Own goal: Watch Sunil Chhetri call ISL out for trying to sideline the national team
THE VOICE OF DISSENT to the way the ISL is being conducted has been growing recently, from inside the cash-rich private tournament's own ranks. Just two days ago it was Delhi Dynamos Roberto Carlos who said ISL couldn't be the future of Indian football in an interview. Now it is the national team captain Sunil Chhetri, who plays for ISL franchise Mumbai City and is the tournament's current leading goal-scorer, along with Chennaiyin's Stiven Mendoza, who has spoken out about the way it has negatively affected the national team in an interview with NDTV.
In the short interview where he was fed leading questions by host Nikhil Vaz aimed to paint ISL in a flattering light, Sunil spoke up when the interviewer tried to suggest that the national team players should get used to their training camps being disrupted by the ISL because it "happens all over the world",
"The hectic schedule is fine, but when there's an international match going on and still the league is going on that is something which is not heard of. That was something that, personally for me, I didn't feel great about. Because when we were playing away against Oman and Turkmenistan, the ISL matches were happening over here. That shouldn't have happened but it's not in my control. Having a tight schedule where you get less days to prepare, that happens. And players have to be used to that and acclimatise, which is fine. But with the league going on, and you're playing for the national team, that doesn't happen. I just hope in the future we can have a calendar where there's a proper differentiation between the national team and the I-League or the ISL."
Sunil does not, however, view the ISL itself in a negative light. Speaking about the fan support he has received at Mumbai City (ignorantly compared with the number of fans at Bengaluru FC by the interviewer), Sunil was full of praise for the way ISL has caught the fans' imagination,
"It's been amazing, man. Although I'm proud of the eight to ten thousand fans that turn up to see Bengaluru FC also, but here as you can see there are twenty thousand turning up... it's just the way it's been promoted, the way money has been pumped into it to make sure people turn up. It's amazing the way it's been conducted as I've said before also. I don't think in my career of 13 years I've seen this kind of fan following for different cities and different clubs."
Asked about how it was playing under an accomplished footballing personality like Nicolas Anelka, Sunil Chhetri praised the Mumbai City player-manager's way of mixing with the players,
"He's a cool guy, man. He feels less of a coach and more of a mentor. He's got so much knowledge, he's played in all the big clubs in the world. He understands the game, he understands the players' mentality, he comes to all of us and talks to us... he's more of a player-coach who talks to us and understands the way a player feels. He's not partial and very down to earth. That really helps."
While Mumbai City have won their last few home games, India has suffered back to back defeats in the World Cup 2018 Qualifiers. Sunil straight up apologised for the bad results and promised the team will give it their all in the next game as the Blue Tigers continue to fight for a place in the 2019 Asian Cup,
"The first thing I wanna say is that I'm sorry, man... first time you open social media after a defeat and you've been hammered and criticized... I understand where it's coming from. We'll try to give our best in the next game which is against Guam. We still have the Asian Cup qualification on stake... just be patient, I know it's difficult as a fan... but trust us we'll give our best in the next game."
You can watch the entire interview right here:
