The fundamental premise in modern football is that when a team has the ball, it is in attack mode, while the entire team defends when not in possession. Hero Indian Super League finalists Kerala Blasters FC and Atlético de Kolkata have been plagued by scoring problems and have been unable to get the goals in abundance as compared to the beaten semi-finalists Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa.However, the duo have impressive defensive records. Kerala conceded the least number of goals in the league phase (11) and 14 overall till date, while Kolkata leaked 13, one less than Goa who let in 12. The two finalists also jointly have the most clean sheets (7) along with Goa, whose goalkeeper Jan Šeda is the leading contender for the Golden Glove award.So while everybody from from Iain Hume to David James and from Fikru Teferra to Apoula Edel Bete is responsible for such parsimony in goals conceded, the core defensive team, encompassing the central defenders, fullbacks and defensive midfielders, should be given due credit for getting the two sides into the final. Indiansuperleague.com looks at the defensive record of five key players from each team who have played the most number of matches for their respective sides to highlight the efficacy of their defending.Kerala’s Cédric Hengbart has been one of the standout defenders of the league, while young Sandesh Jhingan has had a near faultless tournament, barring a penalty concession and an unfortunate own goal (for which keeper Sandip Nandy was also at fault) in the last match. Gurwinder Singh (who is suspended for the final) and Nirmal Chettri have performed pretty competently too. For the Kolkata side, Josemi and Arnab Mondal have been outstanding, while defensive midfielders Ofentse Nato and Borja Fernández have been the epitome of consistency.Some of these players are pretty versatile too. For example, Jhingan has turned out as left-back, right back and central defender, Nato had to fall back into the heart of the defence when Mondal was out injured, while Fernández was once even played as an attacking midfielder.
