Chennaiyin FC: Gung-ho Materazzi needs to tighten defence to replicate ISL 2014 success

By Harikumar V Chennai: Chennaiyin FC, the league table toppers of Indian Super League 2014, took the attack to the opposition with their gung-ho approach last year. With the highest number (24) of goals scored in the league stages, Chennaiyin caught the eye as an attacking team and reached the semifinals. What is less publicised is that they were also defensively pretty generous. Of the sixteen games played (including the semi-finals), Chennaiyin kept a paltry three clean sheets. They made sure all the visiting sides were well taken care of by letting them score at least once. This eventually proved costly. After doing all the hard work to overcome a three-goal first leg deficit, the defense ran out of gas in the final few minutes of extra time in the semi-finals to hand Kerala Blasters the goal that made the difference. [caption id=“attachment_1758657” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Materazzi’s plans last year were all about attack. ISL[/caption] It was a bitter pill to swallow for the swashbuckling home team. Strengths: Chennayin had a modest formation in attack, generally choosing a playmaker and a couple of strikers for most matches. Elano, the marquee signing, proved his mettle as a dead ball specialist and created a plethora of chances from open play as well. He was ably assisted with goals from Bruno Pelissari, Jeje Lalpekhlua and John Stiven Mendoza. The speed with which Chennaiyin move the ball forward from defense caught most teams unaware. The tireless work that the forwards Jeje, Mendoza and Balwant Singh put in earned them a number of free kicks from meaty positions for Elano to take advantage of. Bernard Mendy, a fan favourite, also made his presence felt with marauding runs from defense and some really stout defending. With Fikru being added to the roster of forwards, the Chennayin team look spoilt for choices. Weaknesses: The achilles heel was the defensive unit. Even if that may be the case with most teams in the ISL, from Chennaiyin’s point of view, the understanding between the back four needs to be much better. The constant chopping and changing in defence did not help matters. With only Bernard Mendy, Abhishek Das and Dhanachandra Singh being retained, it looks like the management has acted swiftly on the issue. The signing of a tenacious holding midfielder in Thoi Singh could also be a masterstroke. Former Juventus player Manuel Blasi is also a high quality anchorman. All three goalkeepers have been replaced in the squad with Apoula Edel possibly leading the trio based on his performances with Atletico de Kolkata in the last edition. Karanjit Singh from Salgaocar FC should get a few games too. Best XI: Chennaiyin should retain the potent 4-3-1-2 formation that served them well last year. Apoula Edel picks himself and they have experienced center backs in Mendy and Eder Monteiro. The dependable Dhanchandra should retain the left-back position and young Abhishek Das should start at right-back. Mendy could also play right back in which case the experienced Alessandro Potenza might come in. Thoi Singh could be given the task of anchoring the midfield, with Harmanjot Khabra and Bruno Pelissari joining him as slightly attacking midfielders on either side. Elano, who was excellent as playmaker should continue. The front line should start with Mendoza on the left and Jeje on the right. Balwant, Fikru, Raphael Augusto could all make an impact from the bench. The manager: Marco Materazzi proved to be a revelation as a manager. For someone from a defending background, his team’s attack fared way better than defense. His substitutions were also attacking with his never-give-up attitude pushing everyone in the field till the last minute. All in all he should be pleased with the new signings and will hope to challenge again this year.