Sandesh Jhingan’s talks with clubs in UK and Australia are no more hidden and that highlights the need and requirement of a player to replace the giant and powerful defender at Kerala Blasters FC. Known for his physical strength, aerial ability and willingness to put the body on the line, he is considered to be one of the best defenders in India. Parting ways with a player like him is quite a misery for the club and finding a replacement to such an amazing player is a real big task to be completed. The winner of the Indian Super League Emerging Player of the Year and All India Football Federation Emerging Player of the Year in 2014 is now a veteran who did every possible thing on field for the club during his 6 years.
Getting a replacement for this gem is really difficult but let’s have a look at his possible replacements for the club :-
1) Sarthak Golui
Born in West Bengal, Golui was a part of the AIFF Elite Academy before trialing with I-League side, Mohun Bagan.On 9 January 2016, Golui made his professional debut with Mohun Bagan in the opening game of the I-League season against Aizawl. He came on in the last minute for Kean Lewis as Mohun Bagan won 3–1.
Sarthak Golui of FC Pune City celebrates a goal during match 74 of the Hero Indian Super League between Bengaluru FC and FC Pune City held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore, India on the 16th Feb 2018
Photo by: Vipin Pawar / ISL / SPORTZPICS
The number 16 has represented India in both the under-16 and under-19 level, he has also played AFC Cup qualifying round against Maldives club. Other than playing as a full back Golui also plays as the centre back and a right mid fielder which makes him a versatile player.
Sarthak has had 4 percent goal participation in all games and has started in almost 75% of all games he has played. He can be a possible replacement for Jhingan at KBFC.
Team IFTWC recently organised a live session on Instagram with the indian team and Odisha FC midfield maestro Vinit Rai. On 15th May the box to box player joined hand with IFTWC to talk about various aspects of the game and answer questions by the fans regarding development of football.
Starting with his first season as an ISL player , he started at a young age and joined Kerala Blasters FC for the 2016 season of the ISL although he got only 1 match to start but got to learn about the league at the club. He then joined Delhi Dynamos in 2017. Vinit highly appreciates the efforts put in by the coaches and managing staff and the trust they showed in him all that gave power to him which then resulted in his good performance on the pitch and helped him sustain and improve with the team.
Apart from the coaching staff a player Vinit thanks is Marcos Tebar , he says Marcos is a true leader and he knows how to handle and motivate the team in difficult situations , he inspires the team also with his playing style. His chemistry with Tebar can be seen in the matches and how both of them know what the other player is going to do next, Although the team is not sure if Marcos will stay or not at OFC. But Vinit surely wants to improve here as Odisha FC.
Marcos Tebar and Vinit with manager Josep Gombau
Talking about his contribution in the Indian team he has been the part of the Indian National team for a while now and has played matches against Qatar and China, and the team managed to earn a point from both the matches, he is still in a learning process but is ready to serve the nation. When questioned, what he does in his off season Vinit replied he works out 2 times a day for 6 days and rests on sundays , he sticks to his diet all the time because fitness for him is the most important.
Vinit for the Indian National Team
The Assamese loves to play as a deepline midfielder and plays the role of a box to box man , he believes communication between players and a better understanding can help create a lot more chances to score. He tries to be a part of the build up process in any game and respects the position of a defensive midfielder. He is inspired by his idol Eugeneson Lyngdoh , he says Lyngdoh is a cool headed guy and has a great passing range, he aspires to be a great player in the midfield and want to go abroad in the next 5 years to play in a different league and challenge himself.
Vinit is a player who keeps most of the things to himself and is focused on developing himself and his game so when asked about naming the under rated players in the under 23 squad , he replied:
“I don’t like to think that much , all this distracts me , and according to me anyone who does hard-work deserves and will achieve success and limelight “.
He then discussed about the scenerio of football and it’s structure in Assam and mentioned that the introduction of North East United FC in the ISL helped a lot to boost the quality of football in Assam, as it motivated people and players and resulted in development of more football academies in Assam. He said local players are getting highlighted and much more opportunities are available to them now.
He wrapped up by telling that fitness and mentality are the 2 key attributes to become a good player and at an important position like his he doesn’t want opponents passing by and if they do he has to cover up, where fitness comes into play. Also a DMF has to do all the dirty work and has to go for every ball be it grounded or aerial whatever it’s probability be let it be 60-40 or 70-30 so here your strong mentality is required.
Finally we ended the session with a small rapid fire round with some miscellaneous questions where we got to know that Vinit’s favourite player is Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid is his favourite club.
Vinit is a player with great determination and dedication he’s looking forward to grow more as a player at Odisha FC and do whatever he can for his country in National matches.
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