In the ongoing ISL-2016, FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC have finished at the bottom of the table despite retaining successful coaches from the previous editions, while FC Pune City failed again, despite hiring one of the Hero Indian Super League’s more successful coach. That is enough to tell you the story of the tournament and how dynamic and rich it has become over the years. The League has definitely evolved and helped Indian football significantly although there is a lot to do in that regard.
The failure of Zico (FC Goa), Marco Materazzi (Chennaiyin FC) and Antonio Habas (FC Pune City) to take their teams to the crucial play-offs ISL 2016 reflects the changing dynamics in the League, which is closely fought and as we know sports is real and unpredictable every time and so ISL has gone on to become more unpredictable every time.
The trio carried the ‘tag’ of being the most successful ISL coaches before the season started. Although these failures might have been for different reasons, there were obviously very high expectations which they couldn’t fulfil.
Paul Masefield, football expert, felt the failure of top coaches was due to a culmination of factors, among them the ability of other clubs to strengthen their squad considerably was a common reason.
“The League is stronger and more competitive now as you only have to look at the results,” said Masefield, former Birmingham City FC player.
Ricki Herbert, former head coach at New Zealand and Northeast said, “The ISL will continue to grow in several areas and this certainly includes the quality of teams and players. The understanding of tactical and strategic implementations is evolving and coaches are always looking to find a cutting edge to make the defining difference.”
The failure to retain some key players – Elano Blumer and Stiven Mendoza for Chennaiyin FC and Leo Moura for FC Goa –played a significant role for their unsatisfactory performance.
One interesting coincidence is the fact that the teams to qualify for the play-offs had all new coaches, new not only to the team but ISL in general. Gianluca Zambrotta (Delhi Dynamos), Jose Molina (Atletico de Kolkata), Alexandre Guimaraes (Mumbai City FC) and Steve Coppell (Kerala Blasters) did not know what to expect from their first season at ISL yet they somehow managed to lead their teams to success.
The semi-finals of the ISL will see Mumbai City battle fight against former champions Atletico de Kolkata, while Delhi Dynamos and Kerala Blasters will battle it out for the other spot.
