Some discussions on different tgread about favourites for I-league :
I would have Salgaocar , East Bengal and Bengaluru FC as top 3 again...
BUT. ... Salgaocar have lost Karanjit Singh for 4 months ...unless they find a good replacement they will struggle. Also KASONDA is crap. East Bengal will have ISL fatigue and AFC fixtures to contend with..also Milan Susak , and other foreigner's need time to gel. Injury to Cavin Lobo could be a major blow. BFC have not spent wisely...letting go of Menyongar and replacing with Joshua is a sideways step. SEAN Rooney should also have been upgraded. Can not compete in Asia and I-League with this squad
Cavin Lobo has apparently recovered from injury. But for EB, managing a tight I League schedule and AFC fixtures will take a toll! We had a 45 man squad this year but no match practice post CFL. We should have played Durand Cup and the Sikkim tourney to give some exposure to reserve team.
Next 3 ( 4th , 5th & 6th ) in I-League will most likely be :
Pune FC : have kept squad together with no ISL , but desperately need to get a proper striker ( marquee) , not sure Ian Hume is the answer though ? Also , I told Karim he needs to get rid of Luciano Sabrosa , he just isn't good enough anymore. Lastly how he will juggle having 3 #10's in his squad ?? Sueoka, Eric Brown , Arata Izumi ???
Dempo : Arthur saga will continue.... he only returns on th 21st to Goa , 1 week before the Fed Cup !! ...no idea how he gets away with this unprofessionalism . Non-ISL players are all out of shape...and with injuries to Narayan Das, Pranoy Halder and loss of form of Holicharan , Alwyn ..we could see a core group of last years players missing. If Romeo goes abroad, that further dents them. But with Callum Angus , Mandar , Tolgay , they should have enough to whip the weaker teams while struggle to beat the top sides.
Kalyani Bharat FC or Mumbai FC could be the surprise TOP 6 team.... everyone is tipping Mumbai FC each year for the drop...but Josimar, Taisuke and the usual tactics...plus the advantage of playing at Cooperage will certainly help them. .....if Kalyani spend wisely ( they haven't so far) ..then they might pip Mohun Bagan and others for this spot
Izumi had bee playing little deeper role last season so we can say it will be between seouka and brown i guess....
also pleasently shocked someone other than me felt mumbai fc got a chance to finish comfortably... though josimar wont be my favourite man as frontman... may be it will help jayesh get another chance to prove he is good enough to lead the line for an i-league team
Comments
I would have Salgaocar , East Bengal and Bengaluru FC as top 3 again...
BUT. ...
Salgaocar have lost Karanjit Singh for 4 months ...unless they find a good replacement they will struggle. Also KASONDA is crap.
East Bengal will have ISL fatigue and AFC fixtures to contend with..also Milan Susak , and other foreigner's need time to gel.
Injury to Cavin Lobo could be a major blow.
BFC have not spent wisely...letting go of Menyongar and replacing with Joshua is a sideways step. SEAN Rooney should also have been upgraded. Can not compete in Asia and I-League with this squad
also pleasently shocked someone other than me felt mumbai fc got a chance to finish comfortably... though josimar wont be my favourite man as frontman... may be it will help jayesh get another chance to prove he is good enough to lead the line for an i-league team