Last year after 10 games during the inaugural Indian Super League , Chennaiyin FC were top of the table . But a turnaround in fortunes this season see them languishing at the bottom of the table .
Marco Materazzi’s men losing streak have now extended to four games after their 2-1 loss to Atletico de Kolkata on November 18 . Even though reaching the semifinals is mathematically possible, it will need a herculean effort from Marco Materazzi’s men.
Xtra Time point out four key factors that have left last year’s most entertaining team struggling at the bottom of the table this season :
Weak defence: It has been Chennaiyin’s old Achilles heel and it has proved costly again this season. In the ten matches played so far, they have already conceded 14 goals in spite of two clean sheets. What has hurt Chennaiyin the most is that they have let the opposition back into the game on more than one occasion.
Inconsistent Attack: Over dependence on John Stiven Mendoza and Elano Blumer have hurt big time for Marco Materazzi’s side when it comes to scoring . The two of them have shared the bulk of the scoring with 10 goals (four of them in a single game) between them out of the 13 scored by Chennaiyin. Elano has gone missing in many a game, while Mendoza could have had many more than six, but for his profligacy.
The rest of the attack has simply lacked the cutting edge. Fikru Teferra has been a huge disappointment for Chennaiyin FC so far this season . Thoi Singh runs a lot but still needs to work on his final ball . Bruno Pelissari has had minimal impact with just a single assist to his name. Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singh lacked the confidence of the manager.
Injuries and Cards : Injuries to key players did not help Materazzi’s cause either . Jayesh Rane , who looked promising at the start of the season did not return to similar form after getting injured . Fikru Teferra never looked the same striker as he was in the inaugural season with Atletico de Kolkata , as he carried a niggle . Multiple suspensions earned by Harmanjot Khabra also did not help matters.
Rotation Policy: Chennaiyin have not had a settled defence as yet this season. One has to blame the rotation policy adopted by the thinktank . The team didn’t have a settled playing eleven right from the start of this season . Attack is no less different. The four games that Rane started seemed to settle the attack finally. His absence since then has thrown the attack into a toss. Balwant starting against Northeast United and seemed to restore a semblance of balance and that was lost again against Atletico.