ISL 2021-22: ATKMB fail to clinch top spot, Mumbai City fizzle out, Kerala Blasters defy odds; making sense of group stage-Sports News , Firstpost

The group stage of the 2021-22 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) has rattled along to a conclusion, with four clubs celebrating their success and the others left ruing what could have been.

ATK Mohun Bagan, Hyderabad FC, Jamshedpur FC and Kerala Blasters qualified for the semi-finals. That, though, meant the likes of Bengaluru FC, FC Goa, Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC had to endure disappointment.

Chennaiyin FC, NorthEast United FC and SC East Bengal had campaigns to forget too and unlike a few clubs, might be glad that the league phase is finally over.

Without further ado, here is a look at all that happened over the past few months.

Hyderabad FC, Jamshedpur FC and Kerala Blasters defy odds

Of the three, Hyderabad FC were labelled as a team that could qualify comfortably for the top four and even have a tilt at the top spot. Yet, throughout the season, they somehow always exceeded expectations. At times, they made the net bulge more often than what was thought imaginable. On other occasions, they ground out victories as a premier ISL outfit should.

They also managed to bury the demons of the 2020-21 season. A year ago, they came agonizingly close to qualifying, before eventually handing FC Goa the initiative. In 2021-22, they qualified with time to spare. Their AFC Champions League aspirations didn’t quite work out but this remains a season to savour.

Kerala Blasters, meanwhile, were not expected to find themselves in the upper echelons. They had changed managers again, brought in a host of overseas footballers and had shuffled their pack as much as possible. Their campaign began with a crushing defeat to ATK Mohun Bagan too.

For a change, they recovered from it and went on an unbeaten run. During that sequence, their defence was refreshingly sturdy, their midfield was efficient if not extravagant, and their forward players — led by Adrian Luna, Alvaro Vazquez, Jorge Pereyra Diaz and of course, Sahal Abdul Samad were irresistible.

Jamshedpur FC team celebrates after winning the League Shield. Twitter/@JamshedpurFC

They had a characteristic wobble as the curtains came down on the league stages. This time, though, they held their nerve and sent thousands of passionate fans into a frenzy.

Jamshedpur FC — much like the Blasters, weren’t fancied prior to the season. They had a few decent players but not the sort of squad that made the rest of the league sit up and take notice.

For much of their campaign, they weren’t curling balls into the top corner, carving open opposition defences and slaloming past defenders. But when they needed moments of magic, they got it. It was sprinkled with the usual dose of grit, meaning that they ultimately clinched top spot.

Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC sizzle before fizzling out when it mattered

At different junctures, it seemed as if the Blues and the Islanders would barge through the semi-final door and leave almost every opposition in their wake. While Bengaluru FC, largely criticised for lacking a cutting edge, scored freely during the middle phases of the season, the defending champions found a way to overcome their defensive shortcomings and rely on their attacking firepower at the start of the term.

As the end approached, though, the old ailments returned. The Blues, all of a sudden, started misfiring when their qualification hopes hung by a thread. They conceded soft goals and lacked the sort of cohesion that had characterised their revival.

Mumbai City FC, meanwhile, always seemed to score slightly less than the number of goals they conceded. They lost the services of a few key players during the final stretch but for a club with the kind of resources that they have, it was a dampener that they floundered their advantage so spectacularly.

Remember, they were comfortably perched at the top of the table in December. And, ultimately finished well off the Kerala Blasters’ points tally. Oh, by the way, they also lost to the Tuskers in the game that mattered — just like Bengaluru FC did to ATK Mohun Bagan.

There were patches this season where you genuinely felt Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC would hit the heights they are capable of. Yet it just didn’t happen.

FC Goa and Odisha FC – plenty of style but not enough substance

For large swathes of the group phase, FC Goa were the team that was dictating games, creating tons of chances and putting the opposition to the sword. Football, though, is won by the team that makes the net bulge more often.

The Gaurs simply couldn’t do that often enough, and they conceded a fair few at the other end too, meaning that when push came to shove, they just didn’t have any answers.

Much of their problems stemmed from a massive goal-scoring void left by Igor Angulo. Airam Cabrera filled it at times but wasn’t the consistent goal threat they were craving. Their midfield, especially in terms of keeping the ball, was as good as any in the ISL.

However, their inability to keep the back door shut piled on more pressure on an already under-fire defensive line.

Their youngsters also failed to replicate their pre-season promise. That, though, is something they might not mind. If they can keep their core intact (which is a challenge in itself) and can get in a decent manager (who won’t abandon his post mid-season), they could be a tough nut to crack next season.

Similarly, Odisha FC played a brand of football that wasn’t just entertaining and enthralling, it was a style that, despite their best efforts, never seemed sustainable. Much of what they did flowed through Javi Hernandez. But on days when he was not at his best, they struggled massively.

On the defensive front too, the likes of Hector Rodas and Victor Mongil couldn’t keep things tight. They also suffered a few injuries, thereby exposing the threadbare nature of their defence. Oh, and they stuck to their annual tradition of shuffling managers in the middle of a grueling season.

Most tellingly, though, they struggled to seize the moments when they came their way. That, apart from telling you where things went wrong (pretty much everywhere apart from the area Hernandez occupied), was also an illustration of how much work they need to do before next season.

ATK Mohun Bagan fall at the final hurdle, again

For much of the 2020-21 iteration of the ISL, it seemed that ATK Mohun Bagan would pencil down their place in the AFC Champions League by securing top spot. Ultimately, though, they were pipped to that accolade by Mumbai City FC — with a tense defeat against the Islanders proving the decisive tilting scale.

Fast forward a year, and not much has changed for the Mariners. For a large chunk of this season too, they were the team to beat.

They embodied a creaking ship through the middle phases of the campaign, but once Juan Ferrando arrived, they stumbled upon the free-flowing football they craved.

File image of ATK Mohun Bagan players. Twitter @atkmohunbagan

But then, just like it happened a season ago, they crumbled in a high-stakes fixture against one of their direct rivals (Jamshedpur FC). The eerie resemblances didn’t end there.

This game against the Men of Steel saw the Mariners lose their composure and give up chances. It also saw them become too eager to win the ball and leave spaces in the final third. Most vitally, though, it saw a potential AFC Champions League spot slip from their grasp.

In 2020-21, the Mariners, reinvigorated after the setback, outwitted NorthEast United FC in the semi-final, before imploding in the dying embers of the summit clash.

A part of that sequence has transpired this campaign too. ATK Mohun Bagan, however, would hope that the rest does not repeat itself.

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