To me, Bipin, Manvir Singh & Ishan Pandita are the names that standout during this season. All were remarkable.
Despite playing fewer games, Ishan Pandita has left a lasting impression with his crucial goals. His iconic goal celebrations were energetic and personify the intensity for scoring and winning.
Bipinâs hat-trick and winning championship goal were remarkable.
Manvir was impressive too.
Bipin Singh and Manvir Singh
Alberto Noguera
Alberto Noguera was FC Goaâs most creative player in Hero ISL 2020-21 with the Spanish playmaker posing a threat to opposition defences courtesy of his ability to place a pass and his guile on the ball. Noguera was frequently the one unlocking defences for FC Goa with his imaginative defence-splitting and eye-of-the-needle passes. No player managed to provide more than his eight assists in Hero ISL 2020-21 and Noguera also contributed a goal to the Gaursâ tally in his debut campaign with the club.
Roy Krishna
Roy Krishna was adjudged the Hero of the League and with good reason. The Fijian striker ended the season with 14 goals for ATK Mohun Bagan and was the Marinersâ biggest game-changer over the course of the campaign. Besides his 14 strikes, Krishna also provided eight assists to set up his teammates to score and four of those assists came in crunch clashes against NorthEast United FC in two legs of their semi-final as well as the final against Mumbai City FC.
Hugo Boumous
Hugo Boumous missed some clashes due to a minor injury and later a suspension. However, despite missing out on those matches, Boumous still finished as the Islandersâ top assists-provider having set up seven goals for Sergio Loberaâs men. His eye for a pass and ability to carry the ball up the pitch made him a handful to deal with. Besides his seven assists for Mumbai City FC, Boumous also found the back of the net thrice, including once in their first-leg semis clash against FC Goa.
Federico Gallego
Even though Federico Gallego didnât start Hero ISL 2020-21 in the best fashion from a personal point of view, he certainly ended it strongly. The Uruguayan playmaker was entrusted to take most of NorthEast United FCâs set-pieces and frequently put in quality balls into dangerous areas. He finished the season with four goals and was the Highlandersâ leading assist-maker (6). The Uruguayan playmakerâs strong form was a major factor behind NorthEast United FCâs late surge to the semi-finals.
Aitor Monroy
Jamshedpur FC may not have qualified for the semis, but Owen Coyleâs men remained competitive throughout even though they struggled to carve open opposition defences. One individual from Jamshedpur FC who knew how to pull the strings and did damage with his intricate passing in tight spaces was Aitor Monroy. The Spanish midfielder finished the season as Jamshedpur FCâs top assist-provider (6) and could have been extremely dangerous had his teammates been more clinical in the final third.
Jerry Mawihmingthanga
Odisha FC didnât enjoy the best of seasons as they finished bottom of the standings with just two wins. That said, they did have a few positives to take and while one was the emergence of talisman Diego Mauricio, the other was the performances of Jerry Mawihmingthanga. Jerry didnât feature in Odisha FCâs first few games but was a menace when fit, setting up five goals to make him the Bhubaneswar-based clubâs top assist-maker. He also scored a brace for Odisha FC during the clubâs last match of the season.
Ahmed Jahouh
While Ahmed Jahouh may not be a name frequently mentioned when discussing the attacking side of a playerâs game, his contributions in attack cannot be overlooked. A workhorse and imposing figure at the center of the park for the Islanders, only Boumous provided more assists than Jahouh (5) among players from Mumbai City FC. His quality balls during set-pieces were a running theme throughout the campaign just like his long passes from deep that more often than not picked out teammates in threatening areas.
Hyderabadâs Odei Onaindia was the only defender who featured in all 20 matches of his team during the league stages and was not dribbled past by an opponent.
@Jay @Amit your take on the ISL 2020/21 best 11 
Are you going with this team? Who misses out and who replaces who?
