The first 'week' of the Indian Super League is over, and that can only mean one thing - ISL musings is back, with our take on everything that has transpired in Indian football's top tier (It is that, yes?)
Kerala Blasters' wild opening ride
Three goals, fifty thousand roaring fans, a whole lot of love. Kerala Blasters could not have asked for a better opening night than the one they got against East Bengal. The two Ivans - Vukomanovic and Kalyuzhnyi - were the toasts of an entire state. They then opened the second match against ATK Mohun Bagan with a verve and quality that (arguably) had never been seen before in the Kaloor stadium. The one-touch passing was rapid, the off-the-ball movement delicious and the goal Kalyuzhnyi scored was *chef's kiss*.
Then, suddenly, things went downhill. Over the next hour, Bagan ripped through the Blasters' backline with absurd ease as they scored five of the simplest-looking goals you'll ever see. Even as the Blasters created (and missed) chances at the other end, the absurd naivety of their defending was hard viewing for the capacity crowd. It was a sobering end to what had looked like a cracking ten-day long party and Vukomanovic will hope the wakeup call has come at the right time.
ATK Mohun Bagan's wild opening ride, just in reverse
That Blasters match? Juan Ferrando had needed that.
ATK Mohun Bagan had had a rather terrible pre-season: a Durand Cup group stage exit and a humbling in the AFC Cup. They then lost their first game, at home, against Chennaiyin - a match in which they dominated most of the stats (possession, shots, xG, the like) but still looked dull and... boring. After all that, a five goal riot was just what the doctor ordered. The naivety of the Blasters' defending played into their hands, and Dimi Petratos scored his hat trick from what felt like a sum total of six yards out, but those goals still needed scoring. They were fast on the break, smooth in their passing, and wonderfully unselfish in the final third.
With so much going on off the field - Mohun Bagan fans wanting the 'ATK' bit completely dropped from the name of the club, the management calling it a 'merger' (the club themselves put in quotes), and the resulting unrest in India's oldest fandom - this win should do Ferrando's men a world of good.
Oh, East Bengal
Stephen Constantine started Sumeet Passi as right winger and then a right back in East Bengal's opening two matches. The inexplicability of that statement sums up what has now become the norm for the great Kolkata club - a poor, poor start.
There have been glimpses, though, that Stephen Constantine could have what it takes to ensure the other recent norms - a poorer middle and a worse end - aren't repeated. In the first half of their first match, vs the Blasters, they looked defensively okay. In the second half of their second game, vs Goa, they looked sharp in attack. There's something in this squad, unlike the last two times: fight, goals, wins, proper quality. Whether Constantine can unlock all that will make for one of the most fascinating subplots of the season.
Hyderabad are still the team to beat
What a manager Manolo Marquez is. What a player Bartholomew Ogbeche is.
The defending champions suffered a late wobble against Mumbai City in their opener, but still dominated large portions of the 3-3 draw. In their second match, they simply blew NorthEast United away. They've taken the losses of Juanan and Ashish Rai in their stride and are playing the same kind of quality football that saw them win the whole shebang last time out.
Oh, and keep an eye on Hallicharan Narzary's goal tally: he looks sharper than ever before.
Watch out for Mumbai, though
First of all, Greg Stewart is an ISL cheat-code. To then surround him with Alberto Noguera, Ahmed Jahouh, Jorge Pereyra Diaz, Apuia, and a firing Lallianzuala Chhangte is well... how champions sides are made. The City Football Group are no strangers to expensively assembled title-winning squads, and from the evidence of the first two matches, they wouldn't be expecting anything less than the Cup from Des Buckingham and his men.
What to make of Chennaiyin and Bengaluru? A win and a draw (against each other) for the two former ISL winners in their opening couple of matches. The last two seasons have been sobering affairs for both, but there are reasons to smile early on in this one. Chennaiyin look a decidedly fresher outfit, capable of defensive solidity and actual goalscoring (no one scored less goals than them in the last two seasons). Kwame Karikari and Petar Sliskovic look threatening, Anirudh Thapa looks charged up, Julius Ducker is a gamechanger in the middle, and the pair of Prasanth Karuthadathkuni and Jiteshwor Singh are livewires on the right. Thomas Bradric's main aim now will be to ensure the non-goal-scoring malaise of the past doesn't rear its head again.
Bengaluru, meanwhile, look to have got their most important quality back - fight. There's been an attitude shift in the team, the Durand Cup win an early facilitator. There are still issues, though - they remain as boring as they ever have been and even though Roy Krishna is doing Roy Krishna things, and Sivasakthi shows bundles of promise, scoring goals could become a struggle. As Simon Grayson gets his defensive tweaks right, Bengaluru fans will be hoping he shifts his attention further up the field sooner rather than later.
Jamshedpur and Odisha look unpredictable
Both teams look capable of scoring as many goals as they want. They also look like they are capable of conceding a bucket load of goals every time they get attacked. They have good managers, and appear to have built good squads so this season holds a lot of promise for both the defending league shield holders and the perennial underperformers, but there also appears to be that something missing. Either way, the neutral's hope will remain that neither Aidy Boothroyd nor Josep Gombau think that fixing their defenses should involve taking the manic chaos of their attacks out of the equation.
The Refereeing. Again.
As dire as NorthEast United looked in defeat to Hyderabad, would it have gone better if their last-minute equaliser against Bengaluru in their first match hadn't been so inexplicably (and for them, soul-crushingly) ruled out last Saturday?
That game pulled into focus two things: the importance of the great intangible that is momentum, and the continuing need for reform in football referee-dom. A red card that wasn't given, two penalties apiece denied, and this goal being ruled out - and that's just in that one game in Bengaluru. If the Musings were to scour every game for every big mistake, there'd be nothing else we could write about. Season in, season out this has been the case. Every team gets affected (so much so that fan accusations of bias can easily be countered by rival fans) and it's just becoming tiresome.
Yes, human error is a major (excusable) factor, and yes, referee abuse is absolutely (inexcusably) wrong, and yes, more has to be done. All of these can be (and are) true at the same time. Whether anyone will do anything about it is a whole different ball game.