Chennaiyin FC has struggled to recreate the winning touch of its early years. | Photo Credit: Focus Sports / ISL

One of the founding clubs of the Indian Super League (ISL), Chennaiyin FC has seen several highs and lows over the last 13 years. Be it the 2015 final versus FC Goa or beating Bengaluru FC on its own soil in the 2018 final or its miraculous comeback in the 2019-20 season from the bottom of the table to another final, the club seemed to have struck a formula for success.

During the initial phases of the league, Chennaiyin was one of most consistent sides winning the titles in the 2015 & 2017-18 season. This success was largely credited to Marco Materazzi and John Gregory who created a strong system of tactical gameplay that brought a winning culture to the team.

Materazzi, the first manager of Chennaiyin FC, brought out the best out of his international stars like Elano, Bernard Mendy and Stiven Mendoza in an aggressive 4-3-3 shape, supported by Indian youngsters such as Jeje Lalpekhlua and Jayesh Rane. The system catered to every player in the line-up which led to championship in 2015.

John Gregory, who inherited the team from Materazzi in 2017, further established the club’s dominance with consistent performances. Gregory inducted the traditional 4-2-3-1 with an attacking mindset that gave Chennaiyin’s second title in his very first season, making it the then joint-most successful team in the league alongside ATK.

Midway through the 2019-20 season, Owen Coyle took over the reigns after Gregory stepped down due to a string of poor performances that saw Chennaiyin slip to the bottom of the table. When most wrote the team off, Coyle and Chennaiyin staged an opportune comeback in the latter half to make another final, eventually losing to ATK.

The key aspect of the club’s initial success amounted to a fixed tactical system and a strong domestic core. This backing had led to the club to find unearth new stars in players like Jeje, Jerry Larlinzuala, Anirudh Thapa and Lallianzuala Chhangte among others who performed for the club in the longer run.

The Downfall

After the disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISL 2020-21 was played out in a bio bubble in Goa. Chennaiyin entered the season losing its manager Coyle and its Golden Boot-winning striker Nerijus Valskis to Jamshedpur FC.

Hungarian manager Csaba Lazlo was appointed head coach and even though the club started off with a commanding 2-1 victory over Jamshedpur FC, everything fell apart soon after. Club captain and playmaker Rafael Crivellaro was ruled out due to an injury, denting the team’s creativity. The team’s attackers Esmael Goncalves and Jakub Sylvestr endured a horror run, with only six goals between them. The season ended with Chennaiyin finishing in eighth place, managing just three wins overall.

Soon after, Lazlo was sacked and was replaced by Montenegrin manager Bozidar Bandovic for the 2021-22 season and all the foreign players except Crivellaro from the 2020-21 season were released.

Things fell apart similarly after a win to start the season. The players struggled to adapt to the 3-5-2 system introduced by Bandovic, leading to a rigid midfield, fallible defense and an underperforming attack. The club also lost Chhangte to Mumbai City FC mid-season. A 0-5 loss to FC Goa which was the worst loss in the club’s history put the final nail in the coffin as Bandovic was sacked before the season ended. Once again, Chennaiyin finished eighth, losing ten games.

Forthcoming seasons weren’t kind to the club as well as it could only manage an eighth place finish under German manager Thomas Bradaric in 2022-23. Even Coyle’s return couldn’t alter its fate as it sneaked its way into the play-offs before it sank to an 11th place finish in the 2024-25 season. This period also coincided with the depatures of club captain Thapa and Vishal Kaith, who had established themselves as international players.

In the truncated 2025-26 season, Chennaiyin under Indian manager Clifford Miranda has only managed a two wins out of nine games.

The decline can be accounted to various reasons:

Lack of tactical consistency

Since the 2020-21 season there has been constant tactical changes to the team correlating to the constant change in managers. The players have struggled to adapt to a new system every season. This tactical inconsistency has created a limbo that the club hasn’t been able to overcome. There has been recurring changes in the formation and line-ups every game.

Shift in Paradigm

There has been a shift in paradigm to the league in its entirety. Teams like Mohan Bagan Super Giant, Mumbai City FC have seen investments from strong sporting groups; RP Sangiv Goenka group and City Football Group respectively.

The financial backing has allowed these clubs to bring high profile overseas players while also attracting majority of the Indian talent. While other clubs have adapted to this shift, Chennaiyin has not been able to fill the void left by the departures of their domestic talent and at the same time, has also not been able to attract high profile talents to the club as well.

Despite a false start this season, the team has found some consistency in tactics where Miranda has implemented a possession-based gameplay. Even though the side has lost five games, Miranda seems to have started to slowly create a system that the players are adapting to. While it is a long road back, Chennaiyin might have stepped foot in the right direction.

Published on Apr 27, 2026