There was no way Miguel Angel Portugal, despite his rich resume, could remain at the helm after Delhi finished eighth in the ten-team race. Delhi have now turned to a relatively younger Josep Gombau, who has previously been plying his trade in the Australian league. They have decided to completely replace their foreign arsenal this time – a bold move considering their continuous failure with experiments in the past.

The defence will see some experienced faces in the shape of Rana Gharami from Mohammedan Sporting Club and Indian international Narayan Das from FC Pune City. Apart from them, Spain’s Marti Crespi and Netherland’s Gianni Zuiverloon have also been imported to provide the backline with some structure. Apart from the this, Delhi have had the likes of Pritam Kotal, Mohammad Dhot, and Jayananda Moirangthem Singh, who had impressed last season to a large extent and could see a huge improvement under a successful Asian coach like Gombau.

Midfield would be the most important part for Delhi Dynamos this season given Gombau’s penchant for trying out various formations. Though the four-man defence remains a constant in his setup, it is the centre that ends up soaking most of the pressure. He has been seen using 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 last season with West Sydney Wanderers and the influx of five new faces in the midfield hints at a similar approach to this season as well.

Most of the responsibility would be on defensive midfield head of Marcos Tebar. The ISL veteran is in his third season and has joined Delhi for his second stint after a successful season with FC Pune City. Gombau is likely to give him the responsibility of holding the structure with Slovenia’s Rene Mihelic looking to unlock opponent’s defence. Playing for Chennayin FC last season, Mihelic had scored two goals and provided four assists and Delhi would expect him to use his experience to step up this season. Bikramjit Singh, also formerly of Chennayin FC, and Siam Hanghal from Kerala Blasters would bring the much needed Indian flavour with both of them having a combined 89 games between them. 

Forward

With Kalu Uche going to ATK, the club has roped in Slovenia’s Andrija Kaluderovic who is supposed to be an upgrade. The 31-year-old, who has three national caps to his name, comes with a ruthless reputation of scoring goals and would be spearheading the Lions. However, the other two strikers, Daniel Lalhlimpuia and Shubham Sarangi, are of 21-year-old and 18-year-old respectively and Delhi could be vulnerable if Kaluderovic gets injured. 

At a glance, Delhi’s first eleven looks good enough to reach the playoffs with versatile players who can play different positions as and when needed. And with an experienced coach at the helm with an offensive mindset, fans can expect a different style of play this time around. However, Delhi have a very thin bench to back the first team, which could come back to haunt them. Maybe, Miguel Angel Portugal was right after all about the paltry budget of the club and Gombau will have to be extremely shrewd to get something out of the squad.