Double interview with CFC professionals
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Contents
The Indian Super League crowned its new champion with ATK Mohun Bagan at the end of March, and after the Hero Super Cup national cup competition that was played afterwards, the 2022/23 season officially came to an end almost two weeks ago in the seventh largest country in the world. Midfielder Julius Düker and striker Petar Sliskovic are two professionals with a German past who opted for the Indian football adventure last year. In the Transfermarkt interview, the two players at Chennaiyin FC, coached by ex-national player Thomas Brdaric, look back on an eventful season and an exciting year.
Indian Super League on the rise
“The dimensions are just completely different”To the story
“In a nutshell: Life in India and the country of India are an absolute contrast to what we know here in the western world. That’s exactly why it was incredibly exciting and instructive,” reports the 27-year-old culvert in an interview with TM employee Sven Bauer. Born in Braunschweig, who played for Eintracht and most recently Paderborn, Meppen and Havelse in Germany, he played all the games in the ISL and was in the Brdarics starting XI 20 times. “I got on well with the coach right away. He’s a pretty direct guy and tells you to your face what suits him and what doesn’t suit him. I like this open way. The trainer has helped me develop my personality in particular. From the very beginning he placed his trust in me and repeatedly demanded that I take on responsibility. In the center in particular, it is extremely important to take on this leadership role and fill it with life,” said the 1.87 meter tall left foot, whose market value has developed positively over the past year.
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The Chennaiyin team finished the season bottoms with 27 points, just missing out on qualifying for the playoffs by just three points despite three final wins in a row. “We started the season with a completely new team, including a coaching team. It just took time for us to find each other. Another reason is certainly that we unfortunately conceded too many goals. We did score a lot of goals, but we didn’t manage to find a good balance,” explained former Mainz Bundesliga professional Sliskovic in an interview with TM. The team from south-east India scored the second most goals in the league and had one of the most accurate players in the league in former Eredivisie top scorer Nasser El Khayati – only bottom-placed NorthEast Utd conceded goals. and East Bengal FC more.
Upheaval at Chennaiyin
All transfers in summer 2022For an overview
Nevertheless, a positive conclusion can be drawn for the team, which was built from scratch under Brdaric’s leadership last summer, with a view to the development of the squad. “Regardless of the professionals with international experience, we only have one Indian national player in our ranks compared to other clubs, most of them had no ISL experience or a comparatively professional education in the run-up to the season, but we have established a competitive team and several lads brought to become a regular player, sometimes in key positions. Indian talents are on the way to attracting international attention. We are on the upswing and the development is there,” the 48-year-old coach confirmed in retrospect to TM.
Coaches with the most different championship titles in the top 5 leagues
Sliskovic on life in India: “Another World”
Brdaric, whose style of play quickly established itself among CFC fans as the positive term “Thomas Ball”, was also responsible for Düker and Sliskovic daring to venture into new territory at ISL last summer. “Of course, it helped me in my decision to have two familiar faces in Thomas Brdaric and Petar, who were also keen on the new challenge,” says Düker. “The conversation with the trainer convinced me 100 percent,” reports Sliskovic and adds: “He is a very ambitious and very meticulous trainer. As a former successful Bundesliga striker, he was able to give me a lot of personal tips and help me in my game. But not just me, but all players.”
From Zico to Materazzi
Foreign coaches in the Indian Super LeagueTo overview
The sporting level in the ISL would compare the Lower Saxony “with the 3rd division in Germany”, Sliskovic was also “positively surprised”: “I would not have judged it so well. And the fans here are positively crazy and it was fun playing in front of them. I can remember the first home game of the season when the fans blocked entire streets and we had a hard time getting through to the stadium.”
With twelve goals in 17 games, the 32-year-old, who can look back on ten professional positions in Germany, was one of the top scorers in Chennaiyin’s ranks, but fell out at the end of the season with a meniscus injury. The striker reports on life off the pitch: “The living conditions are completely different. It’s a completely different culture, a lot of people, a lot of traffic – a different world. It’s hard to describe if you don’t experience it. The team, the coaching team and the entire staff all lived together in the hotel and we always took the bus to training, which usually took an hour there and an hour and a half back. Away from the square we went out together from time to time and also communicated with people culturally. There is a lot of poverty in the country, but overall the people are very friendly, very nice and helpful.”
Pogba in the top 3
The top market values of the Indian Super LeagueTo the TM statistics
Düker adds to this in the TM interview: “The gap between rich and poor is significantly larger in India and you are confronted with this problem every day. It doesn’t go unnoticed when you see masses of starving people struggling to survive on the streets. I have to say, with a little shame, that we have lived a distinctly privileged life.”
The contracts of both professionals end in May, as does coach Brdaric, both can well imagine staying at Chennayin. “I learned last year that in football it’s difficult to plan things. It’s definitely an option to continue playing football in India. However, other options have opened up in Asia throughout the year that could become interesting. Hopefully I still have a few more years ahead of me in football and of course I would like to add a few more competitive games and successes. In which country and in which league that will be the case remains to be seen,” said Düker.
TM archive
Brdaric on adventures in India“Only works with the utmost conviction”
Sliskovic concludes: “It’s no secret that I feel good in India and also at Chennaiyin FC. We will now have talks as soon as possible and see how things go from then on, but my priority is definitely to continue my career in Asia. I can imagine many countries in Asia and I would also like to end my career abroad.”
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