CHENNAI: Indian Super League? International Super League would be a more apt name as it has been the foreign players who have grabbed all the spots on the highlight reel after the first round of ISL matches.
Barring a couple of aberrations like Atletico de Kolkata goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Choudhury in the opening game and Balwant Singh making the difference for Chennaiyin FC against Zico’s FC Goa, the first week of ISL has only served to underline the vast difference in quality between domestic players and their international counterparts. While Fikru Teferra and Elano have already managed to establish themselves firmly in the chants of their team’s fans, the performances of players like Syed Rahim Nabi and Denzil Franco have done little to suggest that an appreciable number of Indian players can capture the country’s imagination by the time the season runs out in December.
Salgaocar coach Derrick Pereira, who has worked with a number of domestic players on show in ISL, is the first to admit that a number of Indian players have looked inferior on the pitch. “There has been a noticeable difference between the Indian and the international players. The Indian players who are playing in the ISL at the moment can only improve marginally, for mental skills like decision making has to be instilled in them at the right age. They are not going to develop all that now,” he says. “We need to catch them young to instill all the qualities in them that our domestic players are missing at the moment. For that, the grassroots programme has to be effective.”
However the former Pune FC boss, who was adjudged I-League coach of the year in 2013, is also quick to give credit where it is due. “Not all domestic players have been bad. I thought (Kerala Blasters defender) Gurwinder Singh did well against NorthEast United and Balwant Singh was influential for Chennai.”
But former India captain Jo Paul Anchery believes that the performance of the domestic players is an aspect one must turn a blind eye towards, in ISL’s inaugural season.
“We knew we had a long way to go in terms of catching up with the global game before the ISL started and nothing is going to change overnight. What matters is that these players now have an opportunity to watch and learn from the best. The
likes of Alessandro del Piero and Luis Garcia may not be what they once were physically, but technique and skill does not erode with age. It is this technical aspect that the Indian players must observe and try imbibe in their game. The first ISL season will all be about Indian players improving as the season goes on, and the gulf between them and foreign players is something we should be judging long term,” says the two-time AIFF player of the year, who has immersed himself in coaching youngsters since retirement.
Anchery also believes that the ISL will inspire more and more youngsters to take up the game, much like what IPL did for cricket. “Youngsters watching domestic players take to the field with global superstars will be inspired to take up football, rather than just stick to cricket. This can only lead to our country producing better footballers.”
What we have seen in ISL so far
It’s not just cricket: The first week of the Indian Super League was a rebuttal to anyone who believed that only cricket could draw in huge crowds in India. The novelty factor may have been at play, but the 67000-strong crowd that assembled at Kolkata and the healthy audiences at Guwahati and Goa augur well for Indian football.
Indian keepers >> outfield players: While domestic players have largely takes a backseat in the ISL so far, the performances of Subrata Paul and Subhashish Roy Choudhury have confirmed what most football fans in the country long suspected – that our goalkeepers are much than the domestic outfield players. The latter class though had a couple of standout performers, including Balwant Singh, Gurwinder Singh and Denson Devdas
Age has no effect on skills: One of the main concerns ahead of the ISL was the age of the likes of Alessandro del Piero and David Trezeguet. And while these players may no longer be what they once were, the first round has shown that their age has had no affect on their technique and skills. Elano’s wonder freekick, Garcia’s wonderful lob that Fikru converted against NorthEast and David James’ acrobatics for Kerala are all evidence.
Not just the marquees: While a number of the big name stars played their part, the likes of Fikru Teferra and Borja Fernandez showed that it is not just the marquee players who will draw in the crowd. Fikru has arguably been the star of the tournament so far, while Borja, Mumbai’s Andre Moritz and Chennai’s Gennaro Bracigliano are proof that there is more to the ISL than marquee players.
Untangling the web: While it is too premature to judge ISL’s impact on the average football fan, it is clear that the tournament has become a big hit with the tech-savvy youth, who are used to debating EPL matches on Twitter and Facebook. Each of the ISL matches so far have trended on Twitter and Atletico de Kolkata currently have more followers than East Bengal and Mohun Bagan combined!