Anelka in centre leaves Mumbai team clueless

GUWAHATI: Mumbai City FC’s season so far has seen extreme shifts in form. The team registered a hat-trick of victories but has gone without a win in the last four games. Incidentally, Mumbai have not won since player-manager Nicolas Anelka decided to be in the starting eleven.

Anelka chose to skip the initial games of Mumbai’s campaign. During the time, India captain Sunil Chhetri played the central role and saw the 30-year-old score six goals in three games, including a hattrick and brace. Anelka sat on the sidelines, citing injury. He made a few appearances, but did not need to do much as the team was gelling as a unit.

CHHETRI ON THE WING Since deciding to start, Anelka has placed himself in a central role, just behind striker Piquionne, a role previously played by Chhetri, who now plays on the wings.

The team has adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation for a majority of the season, and despite the lack of victories has persisted with it.

The team was torn to shreds by Goa in the previous game, when the Zico-coached outfit walloped Mumbai 7-0. Interestingly, since being sent to a wide position, Chhetri has not scored once, directly impacting Mumbai’s success in front of the goal. Speaking ahead of Friday’s game against NorthEast United, Anelka seemed adamant on sticking to his game plan.

“Our players are such that this formation is perfect for us,” said Anelka. “I feel our current setup is fine, it is just that we as a team have not played well,” he said. Anelka insisted that Chhetri playing on the wings was the right move. “Sunil playing on the right works well for us. I tried to play him in the centre against Goa in the second half, but that did not help,” he said.