News is that Anelka listens to too many people. Needs to keep Chetri away and maintain a player-manager distance. And most impotantly needs to use his own mind.
Sunil real age has now started showing on his face. The boyish face can no longer hide whats beneath.
Seems a lot of dust has been stirred up from the 7-0 thrashing FC Goa handed Mumbai City FC
Here is my 2 pennies worth...
Whilst Sunil is being made the scapegoat ( on IFN at least) , I will have to agree with some on a few issues regarding him.
Whilst no-one can question is ability and goalscoring record, the reliance on Sony Norde/Eugene is a another debate altogether ( he has scored plenty and regularly without either in his team) , some facts are becoming clear.
His age is catching up with him , which is why he is pound the supplements and also preserving his body for the "big matches"
He gave his all for India vs. GUAM , and the GPS data is there to back it all up, so that is FACT & not opinion.
However what most of us saw versus FC Goa and last season in the I-League was a Chhetri who played when he wanted ; he did exactly what Piquing , Anelka etc have done all season , work only in 1 direction and not work Off the ball. These traits were something familiar for those of us who saw him in Kolkata days.
Chhetri will pull his socks up for a few games to ensure he gets a good valuation for next season, and cash in on the easy money.
His place at BFC is under threat from the appearance of the new signings, and this could very well be his last season there. This seems to be why he is following in the footsteps of BB , and starting his won agency , his player-represantation business has already signed up , CK Vineeth , Eugeneson Lyngdoh , Bidyananda & Udanta Singh...shades of MS Dhoni here !
BUT
all this said... he was far from culpable for the loss and the manner...
3-5-2 versus " 4-2-4 " was the reason for the debacle
Zico had ensured that his back 3 of Raju Gaikwad / Lucio / Gregory stayed compact and denied any space for the Mumbai front 3 of Keegan / Piquing /Sunil to penetrate.
They were ably assisted in the wide areas by Mandar & Romeo
Anelka playing himself as a Playmaker, only needed up getting the ball in very deep areas , where he was hardly a threat.
Meanwhile the 3 v 2 advantage that Moura , Lucca & Joffre had against Bustos & Benachour was also a consequence of Anelka not doing the defensive role of the #10 in his "system"
This meant that once FC Goa managed to play the ball into midfield , one of the defenders had to step out to the FC Goa attacking mid , this pulled Cmovs & O'Dea out of position...
If this wasn't bad enough , the width provided by Mandar , Romeo & at times Joffre meant that the FCMC Fullbacks didn't know if they had to stay compact to deal with Dudu & Haokip or go wide to defend them...
They chose NEITHER and ended up in no-mans land , leaving FCMC back 4 with more holes than a Swiss Cheese !
As if that wasn't enough , Spiderman ensured every shot on target was parried , giving FC Goa 2 chances to score off every shot on target. Had the FC Goa youngsters shown some composure of those rebounds off the free kicks , we could've seen a double digit scoreline.
The hiring of players at Mumbai FC was rife with corruption as indicated at the DRAFT , Keegan Pereira, and Ashutosh Mehta were back door signings , and on this games evidence it is obvious that the 2 Mumbai lads are far too busy with living it up in Lower Parel than trying to work towards becoming consistent players.
The foreign signings have been hit & miss too , NOT planning for the international calendar and no foreign GK, has them exposed.
Relying on Anelka as a player-coach was also a disaster.
Oscar for all his smiles and FB posts , started to show the same coaching deficiencies that were exposed in 2014 Goa Paro League with SCdeGoa.
If people want to start the blame game at Mumbai City FC , one can make a dart board with 20 different targets , not sure why Chhetri has become the Bulls-eye.
then again , you become the face of the club / league, and get to be the only Face in the Adverts and get to endorse VOLINI , you have to take the pain with the pain relief !
have to say this is one of the best closing line of yours @gaffertape
then again , you become the face of the club / league, and get to be the only Face in the Adverts and get to endorse VOLINI , you have to take the pain with the pain relief !
Ashlesh rebuild team?? what are you talking?? this team do nothing for 6 months at least and would work to check on players for 2 months and sign them for 3 month league... thats the reason they signed anelka again rather trying for any better marqueee.... i would have loved if mcfc have went for someone like kostas who lit up FCPC last time
and i feel next time also things arent going to be different.. i can see their commitment from the fact that they are yet to try create a youth team or at least b team which can play in MDFA and get some playing time... but no interest so far from them to try establish their footballing core and here before ISL ranbir still breams of making MCFC the best club in asia when the reality is they might not be the best in city
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Sunil real age has now started showing on his face. The boyish face can no longer hide whats beneath.