As many as 11 teams participated in the 2020-21 Hero ISL. Two new teams â ATK Mohun Bagan (after ATK FC and Mohun Bagan AC joined hands to become one entity) and SC East Bengal â joined the league ahead of the season, making it the biggest season yet. As a result, a whopping 115 matches were on view. Last three seasons, there were 95 matches on display.
The renowned Kolkata derby came to the Hero ISL this season with the inclusion of ATK Mohun Bagan and SC East Bengal. Both matches were surrounded by tremendous hype in the build-up, however, the Mariners clinched both the contests convincingly against the Red and Gold Brigade â first 2-0 and then 3-1. Roy Krishna scored in either of the contests.
Odisha FC and SC East Bengal featured in a high-octane contest in the last round of the league stage. As many as 11 goals were scored in the match as Odisha FC pipped the Red and Gold Brigade 6-5. The previous Hero ISL record of maximum goals in a match was nine.
As many as 18 spotkicks were taken during the second leg of Semi-final 1 between FC Goa and Mumbai City FC and eventually the latter won 6-5 in sudden death. The previous record was 10 spotkicks and it came to pass in 2016 in ATK FCâs 4-3 win on penalties over Kerala Blasters FC.
FC Goa went unbeaten 13 games to set a new record in terms of the longest unbeaten streak. The previous record was 12 games which they shared with Mumbai City FC. The Gaurs had done it across 2014 and 2015 seasons while the Islanders went unbeaten 12 games in the season just finished. Later in the season, the Gaurs, after a 0-0 draw against the Islanders in the second leg of Semi-final 1, extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games and set a new record.
For the second time in Hero ISL history, the top-two teams were tied on points at the end of the league stage. However, Mumbai City FC finished ahead of ATK Mohun Bagan on account of their accumulating more points against the Mariners in the league stage as they won both their matches against Antonio Lopez Habasâ men.
Akash Mishra
Akash Mishra quickly became one of the first names on the teamsheet for Manuel Marquezâs Hyderabad FC side. He started all 20 of Hyderabadâs matches and made the leftback spot his own courtesy of his calmness and confidence on the ball. Playing in his debut Hero ISL campaign, Akash didnât seem overawed by the occasion and instead gave the opposition many headaches while bombing forward. He made 37 blocks, 48 clearances, 55 interceptions and 80 tackles over the course of the season. The 19-year-oldâs ability to sense the danger also saw him make quite a few goalline clearances and last-ditch tackles. He also provided an assist and his solid performances earned him a national team call-up. He was also Emerging Player of the Month for January.
Ishan Pandita
A lot was expected of Ishan Pandita in his debut Hero ISL campaign after the youngster had honed his skill with numerous lower division clubs in Spain. A part of the Gaurs set-up under Juan Ferrando, itâs worth mentioning that the young forward didnât have many opportunities to impress under the Spaniard. That said, he made the most of the minutes he did get by continuously making an impact from the bench as a super-sub. The 22-year-old made 11 appearances for FC Goa, playing just 131 minutes but scoring four goals during that time. All his strikes came at crucial junctures as a substitute and helped FC Goa earn important points. One to watch out for in the future, Pandita is just getting started and will look to continue impressing with the Indian national team having also earned a call-up.
VP Suhair
Playing in his first Hero ISL season, 28-year-old VP Suhair showed that he can compete with the best in the country and even be the match-winner sometimes. After missing out on the first three matches of the season, Suhair featured in the rest of NorthEast United FCâs matches in Hero ISL 2020-21. He notched up an assist while former head coach Gerard Nus was in charge but only began to show his true potential following Khalid Jamilâs appointment as interim head coach. Under Jamil, Suhair enjoyed more gametime and repaid his coachâs faith in him with crucial goals in the Highlandersâ last two league stage games as well as one in their second leg semi-final. Even though the Highlanders didnât make it to the final, Suhair can be happy about the role he played in getting them to the semis. He finished the campaign with three goals and an assist.
