Big Picture
43 points: An ISL record. Seven straight wins: An ISL record. League shield winners: effectively champions of India. In the red corner, we have Jamshedpur FC, a team that no one really noticed till we reached a point where they're all that mattered. Led by the inimitable Owen Coyle off the field, and Greg Stewart on it, Jamshedpur are brilliant. They scored the second most goals in the league stage (42, one less than Hyderabad) and conceded the least (21). It's their first time in the ISL semifinals, but Coyle has been here before, when he smashed the then league shield holders FC Goa, to get Chennaiyin into an unlikely final. This time, though, his team start as favourites.
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Standing against them, in the yellow corner, is a team that hasn't seen this stage since 2016... Kerala Blasters FC. From finishing tenth (out of 11, remember) to beating league shield holders Mumbai City to fourth this time around, the charismatic Ivan Vukomanovic has finally built a team that the legion of Blasters fans can truly get behind. They are relentless, exciting, and defensively sound. Individually brilliant, it's their collectiveness that has shone through.
Not many had predicted these
Two intense teams, two great characters on the sidelines, the first leg of the first ISL semifinal of the 2021-22 season. All the ingredients you need for a fun evening.
Any problem areas?
What happens when Greg Stewart is stopped?
Greg Stewart is just the second player in ISL history to have hit double figures for goals and assists in a single season, and much like the first (hello, Hugo Boumous), his direct dribbling and eye for goal make him unstoppable when he is on his A-game. He runs Jamshedpur's offence, but as good as his colleagues are, if he's shackled, Jamshedpur can look a little blunt. Daniel Chima Chukwu's signing in the January window has helped provide a different option for Jamshedpur to focus their attacking play, but Stewart still holds the key.
You can't press a long ball, can you?
The Blasters' main offensive weapon is the collective, high-intense press they employ. In the newly Spain-ified world of ISL where everyone tries to play their way out of the back, that's worked brilliantly.
Owen Coyle, though, has no qualms in asking his players to hoof it up (intelligently, down the channels) and start playing closer to the opposition box. It helps when you have Pranoy Halder in midfield, who looks like he'd much rather launch into a tackle than try and build pretty, boring, passing patterns. The Blasters struggled against this last time around, and they might well need to temper their gegenpress against the league shield winners.
Key Battles
Adrian Luna and Sahal Abdul Samad vs Pranoy Halder and Jitendra Singh
Kerala's two wide no.10s are the propellers of their attacking play. They press hard, they drift into the half-spaces and essentially live in between the lines. It's a move that's gotten the best out of Sahal, and the two have combined brilliantly in these areas along with the front two of Alvaro Vazquez and Jorge Pereyra Diaz.
Stopping them is key to stopping Kerala. Which is where Jitendra Singh and Pranoy Halder come in. Halder is a veteran at this game - disrupting the opposition's key playmaker - and Jitendra has proved to be a superb understudy. They may not be the most eye-catching on the ball, but it's their off-the-ball work that has held together the team. They play on the defensive side of the very same half-spaces the two Blasters playmakers love to play in, and will need to be wary of their opponents' tendency of pulling holding midfielders out wide and out of their comfort zone.
Boris Singh Thangjam (or Len Doungel) vs Sanjeev Stalin
The last time Jamshedpur played the Blasters, they destroyed them 3-0. Mostly thanks to them targeting the Blasters' fourth-choice left back Denachandra Metei. Boris Singh Thangjam ran him ragged, and appeared capable of creating a chance (or winning a penalty) every time he went one-on-one with him. On the other flank, Harmanjot Khabra didn't have the best of nights against Ritwik Das either. This was because when Jamshedpur run at defenders, they often did so with company - Boris and Ritwik would often have Greg Stewart on their shoulder.
Ritwik v Khabra will be fun, the veteran will want his own back, but even more pivotal to the game would be young Sanjeev Stalin against his former U-17 World Cup teammate Boris. Or the slightly less pacy, but exponentially more intense Len Doungel.
Head to Head
Matches played: 10
Jamshedpur wins: 3
Kerala Blasters wins: 1
Draws: (you could do the maths! But ah, well...) 6
Predicted XIs
Jamshedpur FC (4-2-3-1): TP Rehenesh (GK); Laldinliana Renthlei, Eli Sabia, Peter Hartley, Ricky Lallawmawma; Pranoy Halder, Jitendra Singh; Len Doungel, Greg Stewart, Ritwik Das; Daniel Chima Chukwu
Kerala Blasters FC (4-2-2-2): Prabsukhan Gill (GK); Harmanjot Khabra, Ruivah Hormipam, Marko Leskovic, Sanjeev Stalin; Puitea, Jeakson Singh; Sahal Abdul Samad, Adrian Luna; Alvaro Vazquez, Jorge Pereyra Diaz