The 2017–18 NorthEast United FC season was the club's fourth season since its establishment in 2014 and their fourth season in the Indian Super League.
Squad
Current squad Squad No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Goalkeepers 1 Ravi Kumar GK 13 Rehenesh TP GK 31Gurpreet Singh ChabhalGK Defenders 3 Sambinha CB / DM 4 Nirmal Chettri RB / RWB / CB / DM 5 Jose Goncalves (C) CB / LWB / LB 12 Reagan Singh RB / RWB / CB 15 Abdul Hakku CB / RB 16 Robert Lalthlamuana LB / LM / RB 21 Martin Diaz CB / LB / DM 33 Gursimrat Singh Gill CB Midfielders 6 Maic Sema RM / LM / AM 10 Marcinho AM / LW / RW 14 Rowllin Borges DM 17 Sushil Meitei LW / RW / AM 18 Malemngamba Meitei RW / AM / LW 20 Lalrindika Ralte LM / LW / CF 23 Helio Pinto CM / DM / AM 45 Fanai Lalrempuia CM Strikers 9 Seiminlen Doungel LW / CF / RW 11 Halicharan Narzary LW / CF / RW 27 John Mosquera CF 99 Danilo Lopes Cezario CF
Players Players and squad numbers last updated on 6 March 2018. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Background
2016 was another disappointing season for NorthEast United. NorthEast United started their campaign on a high note with two consecutive wins over Kerala Blasters and Goa. By mid-season NorthEast United lost all the momentum and had longest winless run of 5 matches (shared with Pune City and Chennaiyin) and longest losing run of 4 matches. By the end of season NorthEast United came very close to qualifying for knockout phase. In their final match of regular league phase NorthEast United needed a win against Kerala Blasters to proceed further, which they ended up losing 1–0 by conceding a goal at 66th minute. NorthEast United finished 5th on points table with 18 points from 14 matches. After the end of season, NorthEast United parted ways with coach Nelo Vingada on mutual consent.
Transfers
At the end of 2016 Indian Super League majority of domestic players from NorthEast United were loaned by or transferred to I-League clubs for 2016–17 season. After I-League season all loaned out players returned to club. However, due to the Indian Super League regulation each club was allowed to retain a maximum of two Indian players over the age of twenty-one (21) from previous squad.
NorthEast United announced on 17 July 2017 that João Carlos Pires de Deus will be taking over as head coach. Deus said:
On 8 July, NorthEast United announced they are retaining Rehenesh TP and Rowllin Borges for two years. Remaining players from previous squad who had returned from loans namely Nirmal Chettri, Reagan Singh, Fanai Lalrempuia, Subrata Pal, Seityasen Singh, Robin Gurung and Sumeet Passi went straight into players draft.
In ISL draft held on 23 July 2017, NorthEast United retained defenders Nirmal Chettri and Reagan Singh and midfielder Fanai Lalrempuia. NorthEast United added eight new players from draft, goalkeepers Ravi Kumar and Gurpreet Singh Chabhal, defenders Robert Lalthlamuana, Gursimrat Singh Gill and Abdul Hakku, midfielders Lalrindika Ralte, Malemngamba Meitei and Sushil Meitei. Forward Seminlen Doungel made his come back to NorthEast United for a second stint along with forward Halicharan Narzary.
In ISL draft, goalkeeper Subrata Pal, defender Robin Gurung and forward Sumeet Passi drafted to new expansion franchise Jamshedpur FC. Midfielder Seityasen Singh was picked by Delhi Dynamos.
On 13 September, NorthEast United announced their eight foreign singing namely defenders Martín Díaz, Sambinha and José Gonçalves, midfielders Adilson and Marcinho and forwards Luis Páez, Odaïr Fortes and Wellington da Silva on their official Twitter account from series of Tweets.
Wellington da Silva was later replaced by forward Danilo for unknown reasons.
