Rapid fall: Bengaluru FC’s disappointing present got here after competing for the most important prizes in Indian soccer final 12 months.
| Photo Credit: Ok. MURALI KUMAR
Back in December, after Bengaluru FC’s 0-Four shellacking by the hands of Mumbai City FC, the then head coach Simon Grayson had mentioned that he noticed no leaders on the pitch.
Four months on, the person who took over from Grayson following that harrowing night time, Gerard Zaragoza, sang the identical tune, after an equivalent thrashing by Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Thursday.
It was a daring evaluation of a aspect with two Indian National team stalwarts in Sunil Chhetri and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. But as the dual defeats — two of their heaviest at house — confirmed, there was greater than a kernel of reality in it.
The campaign was BFC’s worst in Indian Super League historical past — 22 factors from 22 matches — and the outfit didn’t win a single away fixture.
That it got here barely 12 months after the membership was again difficult for the most important prizes in Indian soccer made it extra disappointing. It was a penalty shoot-out away from regaining the ISL title final season and then completed runner-up in the Super Cup.
Grayson first, and then Zaragoza, could have bemoaned the shortage of leaders, however the drift has been palpable for a whereas.
After almost eight years with simply three full-time head coaches, Zaragoza is the team’s third in the final three years. And towards superior opponents like MCFC and Mohun Bagan, the sensation of being out-coached and out-thought was unmistakable.
The shuffling of taking part in personnel additionally left the aspect undercooked. If the loss of defender Sandesh Jhingan was a physique blow, BFC has by no means fairly changed Brazilian attacker Cleiton Silva, who scored 16 goals throughout 2020-21 and 2021-22. Ahead of 2023-24, star striker Roy Krishna left after a solitary season.
The improvement of N. Sivasakthi, who had a breakout 12 months in 2022-23, has additionally stuttered and Englishman Curtis Main proved a damp squib in his eight appearances. Chhetri, 39, had simply 5 goals to point out and the online impact was that BFC scored simply 20 instances, one other report low.
There had been certainly a few high quality Indian gamers who got here in, like Halicharan Narzary final June and Chinglensana Singh and Nikhil Poojary this January-February. But they had been removed from totally built-in.
“The reality is that we need to improve,” Zaragoza mentioned. “But we are on the [right] way. I am happy with the signings of Indian players. We will work with them individually and collectively during the pre-season. I am sure we will be better next season.”
