionel Messi, the best player of the world. Like Messi, Mahesh too is a left-footed player. He loves to control the ball with his skills and often dribble past his opponents. But what he did against Aizawl FC was a reminder of Arjen Robben.

The Dutch superstar plays on the right wing. Whenever he gets the ball, he tries to cut inside. Whenever he reaches near the box, he shoots the ball and almost all the time it curves to enter the goal.

Against Aizawl FC, Mahesh reminded the same. He cut inside, dribbled a past couple of players and unleashed a shot with his left foot, which curled and entered goal giving opponent custodian no chance.

Immediately after the goal, his goal became viral on social media and people started comparing him with Robben.

#4 Derby results evenly poised

The North-Eastern Derbies are always a fiercely contested encounter. Involving teams always try to outdo each other and matches often turns violent because of that.

Shillong Lajong, for many days, have been the only team from the north-eastern part of India. But Aizawl FC’s introduction in the I-League three years ago meant the stage was set for a north-eastern derby.

With NEROCA FC coming to the scheme from last year, the excitement has only grown further.

Lajong have always had the upper hand in derbies. Against Aizawl FC, they have never lost a match, while winning three of them. Against NEROCA FC, they have lost twice and won one match.

They have already played both the first leg derbies this season. In their opening encounter against Aizawl, Lajong won 2-1 courtesy two fine goals from Naorem Mahesh Singh.

Against NEROCA FC, the inexperience was exposed as they conceded two soft goals to lose the match 1-2.

Both their opponents have some established foreigners in the ranks. Considering the performance of the young lads, the management should be hopeful before the return leg comes.

Negatives:

#3 Bottom of the table

Lajong need to revive their campaign as soon as possible to stay in the I-League

Lajong caused quite an upset against Aizawl FC when they defeated much stronger opponents in their opening match.

It was thought their ploy of fielding an all-Indian side would work. But sadly, that was their first and only win of this edition.

After eight matches, Lajong are languishing at the bottom of the table with only four points. Apart from the win against Aizawl FC, Lajong drew with Minerva Punjab in their sixth match. Some defeats must be heart-breaking, especially the one against Indian Arrows.

Lajong needs to revive their campaign as soon as possible to stay in the I-League. They have still 12 matches to play, from which they have to earn at least 20 points to keep any chance of staying in the first division.

The Reds have been playing in the I-League top division for so many years and their exclusion will surely be a bad advertisement for the tournament.

#2 Not dominating matches due to inexperience

Lack of experience are haunting them this season

The only match, which Lajong dominated was against East Bengal. In their own turf, they had the fair share of ball possession and created some beautiful scoring opportunities. But the result didn’t go in their favour largely due to their inexperience.

In fact, the lack of experience is haunting them this season from the second match. These footballers are mostly coming from the academy and have no experience of I-League. Also, they didn’t play too much outside the region.

Lajong have played four away matches so far, losing all of them. The weather and conditions affected them so much.

They have lost 2-4 against Churchill Brothers and 1-3 against Gokulam Kerala FC. These two parts of the country are usually hot and humid, contrary to Lajong’s home conditions.

They went to Kashmir and lost 1-6. This time, the extreme cold prevented their natural style of play. The whole team completely surrendered against the new opponents.

The shuffling within the team also contributed their failure. Coach Alison Kharsyntiew didn’t play Mahesh in every match, despite the youngster putting up a good show every time. Also, the injury of some key players made their life tougher.

Conclusion

#1 All-Indian move should be hailed

Lajong is not only playing without foreigners, but all the boys hail from north-east

Reeling at the bottom of the table, some have already voiced their displeasure over the all-Indian strategy. The supporters are also not happy as their team is going down in almost every match. They are calling for a change.

But in this case, the results should not, at all, be considered. The decision of Lajong vice-president Larsing Ming should be hailed highly. Not many teams have the courage of fielding a pan-Indian line-up in a hugely competitive tournament like I-League.

Lajong is not only playing without foreigners, but all the boys hail from north-east. This is to promote footballers from this part of the region and give them a platform to shine.

The north-eastern region has always been a hotbed of promising footballers. Players like Talimeran Ao, Baichung Bhutia, Renedy Singh have made India proud. Earlier, there were not many clubs to play for and talented players went to other states like West Bengal to excel their career.

With the growing success of the sport, more and more players started to emerge. As of now, more than 100 north-eastern footballers are playing across the country in Indian Super League and I-League.

But there needs to be a platform for the youngsters to make a name for themselves and Lajong are providing just that.

So, we should encourage them.

Edited by Alan John