Former England No. 1 goalkeeper and Kerala Blasters' player-manager David James on Saturday said that though the Indian Super League has been fantastic so far, the only drawback of the league was the hectic schedule.
"It has been fantastic so far for a first-time league. It was amazing for 50,000 people turning up in Kochi for our match. Maybe the schedule is tough as we are even playing three matches in seven days and so it is affecting the players," James said ahead of their match with Delhi Dynamos on Sunday.
"Normally you play one match in a week in other leagues and if you pick up a minor injury, you may be out for a match or so. But here, you will be out for at least three matches and that affects the team," he added.
The former Liverpool player also defended the not-so-good performance of ISL's marquee players, saying that they have been giving their best.
"Naturally, there are a lot of expectations from the marquee signings. But they have come here at late stages of their careers. You should not expect Alessandro del Piero [Delhi Dynamos] to play like he did at the height of his career," James said ahead of his side's ISL fixture against Delhi Dynamos on Sunday.
"They [marquee players] are doing their best to the best of their abilities. They have not come for retirement holidays," said the 44-year-old.
James said the quality of football in the ISL was high despite the constraints in terms of facilities.
"The football quality in ISL is high, though you cannot compare it with other top leagues in the world. Say in the EPL, the game is very fast, the facilities are top class and they have been doing that day in and day out. Here, under the given conditions, the quality is good enough," he said.
Having spent some considerable amount of time in India, James felt the lack of quality coaching could be the most important factor behind the country's poor football development.
"I had some interesting conversations with Sandeep Nandy [Kerala Blasters reserve goalkeeper] and he told me about how Indian players are initiated into the game. I feel that lack of quality coaching has been the most important factor for the lack of football development in the country. So it is good if young players come up from the ISL," he said.
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