The dream season of Jamshedpur could have been even better
A glorious campaign of Jamshedpur FC ended in an upset as they couldn’t even qualify for the grand finale of the Indian Super League. The Red Miners kept the AFC Champions League spot and ISL Shield but fell short of 2021-22 Championship glory.
The JFC authorities deserve credit for keeping their faith in Owen Coyle and his system despite the bottle job in the previous season. Coyle made some changes in his approach and eventually delivered the golden moment where Steelers lifted the ISL silverware for the first time ever.
The Jharkhand-based club finished the 2021-22 league stage campaign on the pole position of the points table. They fetched 43 points from 20 fixtures consisting of 13 wins, 4 draws and only three defeats. JFC managed to draw the second leg with a scoreline of 1-1 but a solitary goal from Sahal Abdul Samad in the first leg of the semifinal helped the Blasters to snatch the final tickets from the table-toppers.
Overseas Patrons
The sword and shield of Jamshedpur artillery
Daniel Chima Chukwu’s arrival from the neighbouring East Bengal midway of the season was a surprising one but it delivered to its fullest as the Nigerian transformed into the beast mode at Jamshedpur. After the departure of Stephen Eze, captain Peter Hartley stood up as a leader of the defence along with the captain’s responsibilities as well.
Greg Stewart’s current tally of 10 goals is tied with Igor Angulo and he has an opportunity to overtake the Spaniard by scoring in the finals and become the second-highest goalscorer of the season. He has inducted himself into the club of only two players, alongside Hugo Boumous who scored double digits of goals and assists in the same season.
Stewart garnered the highest average rating of 8.47 which is the highest in the league and the former Rangers forward is also a prime contender to grab the Golden Ball which was awarded to the Most Valuable Player of the Season.
Youngsters were on the rise!
Jamshedpur FC and their parent ‘Tata Football Academy’ are well-known in Indian Football for rigorously producing talents. The 20-year-old defensive midfielder Jitendra Singh is the latest outlet from the JFC factory. His mature way of holding the midfield and taking it forward is incredible at such a young age. He formed an alliance with another Indian maestro Mobashir Rahman and the club would like to have this dashing duo in the ranks for future plans.
Jitendra Singh has perhaps been a great revelation for Owen Coyle. The holding midfielder has been a vital cog for his side, making 67 tackles, 23 blocks, 19 interceptions, and 10 clearances in 19 games. Almost an undroppable asset for Coyle, Singh shows signs of an excellent central midfielder in the making and has the potential to be a great force in the midfield.
How did it conclude?
Finding any deficiencies from the 2021-22 campaign of Jamshedpur FC is quite a tough task as it was the best league stage performance by any club in the history of the Indian Super League. Although the Red Miners’ dreams of clinching the ISL double was shattered by Kerala Blasters in the semifinal round.
The Blasters outclassed them in both legs of the semifinal and put a full-stop to the dream campaign of the title favourite Jharkhand-based club. It is only the fourth instance when table-toppers failed to advance to the finals and got eliminated by the 4th placed club.
Takeaways from the season
The JFC roster giving it back to the gaffer
It was a complete team effort from Jamshedpur where each and every member of the lineup had their contributions. Not just tactics but Owen Coyle also transmitted his spirit and energy to the squad. Hence the Red Miners became the first side in the nine-year history of this league to achieve a total of 43 points from the league stage.
The Men of Steel also created an ISL record of the longest winning streak after emerging victorious from seven consecutive fixtures. And that too came in the final seven games of the league campaign where the competition among teams peaked.
Up for the next
The JFC roster is blessed with a bunch of shining domestic attackers like Ishan Pandita, Len Doungel, Boris Singh, Komal Thatal, Farukh Choudhary, Ritwik Das etc. And the Red Miners should retain these names for the next campaign in order to accompany foreign signings.
Despite an early exit from the playoffs stage, ISL Shield has already granted them a place in the group stages of the prestigious AFC Champions League. Hence Coyle and his team will be gearing up for the next season having domestic and continental targets in mind. Few big foreign recruits are also expected to arrive in Steel City as Coyle’s ‘AFC Plan’ is underway.