Season Review of the ISL Clubs and Their Ratings

After a long and tiring nine months, the 2022/23 season of the Indian Football Calendar finally comes to a close. There was a lot of action to catch up for the fans who had enjoyed every bit of what they watched starting from the 2022 Durand Cup in August-September, followed by the Hero ISL in October-March, and ending with the Hero Super Cup in April and Club Playoffs in early May.

Ranking of the ISL Clubs based on their Season Rating

We saw many new promising young players shining over the period and also many surprising tales of clubs performing beyond their expectations. Also, there were some disappointing performances and uncertain dip in form from players and teams with high expectations.

Having said all of that we have summed up the performances of all the teams to determine how their season has been, and also ranked them accordingly based on those stats and viewpoints.

ATK Mohun Bagan – (8 Points)

ISL League Stage – 3rd Position in Table

ISL Playoffs Stage – Winners (ISL Champions)

Durand Cup 2022 – 3rd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Hero Super Cup – 3rd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

The Mariners had a tough outing in the 2022 Durand Cup and the Hero Super Cup 2023 as they failed to proceed out of the Group Stages. Even in the ISL they had tough times finding the goals and wins at the times mostly due to the injuries to key players. But it was their solid and compact defense along with the brilliance of a couple of key players that had given them the edge to win the Hero Indian Super League.

Bengaluru FC – (9.5 Points)

ISL League Stage – 4th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Runners Up

Durand Cup 2022 – Winners (Durand Cup Champions)

Hero Super Cup – Runners Up

The most “Unfortunate” team this season has been Bengaluru FC undoubtedly. The Blues made three final appearances this season and lost two of them precisely the Indian Super League in Goa, and the Hero Super Cup in Kerala. It’s painful to digest those defeats in the final but one thing that Bengaluru FC can be proud of themselves can be the fact that they were united as a team in the most difficult patches of their season. They never gave up and kept fighting and ultimately found their form which helped them contest for three trophies till the end.

Chennaiyin FC – (7 Points)

ISL League Stage – 8th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Didn’t Qualify

Durand Cup 2022 – Quarterfinals

Hero Super Cup – 3rd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Chennaiyin FC didn’t have a convincing display this season. The Marina Machans failed to make it to the playoffs which was unexpected for them, as everyone had high hopes they will be in contention for the Top Six race at least. Although they had shown promises of performing well in some of their games they failed to hold on to their consistency. Some individual performances stole the limelight but defensively the team was very poor and that is one of the main reasons why they failed to achieve anything despite scoring more goals than the Mariners.

East Bengal FC – (6 Points)

ISL League Stage – 9th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Didn’t Qualify

Durand Cup 2022 – 4th in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Hero Super Cup – 3rd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

East Bengal FC had another miserable showing this season. The Red and Gold Brigades have now massively failed to make their mark for three seasons in a row since coming to the Indian Super League. The side’s weakness was their ability to hold on to their lead in the games, as was the case in most of the matches, and the opponents made a comeback to snatch the win from them. Although this season the side from Kolkata performed better than the last two editions and got some surprising results like the doubles over Mumbai City and Bengaluru FC.

FC Goa – (6.5 Points)

ISL League Stage – 7th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Didn’t Qualify

Durand Cup 2022 – 4th in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Hero Super Cup – 2nd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

The Gaurs failed to make it to the Eliminators stage for slightly fewer points than Odisha FC. Although they had fielded the reserve side in the Durand Cup, they put up their main team in the Super Cup but failed to get out of the group stage on both occasions. Under the coaching of former player Carlos Pena, Goa did well in some matches but couldn’t solidify their defense and conceded many goals that cost them. Also, the performance of some of the foreigners was not impressive enough as the team and fans had expected them to play.

Hyderabad FC – (7.5 Points)

ISL League Stage – 2nd Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Semi-Finals

Durand Cup 2022 – Semi-Finals

Hero Super Cup – 2nd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Hyderabad started the season with the hope to defend their ISL crown and also won the other titles this season. Although the Nizams had performed well throughout the season, finished second on the ISL table, and went on to the semi-finals where they lost out to the eventual champions on penalty shootouts. Even though they were decent in the Durand Cup where they made it all the way to the semis, the Super Cup campaign didn’t go as they had planned to reach the farthest. The Nizams had fallen short and were knocked out of the group stage.

