Chhetri through the middle: Mumbai City find the 'perfect combination' in first ISL 2015 win

“You asked me my favourite position, it’s No 10.” Sunil Chhetri didn’t hide behind the cliched ‘wherever the manager plays me’ answer when we asked him about his favourite position during Mumbai City FC’s kit launch before the Indian Super League 2015 kicked off. [caption id=“attachment_2477944” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mumbai assistant coach Oscar Bruzon with Sunil Chhetri. ISL[/caption] Chhetri plays on the left for Bengaluru FC and is quite effective, but there’s no doubt in his mind where he fits best. Which is why it was a surprise to see him deployed on the right against Chennaiyin FC on his ISL debut. Chhetri struggled to influence the game and a switch to the left brought some encouragement, but not the sort Indian fans are used to when seeing him play. This was not an off day, this was a player being played out of position. “He didn’t have the sort of effect we expected he would,” Mumbai City’s assistant coach Oscar Bruzon said after the 2-0 loss. Bruzon also promised a ‘modification’ against Delhi Dynamos – born out of a desperate need to start winning games and get off the bottom of the table. That modification was duly delivered – and it’s effect savagely hammered home by Chhetri in a performance which befits the tournament’s most expensive Indian player. Chhetri was played in what looked like a 4-4-1-1, with the dangerous Sony Norde playing in a free role and Chhetri in a False Nine position. It worked wonders as India’s top-scorer dropped deep to link up play between midfield and attack and surged forward during counter attacks and crossing situations. He converted wonderfully from a loose ball which was a result of Norde’s attempt on goal to give his team the lead and then crept up at the back post in the second half to tap in and seal their first win. “Chhetri is a very adaptable player and can play across the front. He pushes up as a striker and had great understanding with Gabriel Fernandes, Sony Norde and Subhash Singh,” Bruzon said when Firstpost asked him whether the star player had convinced him and manager Nicolas Anelka that his best position was through the middle. Chhetri had more freedom to play alone on top in the first half, especially after the first goal. But when Mumbai City needed control in the final third, the team turned to him and he effortlessly dictated play. At 31, Chhetri isn’t the fastest player on the pitch and he doesn’t have a lot of tricks up his sleeves. His strong points have always been vision, a burst of acceleration and a fine finish – and all these are best used when he is playing with either a burly target man (like Robin Singh at Bengaluru and or Frederic Piquionne at Mumbai City) or with someone willing to run at defenders, beat them with pace and pump the ball into the box from the channels like Norde. Bruzon admitted Mumbai City’s failure to ‘make it work’ against Chennaiyin, and was evidently pleased with what he saw in the next match: “He was like a fish in water,” he said. “Today I can say the combination of players was perfect. We got it right with today’s game model and played players who were fit for this model,” Bruzon said, adding that this was the ’new team’ he and Anelka were building (more like a new tactical model). It could have been a perfect evening for Chhetri had Norde scored off a glorious lobbed through ball but still, it was the sort of moment that had been missing from Mumbai City’s play in their three previous games. With Chhetri at the forefront now, this will change. He is bound to create more chances if he continues to play in that area. Bruzon and Anelka’s modification was simple – play him through the middle. They learned it the hard way but better now than later.