After FC Pune City was dissolved due to financial constraints, the club was taken over by new owners and shifted its base to the city of Hyderabad thereby forming Hyderabad FC. Even though they have had very limited time to setup their team, they have inherited a quality squad from Pune City and will try to give their best shot at qualifying for the playoff stages.
SQUAD
- Much of the FC Pune City core players were retained and transferred to Hyderabad FC
- Key players like Emiliano Alfaro, Matt Mills, Ian Hume, Vishal Kaith and Ashique Kuruniyan were all either released or sold
- For the local players they have mostly opted for good performers from the last I-League season
- The new signings apart from the former FC Pune City players are-
- Nestor Gordillo (Chennai City FC)
- Matthew Kilgallon (Hamilton Academical FC)
- Bobo (Alanyaspor, Turkey)
- Giles Barnes (Free Agent)
- Rafa Lopez (Rayo Majadahonda, Spain)
- Sahil Tavora (SC Alvarenga, Portugal)
- Deependra Negi (Kerala Blasters FC)
- Tarif Akhand (Chennai City FC)
- Laldanmawia Ralte (East Bengal FC)
- Gani Ahmed Nigam (Gokulam Kerala FC)
- Ashish Rai (Indian Arrows)
- Laxmikant Kattamani (FC Goa)
PRE SEASON RESULTS
TACTICAL SYSTEM
- Phil Brown is a very flexible coach and has always shown a tendency to set his team’s formation based on situations and form
- Usually his preferred style from his days in England is a 4-4-2
- However last season, he mostly played in a 3-4-3 formation which had 3 central defenders, very attacking wingbacks and atleast 1 defensive midfielder who rarely foray into attack
- This season, Brown might start with a 4-4-2 formation and might switch to his 3-4-3 variation in case they struggle to get points
Expected lineup (4-4-2): Kamaljit; Ashish Rai-Rafa- Kilgallon- Panwar; Poojary- Stankovic- Adil- Nestor; Marcelinho- Robin
KEY PLAYERS
#10. Marcelinho (CF) 
- The Brazilian playmaker is back for his 4th season in the ISL
- He has an incredible tally of 24 goals and 16 assists from just 46 appearances across 3 seasons
- Considering the overall ISL statistics, Marcelinho leads the table for number of assists, is 2nd on the list of highest number of shots and is 4th on the list of highest goalscorers
- In Phil Brown’s 4-4-2 system, he might get to play as a second striker just behind Robin Singh and with the likes of Nestor to play provider, we can expect Marcelinho to have a terrific season this time
- A look at his data graph gives an indication to his keenness to shoot on target, taking an average of 11 shots per 90 at an accuracy of 50%
- The area he might need to improve is his temperament; he has a total of 14 yellow cards and 3 red cards to his name across all 3 seasons combined
Marcelinho- Key Stats (2018-19 season)
#14. Nestor Gordillo (AM / LW) 
- Nestor had a fantastic season with Chennai City FC last season as they won the I-League championship last season
- He was involved in a total of 19 goals with 8 goals and 11 assists
- He had a league highest total of 87 key passes at a rate of 6 per 90 and had a dribble success rate of 51.90%
- Much of Hyderabad FC’s chances of qualifying for the playoffs would depend on how well does Nestor and Marcelinho can combine and form a deadly combination
Nestor Goal Involvements Data (2018/19 I-League Season)
SPORTSKPI WILDCARD PLAYER
#17. Laldanmawia Ralte (RW)
- The diminutive winger also was among the standout performers from the I-League last season for East Bengal
- After having scored 3 goals from 14 appearances in the 2017/18 season, Ralte established himself as a key player for the Kolkata side and featured in all but one match during the 2018/19 season and scored 8 goals including a hat-trick
- In an attack-oriented side like Hyderabad FC, his speed and defense-splitting runs will definitely be a handful for any opposition
Laldanmawia Ralte Goals Data (2018/19 I-League Season)
SEASON PREDICTION
- Playoff Possibility: Likely to fight it out for the final playoff spot
- Hyderabad FC surely has the quality to push for the playoff spots; however consistency will be the key and the defense will have to step up as well
Article by our Senior Football Analyst – Mishal Thanveer