Jamshedpur FC – (6.5 Points)

ISL League Stage – 10th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Didn’t Qualify

Durand Cup 2022 – 3rd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Hero Super Cup – Semi-Finals

Jamshedpur FC didn’t have a satisfactory result this season. After Owen Coyle left the club, the Red Miners found it hard to replicate the 21/22 season performance under Aidy Boothroyd. Although the team had fielded their reserve in the Durand Cup and failed to go beyond the group stages, in the Durand Cup the team performed brilliantly by winning all three of their group games and making it all the way to the semi-final. In the ISL league stage, the club finished in the disappointing 10th position despite having a good end to their season.

Kerala Blasters FC – (7 Points)

ISL League Stage – 5th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Knocked out on the Eliminators

Durand Cup 2022 – Quarterfinals

Hero Super Cup – 3rd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Kerala Blasters FC led by coach Ivan Vukomanovic had eyed repeating their 21/22 season feat where they finished as the runner-up. The Blasters decided to participate in the Durand Cup with their B team and despite that all the way to the quarterfinals. The Super Cup though wasn’t that fruitful as they got eliminated in the group stages itself. In the ISL league stage, the Blasters finished in 5th position by virtue of the goal difference. In the playoffs stage, Kerala Blasters were knocked out by Bengaluru FC with a slim one-goal margin in the eliminators.

Mumbai City FC – (9 Points)

ISL League Stage – 1st Position in Table (League Shield Winners)

ISL Playoff Stage – Semi-Finals

Durand Cup 2022 – Runners Up

Hero Super Cup – 2nd in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Mumbai City FC had another promising season. Des Buckingham’s men continued off the form with which they left Asia in April. In the 2022 Durand Cup, the Islanders went all the way to the final and failed to overcome the final hurdle. Mumbai City were invincible in the league stage with their 18-game unbeaten run which helped them finish at the top and earn a playoff spot for the group stages in the 2023 Asian Champions League next season. In the Super Cup, an all-Indian Mumbai squad finished 2nd in the group stage by performing exceptionally.

NorthEast United FC – (6 Points)

ISL League – 11th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Didn’t Qualify

Durand Cup 2022 – 4th in Group Stages (Knocked Out)

Hero Super Cup – Semi-Finals

NorthEast United FC had an overall difficult season. Group stage exit from the Durand Cup after fielding the reserve side followed by terrible performances in the ISL, where they could only manage to get just one win in the bag. The Highlanders went on to finish in the last position on the table. But, in the Super Cup, it was a completely different story altogether as they emerged to be a surprise package by getting out of the group stages and making it to the semi-final stage where they eventually lost, but it gave something to all their fans to cheer about.

Odisha FC – (8.5 Points)

ISL League Stage – 6th Position in Table

ISL Playoff Stage – Knocked out on the Eliminators

Durand Cup 2022 – Quarterfinals

Hero Super Cup – Winners (Super Cup Champions)

Odisha FC under the second stint of Josep Gombau managed to qualify for the Durand Cup Quarterfinals, and also finish among the top six teams in the ISL league stage. Eventually, they were knocked out in the eliminators. In the Super Cup, the Juggernaut was a different side altogether as they won all their group games and defeated NorthEast United FC in the semis before winning over Bengaluru FC to lift the Hero Super Cup trophy which also happens to be the club’s first major accomplishment of their trophy cabinet in their entire history so far.

22/23 Season Conclusion

Overall it was a decent season, a lot of promise was seen among the young Indian player along with the other local players as they got more game time under their belts. As per a study made by our team, we found out that almost all ISL teams this season have played an average of 30 matches across all competitions. The more games the players will play the better it will be from their development point of view, as it will keep them in shape and fit to play regularly, and also help them execute to the best of their ability in terms of performance.

It was not the best season for NorthEast United, Jamshedpur FC, East Bengal FC, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters FC, and FC Goa. Even more was expected from Hyderabad FC but they were not below standard by any means. The team that stole the spotlight this season was none other than Bengaluru FC – the only team that had managed to appear in the final across all three tournaments that were held this season.

However, despite winning just one trophy (Durand Cup) out of the possible three, the Blues couldn’t earn a place in Asian competitions next season. Instead, it was ISL League Shield Winners Mumbai City FC, ISL Winners ATK Mohun Bagan, and Super Cup Winners Odisha FC that had won the rights to represent the nation across two of Asia’s best club competitions next season – AFC Champions League & the AFC Cup.

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