ISL 2018-19: What Chennaiyin FC need to do to turn their season around

It hasn't been the best of starts to the new Indian Super League (ISL) season for defending champions Chennaiyin FC.

After four games played, John Gregory's boys are still without a win having lost three with just a solitary point, coming in their most recent game against Delhi Dynamos on Tuesday.

The two-time champions are squarely on the back foot now and have much catching up to do. Along with FC Pune City, they are the only two teams in the competition yet to register a win.

So as the Blues from Chennai look for that elusive first win, we look at what's been plaguing them this season and why the club has had such an underwhelming start to the season.

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#1 Taking their chances when they come

Chennaiyin FC have scored four goals thus far in four games. While that might look par for the course, three of those came in one game, in the 3-4 loss to NorthEast United. Gregory's men have gone scoreless in two other games.

And it has not been for a paucity of chances. There have been goal-scoring opportunities floundered, ranging from makeable to 'certain-goal' to one-on-one's with the goalkeeper that Chennaiyin FC are probably ruing at the moment.

Barring their 1-3 loss to FC Goa, Chennaiyin really have had chances to come out victorious in their other three games.

In their season opener against Bengaluru FC, Jeje Lalpekhlua missed two golden chances. On both occasions, he had only the keeper to beat.

The first saw him try to pass the ball to teammate Germanpreet Singh who was completely unmarked only for it to curl away and out of Germanpreet's reach and the second saw him fail to control the ball as it pinballed between his feet and went out for a goal-kick.

Raphael Augusto also missed a wide open header from a corner in that game. Chennaiyin FC had four shots on target to Bengaluru's three and went scoreless.

In yesterday's game against Delhi, they had seven shots on target to just two for Delhi and still couldn't find the back of the net.

While Dynamos keeper Francisco Dorronsoro had a good game, there was really no excuse for Chennaiyin not converting some of the chances that came their way.

Striker Carlos Salom missed an easy one-on-one with Dorronsoro after a three-on-one Chennaiyin FC counter where they looked certain to score. Salom missed another makeable opportunity in the second half as he put his shot wide.

Andrea Orlandi put a good chance high and wide from inside the box while Francisco Fernandes kicked nothing but air after a good cross was fed to him from the left.

In total, Chennaiyin FC have had 19 shots on target to their opponents' 14, but have been outscored four to eight in goals.

Converting their chances in the upcoming games is going to be crucial for Chennaiyin FC going forward. Their strikers are scoreless in four games with Thoi Singh the leading scorer at the moment with two goals.

#2 Correct Defensive Errors

Mailson Alves has failed to replicate his form from last season (Image Courtesy: ISL)

Chennaiyin FC's title run in season 4 was built around their defensive might. Teams found them very difficult to put goals past. There were only three matches last season where Chennaiyin conceded three goals or more. In total, they kept eight clean sheets.

This year, they have already let in three or more goals twice in the first four games. And their first clean sheet of the season came in just their last game against Delhi Dynamos FC.

Henrique Sereno and Mailson Alves formed an excellent central defensive partnership, flanked by Jerry Lalrinzuala and Inigo Calderon on the left and right respectively.

Mailson, the new captain Sereno's departure, has failed to replicate his form from last season and has looked a touch off the pace.

Four out of the eight goals that Chennaiyin have conceded involved Mailson's man getting the better of him.

Miku's goal for Bengaluru came from the Venezuelan gaining a yard on Mailson and sprinting past him; he was at fault even before that for playing him onside because the rest of the defence had pushed up.

Bartholomew Ogbeche's second and third goal of his hat-trick for NorthEast United FC came from through balls that left Mailson easily beaten.

Gregory left him out of the starting XI completely against Delhi, choosing to go with Inigo Calderon instead.

Whether this was a move to spur Mailson into better performances or a fix that is going to last a few games remains to be seen.

Which brings us to...

#3 They have been owned in midfield

The Chennaiyin FC midfield has been overpowered by their opponents in most of the games (Image Courtesy: ISL)

More than the absence of Sereno, it is the unavailability of defensive midfielder Dhanapal Ganesh that has really hurt Chennaiyin.

Last season Ganesh covered large swathes of the pitch cleaning up plays and breaking up attacks, supporting his defence brilliantly. His ability to win the aerial ball was also a huge plus to the side.

With Bikramjit Singh also having left to join Delhi, Chennaiyin FC lack an enforcer in the middle of the park and it has been telling.

Against the best midfields in the league, they've been completely overpowered. Goa's Ahmed Jahouh, Edu Bedia and Lenny Rodrigues ran circles around Chennaiyin while NorthEast pair Francisco Gallego and Redeem Tlang also dominated their matchup.

For the Delhi game, the omission of Mailson allowed Gregory to put an extra foreigner in midfield.

The combination fielded against Delhi looks Chennaiyin's best bet - Andrea Orlandi providing control and patient possession to allow Anirudh Thapa and Raphael Augusto to concentrate on their passing more.

Thapa in the first three games had been forced to do too much defensive covering work which left him fatigued and resulted in his passes becoming errant leading to unnecessary turnovers in possession.

If Gregory can put together the right midfield around him it should go towards solving some of their woes. And if that involves playing the extra foreign midfielder then one of Mailson, Eli Sabia or Inigo Calderon from the back-three is going to have a reduced role the rest of the season.