Analysing FC Goa's season so far
A few months back, around the first week of July, FC Goa found themselves in a predicament. There were reports doing the rounds that head coach Zico might vacate his spot.
Fast forward to November and the Brazilian has taken the Gaurs to a pretty good position, nine games into this ISL season, Zico’s men sit at number 2 on the ISL table with 18 points from their 11 games.
It still surprises a few doubters that FC Goa have got it right and have managed to impose a brand of football on the league so quickly. In their third match of the season, they suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Chennai, losing 4-0 at home.
With matches coming thick and fast in a league season spread across 72 days, Goa could have easily imploded after such a big loss. It didn’t happen though, and much of that is down to the way Goa play their football.
Expansive and free flowing, when you play FC Goa, you can’t really afford to be overzealous because they will pick you apart with their fluid passing and off the ball movement, which was clear from their 7-0 thrashing of Mumbai City FC in their last home match. Though the Gaurs did lose their last match 4-0 away to Atletico de Kolkata, the team are still comfortably in the running for the semifinals.
The team from the west coast are probably the most dynamic team in the league and much more vertical in nature than most of their opponents. Their intent is to always play attacking football and they have shown that on the field.
What have FC Goa done well
At the heart of their team’s good play is another Brazilian, Leo Moura. The midfielder is Goa’s architect every time they look to initiate an offensive move. His ability to look up and find a team mate is uncanny.
Moura has 5 assists and 2 goals to his name so far, but his influence on the pitch can’t really be boxed into numbers alone. There are certain times when as a viewer you can predict a pass that’s going to be made by a player. Not with Leo Moura though.
If need be, he could look for the easiest pass and feed it to the teammate who’s closest to him, but what he could also do is make the long, raking pass that splits open the defence. The presence of both Jofre and Lucca helps add more control to the midfield as their composed and controlled approach helps them keep possession well. The Spaniard Jofre has also given 4 assists so far in the league, contributing very well going forward.
The Indian contingent in this talented Goa squad doesn’t look out of place at all amongst the wide array of foreign talent at Zico’s disposal.
In Mandar and Romeo, Goa has arguably two of the most impactful wingers in the league. Their devastating pace works well in the flexible system that Zico employs. They’ve been given the freedom to burst down the wings regularly.
Local boy Romeo is an old school winger who likes to run with intent down the touch line and whip crosses in. Mandar, on the other hand, is much more versatile and looks assured when he cuts inside and let’s loose. Different approaches but equally fruitful.
Up front, new boy Rafael Coelho offers a reference point to the creative players in his team. He’s a great finisher, effective in the air and isn’t afraid to dribble past players using his pace. He’s got all the attributes of a forward that Zico was so acutely looking for over the past month.
What needs to change
As an offensive unit, Goa are always going to score goals. They’ve found the back of the net 20 times in their 11 games so far. It’s at the back where problems persist. They’ve managed only 3 clean sheets so far. The Gaurs have conceded more than a goal per game (16) which Zico will look to rectify at the earliest.
On paper, they have a pretty good back four in Lucio, Gregory Arnolin and Indian internationals Raju Gaikwad and Narayan Das. But far too many times, the league leaders have been picked apart with ease.
Many of the goals they’ve leaked this season have stemmed from elementary moves made by the opposition. Eliminating errors are important which is what the team have been doing of late, and they will be keen to prove that the last match was nothing be a blip.
The team has to be careful when they play a high line as it is important to ensure that they don’t get beaten for pace by quicker forwards, while at the same time seeing to it that they are in the right place at the right time to make life difficult for the opposition forward line. These are small things the defence will need to work on finetuning so that their record defensively can improve in the future.
What to expect going forward
As a conclusion, one wouldn’t look stupid in placing their bets on FC Goa winning the ISL this season. They look incredible going forward and are stable in midfield.
Zico doesn’t need to make drastic changes in his defensive approach and as long as the defence is able to keep it together, the Gaurs will be a hard team to beat and come December 20th, we could well end up seeing Lúcio lift the coveted ISL trophy.