From being ineffective at Kerala Blasters to being vital to the first team at FC Goa, Jackichand Singh has turned his career around…
After a hopeless season with Kerala Blasters, Jackichand Singh’s career reached a turning point when he signed for FC Goa at the end of the 2017-18 season of Indian Super League (ISL).
At 27, the Indian winger is still at the peak of his football career and stands to gain a lot from his performances at FC Goa. It has been a remarkable turnaround for Jackichand.
After starting his professional career at Royal Wahingdoh, Jackichand played for several Indian clubs but struggled to nail down a consistent first-team role. He played for FC Pune City, East Bengal, Mumbai City FC, Salgaocar before signing for Kerala Blasters in the summer of 2017.
In a disappointing Blasters season that started under Rene Meulensteen and finished with David James at the helm, Jackichand still managed to start 16 matches. He had two goals and three assists to his name but with David James signing a new three-year contract at the club and FC Goa approaching with an offer when the player’s contract was running out, a deal was quickly agreed.
The Manipur-born player has not had to look back ever since. He became an extremely useful asset for Sergio Lobera at FC Goa, especially down the right flank. For a player who was tagged ineffective and inconsistent, he produced four goals and four assists from the flanks.
FC Goa ran riot in front of goal during that season and Jackichand, who missed only one game throughout the campaign, played his part really well and became a trusted player under the Spanish head coach.
In his second consecutive season, there was a notable improvement in his tactical awareness and positioning, credit for which should go to both the player, for working hard to improve, and the coaching staff for putting the effort behind the scenes to improve the Indian players.
His directness and the ability to make dangerous runs into the box made him more of a threat in the 2019-20 season and will be a crucial weapon in FC Goa’s arsenal in the upcoming playoff ties. The India international has equalled his career-best scoring return with five goals and also has three assists to his name this season.
Among the Indian players at FC Goa, Jackichand Singh has scored the most number of goals, attempted the most number of shots and hit the most number of shots on target. He has been really good so far and surely, there is more to come.
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