ISL Wrap: Indians playing in unfamiliar roles underlying theme of this season | Football News

In six games, Bengaluru FC had only conceded one goal and scored 11 in this season of the Indian Super League. And then a trip to Fatorda to face the current national team head coach and his FC Goa happened. Ninety minutes later, Manolo Marquez inflicted a 3-0 defeat on the table-toppers. At the heart of that victory for his team were some tactical changes that involved Indian players playing in different positions to conduct specific roles. This season in particular has seen Indian players being used in roles unfamiliar to them.Usually, Mizoram midfielder Ayush Chettri plays deep in the midfield for his team. He did so in two games for India at the Asian Games against China in a 5-1 loss and then a 1-0 win to Bangladesh. On Saturday, Chettri started right behind Goa’s primary striker.
The league is slowly starting to acclimatise to Marquez’s tactical adjustments – moves that will soon be seen regularly with the national team as well. Moving Chhetri further up the pitch was a move to destabilise the core of Bengaluru’s central defensive trio – where all the moves for the goals begin.
Marquez later spoke about his tactics for the game and said, “Bengaluru FC are a team that play differently in attack and defence. They play with an attacking style using only three centre-backs, and when they defend, they try to set up in a 4-4-2 diamond formation, more or less. We analyze how opponents like Mumbai City FC, Punjab FC, and Kerala FC play in different ways against them.”
“Then we decided to try to limit (Alberto) Noguera and (Pedro) Capo, especially since both players interact a lot with the ball, and Pereyra (Diaz), Sunil (Chhetri), and Edgar (Mendez) receive the ball from these two players. I think that the job of Ayush (Dev Chhetri) for me was key in the game,” he added.
Kotal swap
The national team may be going through a striker crisis, but that situation isn’t the only position of need in the setup. Quality central defenders are always needed for the Indian team and barring Anwar Ali, there aren’t many options that could inspire a sense of confidence.
In this Kerala Blasters season, Pritam Kotal’s switch from right back to centre back has been completed. A few years ago, Kotal was considered India’s best right back. He was part of the 2019 Asian Cup campaign where the national team played some of their best football against Thailand. Since then though, Kotal has fallen through the cracks and has never been able to truly regain those heights.
At Kerala, he plays as a centre-back in a three-man central defensive unit or one of two in a 4-4-2 lineup. It hasn’t necessarily worked out.
This week came with the challenges that the Blasters have always faced, against Mumbai City FC, a bogey team of sorts for them. Kerala conceded four goals, two of them being penalties. They had conceded three earlier this week against Bengaluru where Kotal committed an error to hand one of the goals scored the league leaders.
On Tuesday, Manolo Marquez announced his 26-member Indian squad for the upcoming friendly against Malaysia to be played in India. 31-year-old Kotal’s omission from the national team continued as Marquez put his faith once again in Rahul Bheke and Chi nglesana Singh to partner Anwar Ali in the central defensive positions.
Farukh and Manvir on the wings
The last time Farukh Chaudhary played for the national team, one of his standout moments was with his back to goal. He received the ball at his feet, turned around, nutmegged a Vietnamese defender and then unleashed a low rasping shot towards goal. The last time Manvir Singh played a role of note for the Indian team was on the road in Kuwait where he scored the lone goal for India in the World Cup qualifiers.
In the ISL though, both of these players, of different builds and different talents, continue to be played in wide positions. While Mohun Bagan shunts Manvir to the right, Chennaiyin operates Farukh on the left flank. Both rarely get the opportunity to play in the center of the pitch, an area where India consently looks for players but rarely gets quality individuals owing to the lack of game time given to players in the spine of a team.
Both players have been included in Manolo Marquez’s 26-member team. Of the six forwards chosen the Spaniard, five play as wingers for their ISL team. The lone player who plays as a striker is Edmund Lalrindika, a player who is signed with Inter Kashi and has yet to play a club game this season.