#TFGtake - Injuries & player rotation, decisive factor in I-League, will be crucial in Federation Cup too

WHEN MUMBAI FC beat Bengaluru 2-0 at the Cooperage, it was being considered the biggest upset of the season so far. The fanbase was rejuvenated and it appeared that Khalid Jamil's boys had finally become a force to reckon with in the top division.

But almost immediately things took a turn for the worse. Mumbai FC went on a run of draws and defeats for more than 2 months, falling down the ranks to once again battle relegation till the last day of the league season.

Why this sudden collapse after a promising start? The majority of the blame went to the injury crisis that hit the club at that crucial juncture, taking the likes of Arata Izumi, Ashutosh Mehta, Taisuke Matsugae and Jayesh Rane out of action for a while. And immediately, the robust Mumbai FC midfield went for a toss, and even some emergency signings could not bring back the lost charm. Only in the last few games, when most of the original first team were fit again, that Mumbai managed to squeeze through to safety by earning a few points. They finished the campaign with a memorable 4-0 triumph over fellow Maharashtra club DSK Shivajians.

It was obvious that Mumbai FC lacked the squad depth needed to sustain a full league campaign with insurance against injuries. But this kind of half-baked approach to the league season wasn't unique to Mumbai FC - a club known for running their first team on a stringent budget and hardly ever making a convincing title bid - but to most clubs in the I-League; and many of them had to pay the price for it.

Early on in the season Salgaocar were exposed as an attack heavily dependent on Darryl Duffy, and they were caught out of water whenever the Scottish striker did not play. Sporting Clube de Goa were also putting too much of their money on veteran striker Odafa Okolie. And after a good start Mateus Costa's team suffered when Odafa hit a bad patch with injury and lost form. Although the likes of Sumit Passi and Victorino Fernandez provided some much-needed cover for him, but it wasn't consistent enough to make much of a difference in the league table. Shillong Lajong, who made a great comeback to save themselves from relegation towards the end of the season, were also in a world of trouble when the likes of Penn Orji and Aiborlang Khongjee were missing from action.

But no one suffered due to lack of preparation for injuries worse than defending champions Mohun Bagan. The moment they lost Sony Norde to an old knee injury, lethality of their offense that had helped them stay unbeaten for so long seemed to crumble. From mid-March they fell into a streak of winlessness that lasted until in mid-April Bengaluru FC convincingly claimed the league title for themselves. 

Particularly interesting was the haphazard way the Mariners tried to deal with Sony's absence. Sony plays in the left wing, and when he was absent, Sanjoy Sen tried to switch Katsumi Yusa's position (usually right wing or number 10) to the left to fill in for the Haitian winger. Needless to say it wasn't very effective, but worse, Sen's usual recourse was to use the U-22 player on the other wing in those matches. Not having many promising youngsters to make for a viable full-game option (hence drawing criticism for his fast substitutions of the likes of Azharuddin Mallick and Sanjay Balmuchu). But in this case, he did not swap his ill-fitted wingers soon enough in this case, despite having competent wingers in his squad who have done a decent job whenever given a chance; especially Kean Lewis. This lead to their attacks being largely limited to one wing in the crucial matches against East Bengal and Shillong Lajong. Bagan inevitably dropped points there and the league was lost.

Although it's understandable that missing a star foreigner can land you in trouble, the clubs' lack of foresight is highlighted when they don't seem to have a back-up for an important position or bank on one player too much to earn their points. Although clubs suffering from conditions like this isn't a rare phenomenon in the I-League, this season it has seemed especially pronounced and visible in multiple clubs. Being forced into a smaller season by ISL may have played a role in clubs not thinking long-term, and the fatigue many of the players faced due to the extra-congested domestic calendar played a major role in escalating that problem to these proportions. 

But amid all this negativity, one club stood out in stark contrast from the herd, and eventually reaped the benefits. Bengaluru FC suffered from injury-induced crisis as much as any other club. They lost Robin Singh and Josh Walker before the season even started. Sunil Chhetri missed out on some crucial games, and so did Eugeneson Lyngdoh. This created a massive deficit in the offense; especially attacking midfield. 

But the efforts they had put in over the last couple of years investing in youth with long term contracts, great facilities at their academy and even training stints at clubs abroad, paid back in dividends for them. The likes of Udanta Singh and Malsawmzuala stepped up to fill in for the missing big names at the time when the club needed them most. Their more experienced counterparts, including C.K. Vineeth and Kim Song-yong, also held their own through the tough times clocking a few crucial wins that turned out to be crucial in facilitating the eventual title-clinching charge. 

Aiding there cause was the highly calculated risk-taking from head coach Ashley Westwood. Of all the coaches in the league, he was the only one who seemed to have a plan when it came to managing injuries and rotating players to optimize their fitness. He repeatedly rested important players as the team incessantly shuttled between I-League and AFC Cup, and contributed a large number of players to the national team before and in the middle of the season. In a pivotal match against Ayeyawadi United, Westwood rested all his foreign players and most senior Indians and fielded a second string young side: something almost unheard of when it comes to Indian clubs playing continental games, especially in a match that they had to win to bring their Asian campaign back on track. BFC went on to win the match 5-3, and they had a fresh squad to field against Salgaocar 3 days later to seal the league title. They did the same thing by resting multiple players in the last game of the league season against Mohun Bagan, so they could seal a place in the AFC Cup quarters with a win against Lao Toyota.

You could say it was their bench strength that helped Bengaluru FC win the league; and the lack brought the downfall of Mohun Bagan in the title race.

Being able to efficiently rotate players proved to be a deciding factor in the I-League title race and it may be just as important in the Federation Cup going forward. Especially for defending champions Bengaluru FC and challenger-in-chief Mohun Bagan, who will have to play their remaining AFC Cup group stage match mid-May (thankfully inconsequential for both clubs) as well as the pre-quarters right after Federation Cup gets over. 

With the players on their last legs after the longest season most of them have ever played, and the heat-waves of May creeping in throughout the country, and the Federation Cup's new home-and-away knockout format mandating clubs to travel between every single game, it won't be surprising if certain important players become unavailable at some crucial juncture of the tournament. And just like the I-League, this can give rise to some of the biggest upsets in the Federation Cup; maybe even change the course of the tournament.

None of the clubs are so well-equipped to deal with such a situation as Bengaluru FC, which makes them the clear favourites to retain their Fed Cup title (barring any upsets, like the one Aizawl FC just pulled off against them in the first round) and complete the first ever league-cup double in their history. The example they have set in managing their squad in the face of a hostile season like this is exemplary, and something every other club as well as all ISL franchises can learn from if they are to put up strong campaigns in the upcoming seasons.