Going to be a bit of a long post because a lot has gone down in the first half of the ISL. Every other team was put by the wayside because we were really good.
First off I managed to appease the 2 Germans I brought in with a young foreign keeper(I honestly couldn’t find a good Indian keeper who would’ve worked) and finally a coach who wasn’t 2 stars who was interested and bringing him in officially solved the promise dilemma for Hausmann and Aigner.
The person who was on a player/coach contract went back to a player contract thankfully so that was sorted too.
The man of our team was freaking Denzell. He’s scored goals in the double figures. In two season none of our players ever got to that number. The max was maybe 7 or 8.
Our games weren’t all straightforward even if we won all of our games so far and also January kicks off with freaking ATK Mohun Bagan. They are the main team challenging us at the top in the playoff race.
Let’s walk through the games that weren’t a nice ride even if we did get through and win:
Brandon Fernandes got me super scared. The guy hit 30 recently but he’s still really good in the ISL. And thankfully Aigner’s goal from the set piece was good enough to hold on. Even if he scored one more in stoppage time.
Punjab FC were one of the teams to be in a possible relegation fight. And our shooting was supremely awful. Only half of our shots being on target and them having 6/9 shots on target was crazy. Them being down to 10 men was the only reason why we managed to hold onto this win.
Next was Mohammedan SC who had a unit of a foreign striker who is so free scoring at 34. We somehow managed to keep him quiet but the scoreline was was less than ideal. Their only big chance was a dodgy penalty that was given somehow which infuriated me(Realism 1000). But we did come back even if one of the goals was ruled out for offside. Then it was very nervy because they had way too many chances than us and our shooting wasn’t good once again.
Biuk our keeper was the hero of this match because without him this match would be a draw easily. I thought we could be home free after 2 goals including a free kick. Then he saved what was already a dodgy penalty to begin with which was freaking justice. But they still managed to bring one back. But their torrid shooting saved us honestly.
This was another infuriating one because Hyderabad were overwhelming favorites to go down but they are 2 spots away from the relegation spot. Their torrid shooting was our saving grace despite them scoring first and our winner wound up being a penalty from our backup CB was just funny. It surprised me but he made no mistake.
This next match was thoroughly dominant and the reason I included it was because it was against a club I wanted to join in Chennaiyin(A proud local who enjoyed that ISL title win with Stiven Mendoza)
Just fully dominant from us and we never gave them a sniff. They never had a shot on goal AT ALL in the first half.
Next up, January begins with a bang with ATK Mohun Bagan. No matter what happens we cannot lose the match and our lead.
So after scouring the market I managed to get some decent Indian players on loan and also a native of Aizawl who is one of India’s brightest talents:
The guy was born in Mizoram and is a supporter of the club I’m at which made this easier. Had to fork a premium of 35k GBP because his release clause was better to trigger than a layered deal because they wanted too much in the latter option.
Now after his signing along with some good Indian attackers and full backs on loan this is how my lineup looks like:
Apuia isn’t starting because he got announced and his stamina is completely shot. So I’ve given him rest so he’s be back after ATK Mohun Bagan.