ISL 2016: 5 players that were missed by their former teams this season
While football has always been known as a team game, there have been several incidents when a single player has made a team looked noticeably better on the pitch. Pele for Cosmos, Maradona for Napoli and Francesco Totti for AS Roma have pulled out victories and trophies out of nowhere and have been absolute talismans for their respective sides.
Looking at the current scenario, there are a few players who’ve left their sides at the club level and the teams have suffered, highlighting their importance and the kind of contribution they provided to their teams. French warlike midfield machine N’Golo Kante shifted his bases from defending champions to Chelsea, and the floundering Foxes now know how difficult a loss it was.
Coming to Indian shores, the ISL has seen a similar pattern. A lot of foreigners have already plied their trade in the sub-continent and have seen a major push in the personal careers, thus, continuing on foreign shores. Here, we take a look at five different players who’ve left their respective clubs and the teams looking to have suffered from it.
#1 Debjit Majumder
Atletico de Kolkata have reached the semi-finals of the Hero Indian Super League for the third season running and much of the credit has to be given to the heroics of their goalkeeper, Debjit Majumder. The shot-stopper has been in phenomenal form under the bar and has seen his stakes rising ever since he took over as the number one choice in between the sticks under Jose Molina.
Known for his eccentric temperament, Majumder is solid in one-on-one situations and knows how to keep his defensive line in sync. Always animated on the field, the custodian had made just two appearances for Mumbai City FC last season. The Nicolas Anelka-led side of 2015 had conceded 26 goals, the second highest in the league. Had it been this bundle of raw energy under the bar, Anelka’s side could’ve had some more respectability to its statistics.
Debjit was awarded the Best Goalkeeper in the I-League in 2015 and in this season’s ISL, the Mohun Bagan man has shown that the trust bestowed on him is no fluke. The diminutive keeper has made 26 saves in the league, also saving a penalty from Champions League winner Florent Malouda, which speaks a lot about his quality and calmness in high-pressure situations.