I-League Club Analysis: Pailan Arrows - The Youngsters Keen To Shine Again

Goal.com continues the new analysis series by giving an insight on Pailan Arrows...

09-Sep-2011 3:21:00 PM

By Amoy Ghoshal

More On :  Pailan Arrows
Indian Arrows,Land In Kolkata.
AIFF
LAST SEASON

The developmental I-League side, which was founded last year as ‘AIFF XI’ started their journey in the top flight of Indian football with a creditable 1-0 win over JCT in the group stage of the Federation Cup. However they lost the next two matches and got knocked out from the group stage and then had a very difficult start to their I-League campaign as they managed just one point from their opening four matches.

However ‘Indian Arrows’ as they were later called, were very difficult to beat in their home ground, which used to be the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon. Soon they started to produce results under English coach Desmond Bulpin with the standout ones being the home draws against Dempo and East Bengal and an away win over Viva Kerala (now Chirag United club Kerala). Their first half showing in the 5-4 win over Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in their last game of the 2010-11 I-League campaign was arguably their best performance of the season. ‘Pailan Arrows’ as they are now called eventually finished in ninth spot last season.

TRANSFERS

In: Naveen Kumar, C.S. Sabeeth, Ajay Kumar Out: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Jagroop Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Jewel Raja, Jagtar Singh, Lalrindika Ralte, Raju Gaikwad, Abhishek Das, and Subodh Kumar
Despite getting Pailan Group as their new sponsors, AIFF’s very own developmental side couldn’t add too many big names to their squad as most of the well known younger players in India already had good contracts with other I-League clubs. However the addition of current India Under-23 international striker C.S.Sabeeth, who is also part of the senior national team setup, will add quality to the Arrows’ team. Striker Ajay Kumar impressed for JCT last season despite the Punjabi club’s relegation while goalkeeper Naveen Kumar, who was also at JCT last term, is the other notable addition. The majority of the other new faces in the Arrows team are players from the U-19 and U-16 teams of India. Milan Singh has now been released by East Bengal and is soon expected to join Arrows training.
 In terms of departures, no other I-League club suffered more than Pailan Arrows as they lost as many as ten highly talented youngsters to their parent clubs. All the ten players had contracts with other top clubs of the country and it was only on the request of AIFF President Praful Patel were they allowed to play for the Arrows last season. The Indian FA chief made a similar request this time also but the big clubs refused to accept Mr. Patel’s plea and thus Arrows have been forced to rebuild and depend on new faces for the new season.

PRE-SEASON

Pailan Arrows have world class infrastructure to train at thanks to their sponsors as their base is now in Joka, Kolkata where there are top class training facilities and grounds. However they are still early days into their pre-season preparations as initially the whole squad was gearing up for the UK tour, which later got cancelled. Both technical director Sukhwinder Singh and coach Sujit Chakraborty have stated that the team will use the Federation Cup to gain exposure and use the time after the Fed Cup to concentrate entirely on getting ready for the I-League.

Arrows are scheduled to play their first pre-season friendly against Prayag United on 11th September. They also to plan to face either Mohun Bagan or East Bengal before the Federation Cup to get some much needed match practice against tough opposition. Arrows have been placed in Group B of the Federation Cup alongside HAL, Salgaocar and Mumbai FC but their priority is a good showing in the I-League.

KEY PLAYERS

Pailan Arrows is a developmental side as the aim is to develop young Indian players for the international stage. So even though they have new sponsors now, Arrows once again have a very young squad as players are all below the age of 23 with many being under the age of 21. However there is no shortage of talent in this team and maybe at the start of next season, many of the youngsters in the current squad will become household names in Indian football.

Naveen Kumar – had a lot of responsibility last season as he had to fill the gap left behind by long time JCT custodian Karanjit Singh. The 23-year-old showed glimpses of his talent but couldn’t save the Punjabi outfit from getting relegated. He will be aiming to make a fresh new start to his career with Pailan Arrows.
Deepak Devrani – played quite a few games last season also and is likely to be a mainstay in the Arrows team this season. The young central defender formed a good partnership with Raju Gaekwad last term and his best performance was his man of the match display in the 1-1 draw with Dempo.

Shilton D'Silva Of Pailan Arrows
Shilton D'Silva - is already a full India international despite still being an 18-year-old. The talented midfielder will be the heartbeat of Arrows’ midfield this season and would be aiming to have another consistent season in order to become a regular in the Indian national team.
Holicharan Narzary – impressed for the India Under-19 side at the Weifang Cup in July as he managed to score two goals. Holicharan has all the ingredients to become a leading striker in Indian football in future and he would be looking to take his first step in that direction by faring well in the 2011-12 season.
C.S. Sabeeth – is the possibly the most familiar name in the Arrows squad this season because of his exploits for the Under-23 side during the Pre-Olympic qualifiers. Like Shilton, Sabeeth too has been capped at international level and the striker from Ooty would be aiming to score a lot of goals and ensure that Pailan Arrows do well this season.

COACH

Desmond Bulpin was removed by the AIFF with the main reason being the Englishman’s long-ball style of play, which the Indian FA isn’t a fan of.

AFC ‘A’ licensed coach Sujit Chakraborty will be in charge as coach while the legendary Sukhwinder Singh will be the technical director.

Chakraborty is one of the most qualified coaches in Indian football at present and Sukhwinder Singh (pictured) is of course well known for developing quality Indian footballers. The duo has their work cut out but is certainly capable of equaling the Arrows’ ninth place finish in last season’s I-League.

TACTICS

Previous teams of Sukhwinder Singh were known to have a good balance between passing football and the direct style. A similar style can be expected from the current Arrows team and 4-4-2 is likely to be the preferred formation.

Some players from the Bulpin regiment have been retained while the ones that have been taken from the Indian age group teams were being nurtured by Colm Toal of course. So the average height of the team is quite good and thus Sukhwinder Singh and Sujit Chakraborty would certainly encourage their players to use the wings and have crosses in the box for forwards.

However the youngsters would also be trained to play the short passing game as the ones who eventually get into the senior national team will have to be used to the ‘Dempo’ style beforehand. The Arrows team is still early days in their pre-season and will use the Federation Cup as a preparation for the I-League.

Therefore there will be alterations in the tactics and strategy of the Arrows as the season progresses but the graphic beside is our predicted possible eleven of the Kolkata outfit.

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Previous teams of Sukhwinder Singh were known to have a good balance between passing football and the direct style. A similar style can be expected from the current Arrows team and 4-4-2 is likely to be the preferred formation.

Some players from the Bulpin regiment have been retained while the ones that have been taken from the Indian age group teams were being nurtured by Colm Toal of course. So the average height of the team is quite good and thus Sukhwinder Singh and Sujit Chakraborty would certainly encourage their players to use the wings and have crosses in the box for forwards.

However the youngsters would also be trained to play the short passing game as the ones who eventually get into the senior national team will have to be used to the ‘Dempo’ style beforehand. The Arrows team is still early days in their pre-season and will use the Federation Cup as a preparation for the I-League.

Therefore there will be alterations in the tactics and strategy of the Arrows as the season progresses but the graphic beside is our predicted possible eleven of the Kolkata outfit.

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