CHENNAI: The 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) season was a forgettable campaign for Chennaiyin FC (CFC) as they finished eighth in the points table. Syed Sabir Pasha, assistant coach of CFC, feels several factors contributed to his team’s poor showing. According to him, the lack of proper preparation due to Covid-19 and the team’s inability to seize the momentum were the main issues for the lacklustre season. He is optimistic that they will make amends in the coming season.
“We have always been a top contender for the top two places in the league. Obviously, we created a lot of goal-scoring chances and did not end up scoring. Initially, we also did not have the whole group of players to prepare. The foreign players in the team joined late because of their visa issues due to Covid. Thus, we did not prepare as well we would have liked,” said Sabir.
Despite having a solid team, CFC could muster only three wins in the whole campaign. “Except one game against Hyderabad, one cannot say that we did not match our opponents or that we did not compete. In most of the matches, we were the better side. But we did not score enough and that’s why we had only three wins,” Sabir assessed.
CFC were involved in as many as 11 draws, with some defensive errors at critical stages also resulting in them squandering opportunities to notch up wins. “Honestly, we could have won all the drawn matches. Luck was not on our side. In matches where we scored and felt we were winning at one stage, suddenly we conceded silly goals and lost,” opined the former Indian Bank player.