Loan return and players draft Loan Return Draft / Retain Date Pos. Name From Date To Draft Round Ref.30 June 2017GK Rehenesh TPEast Bengal 8 July 2017 RetainedPre-draftMF Rowllin BorgesEast BengalPre-draftGK Subrata PalDSK Shivajians23 July 2017Jamshedpur FCRound 2FW Halicharan NarzaryDSK ShivajiansRetainedRound 3DF Nirmal ChettriDSK ShivajiansRetainedRound 4MF Seityasen SinghDSK ShivajiansDelhi DynamosRound 5DF Robin GurungEast BengalJamshedpur FCRound 5DF Reagan SinghMumbai F.C.RetainedRound 8FW Sumeet PassiDSK ShivajiansJamshedpur FCRound 12MF Fanai LalrempuiaMinerva PunjabRetainedRound 13
In Name From Date Type Ref.13GK Rehenesh TP East Bengal8 July 2017Retained14MF Rowllin Borges East Bengal11FW Halicharan Narzary DSK Shivajians23 July 2017Draft4DF Nirmal Chettri DSK ShivajiansDraft20MF Lalrindika Ralte East BengalDraft16DF Robert Lalthlamuana East BengalDraft9FW Seminlen Doungel BengaluruDraft12DF Reagan Singh Mumbai F.C. Draft1GK Ravi Kumar Sporting GoaDraft33DF Gursimrat Singh Gill BengaluruDraft18MF Malemngamba Meitei NEROCADraft15DF Abdul Hakku Fateh HyderabadDraft45MF Fanai Lalrempuia Minerva Punjab Draft31GK Gurpreet Singh Chabhal Delhi UnitedDraft17MF Sushil Meitei Royal WahingdohDraft19FW Luis Páez Rionegro Águilas13 September 2017Free21DF Martín Díaz Liverpool MontevideoFree3DF Sambinha Sporting CPLoan10MF MarcinhoFree Agent— 5DF José Gonçalves7FW Odaïr Fortes8MF Adilson99FW Danilo23MF Helio PintoKongsvinger IL1 January 2018Free6MF Maic SemaÖrebro SK20 January 2018Free27FW John Mosquera La Serena25 January 2018Free
n1. Player was retained by club before draft. n2. Player was part of club's previous season squad but had to enter players draft due to the Indian Super League regulation.
Pre-season and friendlies NorthEast United began their pre-season training on 27 September. Squad gather in Imphal on 17 October for 10-day pre-season training camp where they played an exhibition match against NEROCA which ended as 2–0 in favor of NorthEast United.
After training in Imphal, club went to Antalya, Turkey for the final leg of the pre-season. In Turkey, NorthEast United played friendly matches against Iraqi top division sides Al-Kahraba FC, Al-Naft SC, Naft Al-Janoob SC, Al-Najaf FC and Turkish top division side Alanyaspor.
Indian Super League
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Indian Super Cup
Announced on 15 March 2018, 2018 Indian Super Cup is a replacement for the Federation Cup. The qualifiers for the inaugural tournament are to begin on 15 March and conclude on 31 March 2018. The tournament proper will then commence on 5 April and conclude with the final on 25 April 2018.
NorthEast, having finished the 2017–18 ISL at the bottom spot, had to play the qualifiers to enter the competition. They played their qualifier match against Gokulam Kerala on 15 Match 2018 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar which they lost 0-2.
Foreign Players
Indian Super Cup, unlike Indian Super League, allows only 6 foreign players in squad for the tournament. Out of the 6 players 5 can be fielded by the teams.
No. Position Nationality Player 3 DF Sambinha 5 DF José Gonçalves 6 MF Maic Sema 10 MF Marcinho 21 DF Martín Díaz 99 FW Danilo
Qualifiers
Management Updated 12 January 2018. Position NameHead coach Avram GrantAssistant coach Eelco SchattorieGoalkeeping coach Joseph SidyStrength and conditioning coach Mauro André Claro MartinsPhysiotherapist Arvind Yadav
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
|colspan="14"|Players who left NorthEast United during the season:
Goal scorers PlacePositionNationNumberNameIndian Super LeagueIndian Super CupTotal1FW9Seminlen Doungel4041MF10Marcinho4043FW99Danilo1013FW27John Mosquera1013DF3Sambinha1013DF33Gursimrat Singh Gill101TOTALS12012
Disciplinary record NumberNationPositionNameIndian Super LeagueTotal3DFSambinha10104DFNirmal Chettri60605DFJosé Gonçalves10108MFAdilson10109FWSeiminlen Doungel404010MFMarcinho202012DFReagan Singh202013GKRehenesh TP111114MFRowllin Borges202016DFRobert Lalthlamuana101019FWLuis Páez202020MFLalrindika Ralte202021DFMartín Díaz202033DFGursimrat Singh Gill101027DFJohn Mosquera101099FWDanilo2020TOTALS251251
References