Bengaluru FC: A pale shadow of past

As Bengaluru FC were ramping up their preparations for the Indian Super League back in November, their head coach Carles Cuadrat issued a warning.

"You cannot always be at the top and winning titles," he said. "What I mean is that there is an aura around BFC. Until now, they have been managing things very well, but we are talking about a history of seven or eight years. Not 20-30 years. In future BFC is going to go through difficult periods."

At the time, it was a throwaway line which then since has proven rather prophetic.

Granted the team is not on the floor. They are still sixth, three points off the playoff spot. But it's their history that shapes the narrative. They've never been among the pretenders, they've always been contenders. And a major one at that. They built their legacy on winning silverware.

They can still finish within the play-off spot and save the season, and perhaps that's a damning indictment of the form of the clubs around them, but there are underlying issues that need to be sorted out.

Sunil Chhetri - captain, leader, legend as the banner says - recently remarked that he had 'forgotten what winning feels like' during their eight-game winless streak. He had a look in his eyes of a man struggling to comprehend why a team, which built its reputation on the fortitude and overcoming of odds, has been gutless and shaky. Perhaps he is too close, for he cannot see the forest for the trees.

The reality is that they have been sliding for over a year. In many ways, Bengaluru had stood still while teams around them improved. It was not just the opponents that their imperious defence held at bay, it was also the reality that they were often saved thanks to goals from set-pieces. The early exit in the AFC Cup and the loss to ATK in the semifinals after being 2-0 ahead on aggregate, show a story.

But as it stands, this is a club that needs to rebuild. To slowly start moving the old guard - who shaped the success - and make way for the next generation. But that's easier said than done. The hardest thing for a team is to change when they are successful.

Perhaps a revisit to the philosophy that served them well before is in order. Or maybe find a new one.

Bengaluru's forte was that they scouted and developed players. The team was built on the backs of Indian players. Yes, the foreign players were key, but they were the right players, characters.

The immediate success in the beginning was built on the coaching given by Ashley Westwood and his assistant Pradhyum Reddy. In Westwood they had a coach who brought intensity and focus on the fitness side of things. In his assistant Reddy, they had someone who had experience coaching in the country (Shillong Lajong) and vast knowledge of Indian players. The two worked wonders with largely unheralded bunch, many of whom went on to represent the national team including Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Udanta Singh, Rino Anto and Keegan Pereira among others.

Over the years, this has slowly eroded. Under Albert Roca they played outstanding football but the Spaniard left without winning the league title. Cuadrat, the assistant under Roca, took over the reigns and while they did win the league on his first season, the performances were not the same. The assistant coach position was a revolving door with little consistency or continuity. Player development went down. Arguably the only players who peaked in this regime were Udanta and Rahul Bheke, scorer of the winning goal in the final. From a set-piece. Udanta has since regressed.

Away from coaching, there are questions to be asked about the recruitment as well. While Miku, their Venezuelan hitman, was an unconditional success. The club has consistently failed to replace him.

There is the monetary side of things, the club's unwillingness to spend beyond their budget. It's a smart thing to do in some ways but it has also meant they lost Miku and couldn't replace him with someone of his calibre. During his time, Cuadrat repeatedly bemoaned about recruitment, citing the club's 'economics' meant that they couldn't get the players needed to challenge the new powerhouses like ATK Mohun Bagan and Mumbai City FC. But from a team who unearthed gems like Edu Garcia and John Johnson, more was expected.

There have been many who came in Manuel Onwu, Deshorn Brown, Chencho Gyeltshen, Luisma, Nili Perdomo, Kevaughn Frater, Raphael Augusto, Kristian Opseth to name a few. All left, save Opseth, without leaving a mark. Of the lot, the former three continue to play in India and have found success in other clubs. This begs the question, were these players wrong for the club? If so, how did they get the recruitment so consistently wrong?

In defence this season, after losing Nishu Kumar, the best left back in the league last season, and defensive bedrock Albert Serran, their replacements have been far from ideal. The Indian player recruitment has been shaky too. Pratik Chaudhari, one of the centre backs brought in over the summer, is a prime example. Lenny Rodrigues, was never really replaced.

"Pratik is not the player who naturally suits Bengaluru's style of playing out from the back," admitted Naushad Moosa, the interim head coach.

This week, Moosa's statement about recruitment stands out again.

"It (January transfer window) didn't go really well. We were trying for players from Goa, ATK (Mohun Bagan) and Mumbai (City) but things didn't work out. We were looking for players who would fit in the first 11," he said. The returning Xisco Hernandez was the lone induction.

Turning things around will be a task made harder as the finances of the league are much more demanding than in the I-League, which is where the club built the foundation of their success.

Parth Jindal, owner of BFC, recently wrote a letter to Nita Ambani, the Founder Chairperson of the ISL about losses in excess of Rs 25 crore per season and questioned the sustainability of it. Made even worse this season by the lack of ticket sales and extra expenses of being in a bubble this season. The ISL teams also have no income from TV revenue, a major source of cash inflow in world football. The finances are a real stretch.

But there is hope. After all, this is Bengaluru FC. Brief though their history might be, they have shown tenacity. Maybe it might happen this season, with a win in their kitty, things might just start to snowball. Maybe they will bounce back in the next season.