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  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.