ISL 2020-'21: Indian players may not be scoring many but they are racking up the assists

For football fans in India, an important part of watching the Indian Super League is also about looking out for the next Sunil Chhetri. As the aging Indian captain continues to go strong season after season, the lack of an able replacement becomes even more apparent.

In the 2019-’20 campaign, only 24% of the total goals were scored by Indian players and the trend seems to be continuing in the new season as well. Out of the 64 goals scored, only 14 have been scored by Indian players. Once again, only Chhetri finds himself among the top ten scorers in the league and remains the only Indian player to score more than once.

With coaches preferring foreign players for the centre forward role, Indian goalscorers have been few and far between.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for attack-minded Indian players in the ISL this season. Local players dominate the assists leaderboard and nine out of the top ten assist-providers this season are Indians.

It’s still early days in the season, but the development which seems to be a continuation of the trend from last season is quite encouraging for Indian football.

Last season, for the first time in the ISL history, there were four Indian players among the top ten assist makers last season. Two of those - Brandon Fernandes and Jerry Mawihmingthanga - are among the top ten again this season as things stand.

The percentage of assists made by Indian players in the ongoing 2020-’21 campaign is also significantly higher than the figures of the past seasons, thus further backing the heavy presence of Indians on the assist charts.

One of the main factors behind, the strong assist record for Indian players is that coaches are using the local players on the wings or in attacking midfield positions, even though the centre-forward positions are mostly occupied by the foreigners.

Compared to last season, there was a 4% decline in the number of foreign attacking midfielders or wingers signed by the ISL teams in the 2020-’21 season and it appears that these openings have been filled by Indian players.

Hyderabad’s Liston Colaco, Mohammad Yasir have been consistently used in attacking positions by coach Manuel Marquez who has on most occasions played with nine Indian players in his team.

FC Goa, who are a foreigner short in their squad, have also used the likes of Alexander Jesuraj and Brandon Fernandes in advanced roles.

Bipin Singh, a product of the pre-City Football Group era, has stepped up to the plate and made a starting place on Mumbai’s left flank his own despite the team spending heavily on attacking talents.

The likes of Halicharan Narzary (Hyderabad FC), Rochharzela (NorthEast United) and Manvir Singh (ATK Mohun Bagan) may only have just one assist to their names so far, but have impressed in attacking roles for their respective sides and could climb up the attacking charts.

Highlanders’ Ninthoinganba Meetei has also been a regular feature for Gerard Nus and has produced performances of note in the attacking third.

In the case of Bengaluru FC’s Harmanjot Khabra, who is mostly used as a defensive player, the high assist count is a result of hard yards on the training ground. Khabra has twice set up Chhetri for his goals in the last two matches and the Indian captain revealed the duo wait back after training to practice crossing.

“In training, he isn’t usually very good but in matches, he is always on the point,” said Chhetri after his team’s win over Odisha FC on Thursday.

Room for improvement?

However, coaches and players alike have been calling for improvements from Indian players so that they go to the next level. The rise in assist count may be a byproduct of the rise in quality of the Indian players in the ISL since the opening season, but for Indians to be more productive in front of goal, they need to be more composed.

Despite being one of the best Indian attacking players this season, Hyderabad have not always started with Colaco. They have protected him or used him as a substitute to run at teams who are tired. To be a regular starter, he needs to be more consistent and more clinical.

“Liston is a level-headed young player. But he needs to learn more to be more clinical. That being said it will come when you start playing more matches. He will definitely score and we are happy with him,” assistant coach Thangboi Singto said about the Goan.

Mumbai City FC striker Adam le Fondre also felt Indian players could be more effective if they think better on the pitch.

“I think that one of the big things that are lacking over here is probably the game intelligence rather than technical ability, because there’s a lot of good technical Indian players,” Le Fondre told reporters during an online interaction on Friday.

“Sometimes their decision-making lets them down. The Indian players would run straight down or force a pass where an extra pass would help create the opportunity. So the big difference between Indian and foreign players is this bit of game intelligence or game management,” he added.

The growing creative returns for Indian players is definitely an encouraging sign but for it to convert into goals, they need to perhaps add a bit more to their locker.

Game time is key for Indian forwards for that to happen and perhaps their ability to create goals if not score them would go a long way in coaches giving them that.

The likes of Colaco, Bipin and Jesuraj are highly promising players and have a bright future ahead of them. For starters, assists would do but the goals would also need to come.