North-East United FC: Season 1 Review

Season one of the Hero ISL is on the verge of a big finish. The group stages are over and only the semi-finals and the grand finale remain to be played. What has been a fantastic opening season to the grand football tournament, the only sad note for me and probably, the whole of Assam, including the rest of the North-East India would be the fact that North-East United FC failed to qualify for the semis and also finishing last. So, what went wrong? Were the tactics not up to the mark? Was the coach not good enough? There will be many questions, but only time will tell.

Frankly speaking, I have no complains whatsoever from this young team. From a fan’s point of view, I am extremely content and satisfied with the show and fight, put up by the players. The fact that NEUFC was the youngest team in the Hero ISL and still to be able to put up those scores is in itself a wonderful thing for the whole team. Considering the fact that our first choice striker, Cornell Glen of Trinidad & Tobago was injured for almost the whole tournament, the number of goals scored was herein in very few numbers. That is one of the primary reasons why NEUFC failed to register wins. Apart from the goal-scoring view, North-East United FC was nearly-perfect in the other departments, the mid-field, especially Koke; the defense line-up and specially the two goalkeepers, Alexandros Tzorvas and Rehenesh TP, who collectively conceded only 13 goals, far less than the 20, conceded by the table-toppers Chennaiyin FC. While the former, who featured for Greece in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, started in the first few matches, the later stood between the woodwork for the rest of the tournament. And who would have thought this Indian goalie would delight us with his great dives and saves. I have become one of the latest admirers of this player. The mid-field revolved mainly around one player, Koke. This Spanish player showed why Spain is the land of mid-field magicians. Though he may not be up to the level of European football, he was one of the star performers of the Hero ISL. While Barcelona has Xavi, Manchester United had Paul Scholes, we would definitely be proud to say that our North-East United FC has Koke. While our marquee player, Joan Capedevila is way past his prime, he was a wonderful sight in the defense line-up, considering the fact that he was a FIFA World Cup winner with Spain. Even though Massamba Lou Sambou and Miguel Garcia surprised me with their good performances, I was greatly disappointed with the performances of some others. Take the instance of James Keene, the big English forward, and a product of Portsmouth Academy, who represented them in the EPL. With the experience of playing in the Barclays Premier League, I suppose he should have been one of the top scorers in the tournament, but his goal drought totally shocked me. Another big disappointment was our local lad, Durga Boro. While his initial strides seem good, he gives away the ball far too easily. And his shot accuracy is one of the horrible I have seen as a fan. I accept the fact that he is young and has a long way to go, but at least the amount of dedication should have been more. Anyways, with time he will gain the required confidence and the motivation, as he is being surrounded by a highly-experienced coaching stuff with the club and hopefully, develop into a wonderful footballer.

The most promising asset of this team has to be Alen Deuri. Though still very young for an 18-year old, he has shown glimpses of a promising talent with the few amounts of minutes he was on the pitch and certainly has that potential. With low in stamina and experience, Ricki Herbert didn’t play him much, but this lad has that special something. He certainly needs to be associated with a good academy to nurture his skills. And if the club can provide the right kind of training and skill-development, I am quite confident and hopeful that he will develop into a fantastic footballer, who can represent India on the big stage.    

This is not a traditional review of our team, but for the sake of winding up my review, I would like to make one point before the next season is even planned. Going by the name of our club, North-East United FC, I would like to see more players from the North-East represent this club, especially from Assam, as Guwahati is the home city. One of the most notable players from this region, Jeje Lalpekhlua represented Chennaiyin FC and I was surprised that North-East United FC didn’t sign him at the first place. It is great to see the North-Eastern part of our country to be brought about in such a big platform and that people are actually taking initiatives to make developments in this region. For this, I would like to thank everyone involved in the making of the ISL: IMG-Reliance, John Abraham and specially Ricki Herbert for assembling such a wonderful team and for bringing and showcasing football within our midst. Our city had never witnessed such a thing in the past and this is a wonderful initiative for the people of the city, including me, and it has been evident during the match days in the city. With a decent home ground in the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium, it has been a full house in all the matches, and for that record NEUFC has been reported to have the best fan base in comparison to the other teams in the ISL. This is one record to cherish upon.

No matter what, my support will never cease for NEUFC. Proud to be a highlander.

Thank you, ISL once again.