Teams are generally built around a core group of players with varying skill sets. In football, it means a combination from among a group of goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards. The core players figure in most of the matches played by the team.However, it is evident that teams in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) are built from the back. A scrutiny of team line-ups shows that it is mainly defenders and defensive midfielders who figure in the list of players who have played the maximum number of games and minutes in the tournament. This suggests that the team head coaches have opted for defensive stability over attacking flair.It must be noted that some key players would have figured in the maximum minutes played list but for missing matches or playing time due to injuries, suspensions or substitutions. Surprisingly, in a whirlwind league dominated by the best of foreign talents and icon players, there are several Indians who have become an indispensable part of their respective team set-ups (Sandesh Jhingan, Gouramangi Singh, Denson Devdas, Deepak Mandal etc) and five among them are among the 10 players who have played in every match and minute of the ISL so far. The likes of Josemi, Arnab Mondal (Atlético de Kolkata), Shouvik Ghosh, Anwar Ali, Kristoff Van Hout (Delhi Dynamos FC), Youness Bengelloun, Narayan Das (FC Goa) and Manuel Friedrich, Yohan Letzelter, Subrata Paul (Mumbai City FC) have been on the field for every minute of their team’s matches in the ISL. While the first two named players have played 10 matches, the others are yet to play their tenth round match and it is expected that they will also have a cent per cent record when the tenth round concludes.The graphics show the list of the top five players who have logged the maximum number of games and minutes in the ISL.
