Mumbai City FC in need of one last hurrah from Nicolas Anelka in ISL 2015
Age, controversy and statistics aside, Mumbai City fans would be hard pressed to name a striking duo in the ISL that they would prefer over Chettri and Anelka. The only thing that remains is to be seen is whether this champion over the years has one last hurrah left in him.
Nicolas Anelka - a journeyman in the true sense of the word – has played at some of the most elite clubs in the world. In his impressive resume, he boasts of spells at Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG and Chelsea and domestic titles in England, Spain, France, Turkey and Italy along the way.
True to style, Anelka made yet another move in 2014, this time to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League, where he was released from his contract after controversy over a gesture he made during a goal celebration. This left the speedy french striker with the opportunity to become a part of the inaugural edition of the ISL.
Signed by Mumbai City FC, he was not their marquee player at the time, having to play second fiddle to the legendary Fredrik Ljungberg. Mumbai started the season badly with a 3-0 away loss to Atletico followed by a dismal string of results.
The highlight of their season was easily the 5-0 rout over Pune FC thanks to hat trick hero, Andre Moritz. The team looked very good on paper with the presence of talisman Anelka, Brazilian Andre Moritz and marquee player Fredrik Ljungberg. However, Ljungberg only managed four cameo appearances and Anelka missed the first three games through suspension for his 'quenelle' gesture while playing for West Brom in the Premier League.
Moritz too was sidelined with an injury for a few games. Their captain Syed Nabi got injured in the first game against Atletico and Mumbai City never really recovered from that. They ended the season a disappointing second from last with Anelka having contributed 2 goals.
Mumbai City will hope that added stability this time around and some luck with injuries will help them better that result. This time, leading the charge will be their newly appointed marquee player-manager, Nicolas Anelka taking over the reins from Peter Reid. Even this will not be a new experience for a man who has seemingly seen it all, as he played a very similar role for a season in China with Shanghai Shenhua.
"Nicholas Anelka has it all,” said his former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelloti: Quick, Good aerial ability, good shooting, excellent technique and predatory movement off the ball.
Anelka has played as a supporting striker throughout his career. His knack for timing his runs, his composure while finishing and his selfless attitude make him perfectly suited to playing off the main striker. The Frenchman prefers to operate from the left side, cutting in low crosses and collecting the layoffs from the main striker.
Deceptively quick, Anelka has had a change of pace that makes it terrifying for defenders to mark him. Whether he still has the pace, which has served him so well, remains to be seen, but his finishing and movement should continue to be his two greatest assets
For a man who has played for a lot of top teams, coaches and a winner in almost every major European footballing country, Anelka should have a treasure trove of experience in guiding his team as a manager. Fans of Mumbai City will be hoping that his habit of winning trophies comes to the forefront this season.
It says a lot about the calibre of Mumbai FC's summer signings that Anelka is not the forward that Mumbai fans are most eagerly waiting to watch. India’s star striker Sunil Chettri has been brought in to partner Anelka in attack for a record fee and talks of a fearsome partnership in attack are already doing the rounds among the fans. This signing should help Anelka the most in theory, as he is always used to playing with another main striker. With the expectation and hype being shouldered by Chettri, Anelka finds himself under marginally less pressure.
‘The best strikers hunt in pairs’ is an old adage, which is slowly losing relevance with teams preferring to flood the midfield in an attempt to stifle the opponent - choosing to play only one striker in the process. But, it is not often that one team ends up with two strikers with the qualities and experience of Anelka and Chettri, who more often than not would walk straight into the team sheet at most of the ISL clubs.
Nicholas Anelka, Sunil Chettrei, Sony Norde and Antony Moritz, can all be expected to feature in Mumbai’s starting line-up, and all of them can be lethal in front of the goal. Norde especially was exquisite in the I-league with his contributions helping him win the title.
Throughout his career, Anelka has flourished when played with a partner upfront and it should be no different this time. Expect Chettri to play the role of the target man with most balls being played into him, while Anelka makes the secondary runs. It speaks of the versatility of this front two that they would be equally comfortable playing on the counter, or holding on to the ball. This means that irrespective of the opposition or style of play, we can expect the goals to flow.
Managers are perhaps the people with whom Anelka has harboured the most controversies, often leading him to move on to the next club. That will be one burden off Anelka, as he is donning the managerial hat as well, this time around.
Having been with the organisation a year already, Anelka knows most of the players and will have forged relationships with the backroom staff. Further, the senior players in the team have mostly been retained, with Goalkeeper Subrata Pal and midfielder Ralte returning for their second season. This means that in theory, Anelka should already have a core group of players he can count on.
Tactically Anelka should be up there with the best, as he has sampled more footballing cultures as a player than even some of the most experienced managers. All the signs point to a season where he should be able to handle the team, but questions still remain.
The defense has hardly been tested in preseason and the midfield, though attackingly potent, seems a bit lightweight defensively. These are potential issues that Anelka should have identified and begun working on already. If he manages to tighten up the rear-guard and prevent too many goals from flowing in, Mumbai City should be optimistic of their chances to outscore anybody.
Age, controversy and statistics aside, Mumbai City fans would be hard pressed to name a striking duo in the ISL that they would prefer over Chettri and Anelka. The only thing that remains is to be seen is whether this champion over the years has one last hurrah left in him.
By Vignesh Jeyaraman