Shorter pre season

The hearings, appeals and arbitrations concerning the penalties levied upon FC Goa by the ISL Disciplinary Committee continued well into the summer. After many trials, the original punishment of a hefty fine and a 15 point deduction was overturned (for a high price of ownership change), but by the time they got going again signing players and coaches other teams were about to start their pre-season.

Zico is right when he says the Gaurs didn't have enough time to prepare. With just weeks in his hand before ISL kicked off, the Goa head coach had less time for a training camp, and had to rely on the pre-season friendlies to see his new players up close.

They played four games against Brazilian clubs and won just one out of them. Apart from the win, the other games were a goalless draw, a 2-2 draw and a loss. Zico employed a heavy squad rotation policy in the pre season friendlies in order to test everyone in the roster, which meant there wasn't enough time to work out a stable squad. So when they went into the main competition the team was still in an experimental phase, which resulted in a weak defence and lack of cohesion. And they dropped too many points at the very outset to be able to mount a proper comeback.