Delhi Dynamos FC have shifted their base from Delhi to the capital of Odisha, Bhubaneswar and therefore come under a new name, Odisha FC. With a bit of their pre-season getting entangled with all the off-the-field issues, it was feared that the team’s preparations might come under a bit of jeopardy. However Josep Gombau’s team has had a good pre-season and will look forward to a good season ahead.
SQUAD
- Let a few of their good players leave but seem to have signed like-to-like quality replacements
- They have promoted 4 players from their reserve squad which is also a very positive move
PRE SEASON RESULTS
TACTICAL SYSTEM
- Gambau has always opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation when he had Marcos Tebar available
- Without Tebar, they usually lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formations
- Owing to Gambau’s Barcelona influence, the team usually keeps possession and build up from the back
- Can expect to see the centre-backs progressing with the ball as well
Expected lineup (4-2-3-1): Dorronsoro; Shubham Sarangi- Carlos Javier- Rana Gharami- Narayan Das; Bikramjit- Tebar; Nandhakumar- Guedes- Jerry; Aridane
KEY PLAYERS
#8. Marcos Tebar(DMF)
- The Spanish midfielder will lead the side as the captain and will play a key role in midfield
- Last season he made 13 appearances but his impact was restricted by injuries
- As the defensive midfielder, he is key not only to breaking down opposition attacks but also was the key initiator when it came to the team’s buildups
- When it comes to his defensive work, he averaged 46 clearances per 90 and 3 successful tackles per 90
- At the same time, as the plot graph below displays, his passing accuracy was an incredible 39%
- This time Gambau would be hoping that his talismanic midfielder stays fit for the entire season and pull the strings from the heart of midfield
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- Marcos Tebar- Key Stats (2018-19 season)
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#9. Aridane Santana (CF)
- The 32-year old striker is on loan from Spanish 3rd tier side, Cultural Leonesa
- He scored 13 goals from 36 games last season, even featuring in a 1-0 loss against FC Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey
- The Spaniard is a poacher with the ability to be at the right place in the box at the right time
- Out of 12 goals we sampled, all of them were first time instinctive finishes inside the box
- Also links up well with his teammates, with first time flick-ons and through balls
Aridane Goals Data
SPORTSKPI WILDCARD PLAYER
#17. Jerry Mawhmingthanga (LW)
- Odisha FC had to let go off one of their most talented youngsters Lallianzuala Chhangte as he left for Chennaiyin FC
- However they managed to secure the signing of Jerry from Jamshedpur FC- a player who has had a similar impact for his club like Chhangte
- Jerry made a total of 28 appearances for Jamshedpur FC across two seasons clocking 2006 minutes of playing time
- Although he just has 1 goal and 4 assists to his name in the ISL, as seen in the SportsKPI comparison graph below, he offers very similar skill sets to Chhangte
- However he would be looking at improving his shot accuracy and finishing, as he only has a shot accuracy of 23.33% in the last two seasons compared to Chhangte’s shot accuracy of 46.55%
Jerry vs Chhangte (Overall Senior Career Club Statistics)
SEASON PREDICTION
Playoff Possibility: Unlikely
- Yet again might just fall short of a playoff position especially due to a fairly inexperienced defense line
Article by our Senior Football Analyst – Mishal Thanveer
