ISL 2017: 5 Indian Super League flops who could have done better with other sides

The ISL is going on in full flow, and with the teams having played 3 rounds, we are getting a feel of what to expect from them.

Over the last three season, we have seen plenty of star football players gracing the ISL. However, not all of them have been successful in the league. Many of these stars, who were well past their prime when they joined the ISL, failed to gel well with their teams. Meanwhile, there were other star players, who just did not seem to fit into the system that their respective teams followed.

On that note, let's take a look at some of the stars who had flopped for their respective teams in the cash-rich ISL, but could have done better with other sides.

Alessandro Del Piero

The magician of Turin, who played nine long years for the Bianconeri, has been one of the biggest stars to ever feature in any Indian football tournament. He came to India with a huge reputation and the expectations for Pirlo to set the league on fire was skyrocketing. But to the agony of the Delhi fans, Del Piero failed to impress during his stint in the Indian Super League.

A lot has been said about his age when he came to India. With this taken into account, we feel that Del Piero could have performed better if he played for a different ISL franchise and used a bit differently. Keeping in mind Del Piero's uncanny ability to cut in from the left and unleash a curling shot into the top corner, we feel that he could have done well, had he been paired-up with his former Juve strike-partner David Trezeguet, at FC Pune City.

David Trezeguet

Del Piero’s longtime teammate at Juventus, David followed in Del Piero’s footsteps and signed for FC Pune City. Trezeguet was also relatively younger than Del Piero so the expectations from him was also higher. He could only manage 9 appearances for FC Pune City and scored just 2 goals, one more than Del Piero, but much lesser than what was expected of him.

Pune singed David for a hefty fee and also had to accommodate his family for the entire ISL season in an 5-star hotel. But David’s performance was below 5-star standards. His frustration with his teammates during the course of the league was apparently visible by his gesture’s during the games which show cased a lack of communication between David and his teammates. We feel David could have performed much better if he was at a different ISL team and surroundings.

We really wanted to see Del Piero and Trezeguet terrorising defenders once again, and hence, there should be no surprise, when we say that the Frenchman would have been a better fit at Delhi Dynamos, if his former Juventus strike partner was with him there.

Michael Chopra

The former Newcastle United striker was one of the first International players to sign for the ISL. Chopra favoured playing in the ISL due to his Indian roots. He signed for Kerala Blasters and was billed to be a very important player for them. He played for two seasons in the ISL for Kerala, and could manage only 19 appearances for them. However, he score just one goal for them. Given the expectations, these figures are something he would not want see.

Michael Chopra seemed to have buckled under pressure in Kerala, and we feel that had he been in North East United that season, Chopra could have reversed his fortunes in the ISL. NorthEast had Len and Velez on the wings and Koke operating from the centre. Rickie Herbert's NEUFC created chances but poor finishing from his strikers cost the team a lot. Chopra in NEUFC could have been a perfect story, given he had already succeeded with a different team from the NorthEastern region of England -- Newcastle United.

Alexandros Tzorvas

Greek legend Tzorvas signed for NorthEast United and could only play 2 games for them. He was benched for the rest of the tournament due to the performances put in by TP Rehenesh.

There were just a few ISL teams that fielded International goalkeepers and Tzorvas could have been perfect for those teams. as the quality of Tzorvas is known to all those who have followed the Greek custodian's career. Alexandros Tzorvas though briefly showcased his quality even during the 2 games that he played for NorthEast United.

We believe that Tzorvas could have done much better. Now this is no reflection upon David James, who was immense for them. However, we feel that James could perhaps have offered much more from the sidelines, as he was the player-manager of the side, while Tzorvas took care of the duties between the posts.

Nicolas Anelka

Anelka came to India at the age of 34 and was much younger than the other marquee players in the league at that time. He was billed to be the saviour for Mumbai and some of the faithful from the maximum city billed him to be their messiah. But alas, Anelka failed to impress during his Mumbai City FC days and managed only 2 goals from 13 appearances for the Islanders.

Seeing Anelka’s performance and style of play during the ISL, we are sure that the Frenchman could have been on fire if he played for a team which understood his style and requirements better and provided him with the required support up front.

Anelka and Mumbai was a love story that looked to be made for each other but never materialised. Place Nicolas Anelka into ATK team set up, and the former Chelsea man could well have become the potent striker that he was, back in Europe.

ATK had Fikru in their team but after the initial stages of the ISL Antonio Habbas made it abundantly clear that he didn’t wish to work with the striker, as he caused more harm to the team set up than do good.

Had Anelka played for ATK and received the services that the likes of Borja, Luis Garcia, Jakub Podany had to offer, he might just have ended up scoring tons of goals.

Edited by Soumo Ghosh