Chennaiyin FC’s season thus far has been capricious at best. If two dispiriting losses lessened the pre-season optimism, two resounding wins re-kindled hopes, before being rebuffed again through a 2-0 defeat against NorthEast United FC.
On Saturday, when it takes on FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, it will hope to pick up the pieces once more and try and rebuild. The task though doesn’t look easy. Its opponents are currently on nine points from four games and a win can send them top of the league.
“We know the importance of the game,” said assistant coach Vivek Nagul on the eve of the match. “We need to push more. But we are ready.”
Squad rotationRotation has been manager Marco Materazzi’s mantra this season. As much as finding the right combination is paramount on his mind, injury prevention seems to have acquired equal, if not more, importance.
It has even led to him benching his two trump cards in Elano and John Stiven Mendoza — scorers of seven of the team’s eight goals.
“We have to rotate,” said defender Bernard Mendy. “Last year if you remember we lost two good players [Elano and Mendoza] to injuries towards the end.”
Yet, it doesn’t seem to have had the desired effect. In the duo’s absence, the attack has looked toothless and Fikru, brought in to add more attacking menace, has been wasteful.
“No,” said Nagul when asked if the team was over-reliant on them.
“We signed them for this kind of impact. But it’s not that others haven’t chipped in. Jayesh [Rane], Jeje [Lalpekhlua] have all had attempts [at goal].”
On the other hand, for Pune manager David Platt, squad rotation has worked perfectly. After a 2-1 defeat to Delhi Dynamos, the five changes rung in and result was an excellent 1-0 win over defending champion Atletico de Kolkata.
Turkish forward Tuncay Sanli and Ivory Coast international Didier Zokora, both of whom returned to the line-up, gave good accounts of themselves and the latter’s role in particular in the centre of the pitch will be crucial if Pune is to stop Chennaiyin’s wrecker-in-chief Elano.
“Chennai is a team against whom you can be dominating but still get beaten,” Platt said.
“It has players who can turn the game like that. They were the league winners last year, not necessarily the trophy winners. So we will treat them with the respect they deserve.”
On the day, the home side will be without influential mid-fielder Harmanjot Khabra who was sent off in the previous match and the visitors will look to get Lenny Rodrigues, who has excelled in his partnership with Zokora, ready after he was taken off due to an injury against Atletico.
