INDIAN SUPER LEAGUE

Chhetri: I do not know about the strengths of each ISL club

India's record goal scorer revealed he was unperturbed about the ISL auction and vowed to give his best for whichever franchise he is picked for...

There remain just two days to go before the Indian Super League's (ISL) second draft and ianugural auction. Many players are anxious about their future employers as the player has no decision-making power with regards to the team he is assigned to. However, Sunil Chhetri has no qualms about what the auction holds for him.

Chhetri, India's record goalcorer and a two-time I-League winner who is graded as the cardinal of all ISL auction bids, has revealed that he's not perturbed about the auction and which team chooses him.  He stated that he knows nothing about the ISL clubs unlike the teams playing in the I-League. That, he says, helps him relax ahead of July 10th, 2015.  

"I’m actually blank as of now. I only know about the clubs as far as I’ve seen in the ISL. In the I-League I know about the teams, but here we don’t about the incoming coaches or players. I don’t know which team is stronger and which is not. I know 11 of the 14 teams in the I-League, unlike any of the teams in the ISL. If you ask me to pick a team in the I-League, I’d actually say Bengaluru. But, if you told me not to choose them, then I know which other team I’d take. This isn’t the case in the ISL," revealed the 30-year-old striker to Goal when asked to what goes through his mind as he would have no say in the team he would play for.

Stating that not knowing to which team his future lies has helped him immensely ahead of the auction, Chhetri added, "It helps in the sense that I don’t have to fret about the teams that’ll choose me. I’m not troubled that 'so and so team' has chosen me. All I have to do is prepare myself for the best. My imperative will be to prepare myself as best as I can as we have the World Cup qualifiers, with Iran, before the ISL. Whichever team takes me, I’ll give my best on the field and off the field. This what I will do, to be as best as I possibly can be."

Quizzed on the limit of physical and mental stress playing so many games will have on him, considering there looms India's South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) campaign, World Cup Qualifiers with Iran, Turkmenistan and Oman spread through November and October alongside a friendly with Nepal in August, the soon-to-be 31-year-old clarified that he was used to a cramped football calendar. 

"I was just thinking about the schedule, but you see, I’m used to it. If you see for the last six-to-seven years, barring the injuries, I’ve had 10 months of domestic football and two months for the national team. I’ve hardly had a month off or two. With the schedule and format of the ISL where we have to play every three or four days, but that’s something like the Federation Cup, although the duration was smaller.  We had six games in 14 days with the Federation Cup, as we reached the final as well.

"So if ISL make it a game very four or five days, in that case, it’ll go for a month or two. That’ll be challenging, yes, but I feel the number of games will be same but we have to travel as well. However, for the national team, if we have to play the SAFF Cup, the World Cup qualifiers as well as  and the friendlies, then it’ll be tough. I believe we were going to send the Under-23 players for the SAFF Cup. However, it depends on the coach (Stephen Constantine). We’re looking at two games a week from now to January," he answered.

Zico: Short tournaments like the ISL need longer commitment

The Brazilian coach of FC Goa mentioned that his philosophy is to win as he hopes they can better their performance from the inaugural season…

FC Goa coach Zico didn’t mince words as he explained how the club managed to rope in an experienced centre-back in Lucio as their marquee signing.

“It was difficult not just for Lucio but also for other players. Short tournaments like four months always need longer commitment but as soon as we talked about the situation and structure that we had here it was a lot easier to convince them. Most of these players have proposals for longer commitments in other teams and they are looking forward for longer commitments.  However, they came because of my invitation and they wanted to be under my guidance,” he mentioned.

FC Goa have roped in as many as four Brazilians this season and Zico was asked whether he chose to recruit players with whom he has worked with in the past.

“I think that every trainer has to adapt to the style of playing with the players that we have. Last year we had just one Brazilian but we adopted a style that pleased everyone. My philosophy is always to win and always to play to its core and this is what we showed last year. Even when the results that didn’t come as well as we expected, we were always the team that was shooting more and attacking more. This will always be the characteristics of my team,” he expounded.

Zico also reasoned that this season he has more time at his disposal to strategize as opposed to last year when he used training sessions in order to get to know the players and their characteristics.

“ I have all the planning of how to strategize, but we will still have the meeting with the owners to put it right. Last year I don’t blame the players but many came tired and with a lot of injuries. As it was the first year, I had to get to know a lot of players during the practise session but this year we have a lot of time and I think we can sort it out and because of that I thank the owners for all their support they gave me during the bad times on and off the ground and that is why we could recover through all the tough times,” he said.

Zico reiterated that it’s difficult for franchises to plan youth development and grassroots when ISL lasts for about four months, including the pre-season.

“I have thought about it but it is very difficult not just for FC Goa but for the eight teams of the ISL because when we finish the ISL all the teams dismantle and the players go to their own clubs. I think we should think of something to give continuance to this programme so that we can join everything and prepare with the grassroots programme.

“We have good teams here in Goa like Sporting, Dempo, Salgaocar, and one idea that I gave is that, it should be just one good team just like FC Goa, but I know that is difficult. Even I thought that along with Mandar and Romeo, we could set up FC Goa schools here around Goa, but I don’t know if it will cause any conflict with the other clubs,” he opined.

AIFF has to play a much bigger role in Indian football - Sourav Ganguly

The Atletico de Kolkata co-owner was happy that Salt Lake stadium was getting a natural turf as he unveiled the jersey for the champions...

Indian Super League (ISL) reigning champions, Atletico de Kolkata unveiled their jersey for the new season as well as outlining their roadmap before the all important central draft cum auction on July 10.

Sourav Ganguly, one of the co-owners and the face of the side, expounded the need for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to play the pivotal role to improve Indian football, after the morale crushing twin defeat in the World Cup pre-qualifiers.

"Success of any sport nationally or internationally depends on the infrastructure of the entire system. ISL is for a period of two months. ISL provides the structure for the Indian franchise. But I think AIFF has to play a much bigger role if the football in India has to go forward with the support of ISL. It cannot be the other way round. Like in cricket, BCCI supports IPL and it is the body that runs the national team and makes sure they do well and the domestic structure is in place. Similarly AIFF should play the pivotal role," said the Indian cricket legend.

On being further quizzed about the footballing infrastructure or the lack thereof, Ganguly was blunt in saying that in spite of assurances, there has been no visible improvement as such.

"At this time, it seems to be very difficult. To be honest it has not happened. The standard has not improved for a while. All we can say is that we can try, if you don't try you cannot get anywhere. Infrastructure is very important in sport," he opined.

"We had a lot of injury issues because of the injury prone hard artificial surface. It would be easier this time because of the grass at the Salt Lake Stadium and the coaches are also happy about this," said 'Dada', as he is affectionately known, claiming that this would be a distinct advantage for ATK.

He also shared the team's plans of travelling to Madrid for the pre-season at parent club, Atletico de Madrid, just like last year.

“We have again taken the decision to train at the state of the art facilities of Atletico de Madrid at Spain to achieve the optimal fitness level which is required for the long tournament and back to back matches. This pre-season training will help them to regroup as a team and hone their skill further under the watchful eyes of our Head Coach and the training staff," said the former Indian cricket skipper.

“The first ISL had a surprise factor. Now that is lost and each team knows the other team so it's a much more level playing field but we will obviously try to retain the championship,” he signed off, while voicing that they would try their best to retain the crown.