Three ways Carles Cuadrat can improve East Bengal

Carles Cuadrat has a mountain to climb at East Bengal.

East Bengal have announced that Carles Cuadrat will take over and become the new head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season. The Spaniard replaces Stephen Constantine, who left his role at the club after an underwhelming campaign.

Cuadrat is a reputed manager in Indian football and has tasted success with Bengaluru FC in the past. He was the one to help them win the 2018-19 Indian Super League (ISL) title. The 54-year-old comes back to India after spending the last few years working as an assistant coach for Aris Limassol and FC Midtjylland.

Despite all his past accomplishments, Cuadrat is well aware of the gigantic task at hand for him at East Bengal. He joins a team in disarray after finishing at the bottom rungs of the ISL over the last few seasons. He’ll need to influence a major makeover of the squad and change the entire system over how the club plays.

While he won’t be expected to help them win the ISL or compete for the league championship in his debut season, the Spaniard will be expected to have them perform at a higher level than before and at least challenge for a playoff spot. He’ll need to make a number of major improvements and Khel Now details some of them.

3. Signing quality foreign players

This might be obvious, but it’s crucial for Carles Cuadrat to significantly improve the quality of the foreign core at East Bengal. Last season, they were extremely reliant on Cleiton Silva – who scored 12 goals. Apart from him, Alex Lima did fairly well – but was injury prone. Jake Jervis was inconsistent. The others just weren’t good enough. Cuadrat can’t have that issue plague his side. During his time at Bengaluru, he recruited quality foreign players like Juanan, Dimas Delgado, Erik Paartalu and Deshorn Brown.

While the Spaniard will appreciate the union with Cleiton, he’s going to demand East Bengal to sign versatile and prolific foreigners. He’ll probably demand for experienced players that can fit into his system perfect and also adapt to the ISL quickly. As long as Cuadrat is allowed to sign his priority foreign players, he should influence a major improvement in form for East Bengal next season.

2. Fixing their defensive structure

Even though they usually deploy a pretty defensive formation throughout ISL, East Bengal still struggle to keep teams out. In 20 games last season, they conceded 38 goals – almost two goals a game and had the second-worst defensive record. Under Cuadrat, Bengaluru FC were known for being one of the ISL’s best teams defensively for multiple seasons.

In the 2018-19 season, they kept the most clean sheets in a single ISL campaign (12). Carles Cuadrat is known for expertly setting up his side defensively and mostly playing a four-man backline. He likes playing a deep No. 6 who can sit in between the backline (something Paartalu did for a long time). Of course, he’s unlikely to be able to make East Bengal a defensive rock with the current squad. He’ll need to sign quality players and also improve the level of some current players like Lalchungnunga.

Cuadrat will probably look to sign an experienced, commanding foreign centre-back who can maintain a tight defensive line. He’ll also work the players with their defensive tactics, training them to anticipate opposition moves better and how to maintain strict defensive lines. Of course, Cuadrat also needs to sign a new goalkeeper to replace the error-prone Kamaljit Singh. If he can find enough quality defenders who can improve the quality of his squad, Cuadrat can ensure East Bengal concede half the goals they did last season – which can massively increase their chances of competing for a playoff spot.

1. Turning Salt Lake Stadium into a Fortress

East Bengal played their first ISL season in front of their faithful at the Salt Lake Stadium last season after Covid. However, Stephen Constantine’s side couldn’t use the energy and support of their devoted fans to their advantage. They won just three out of 10 league games, a really poor record for any ISL team at home. Cuadrat will be focused on changing that record in his first season.

The Spaniard turned the Sree Kanteerava Stadium into a fortress no team used to like playing at. Under Carles Cuadrat, Bengaluru went on an 17-game unbeaten streak at home. In fact, the Blues mostly excelled under him due to their impressive home form and their ability to grind out wins at the Kanteerava.

The Spaniard will look to implement the same desire to win at home into the East Bengal team. He’ll need to get his squad connected with the fanbase and use the fans’ hunger to win home games consistently. If East Bengal start producing top performances and winning games at the Salt Lake Stadium, more and more fans will come attend games and support.

During the 2018-19 I-League season under Alejandro Menendez, when East Bengal won many home games, they had over 25,000-30,000 fans averaging their home games. Cuadrat needs to bring that fire back from the home support and get his side to keep delivering their best performances at home. If he's able to do that, East Bengal can turn the Salt Lake Stadium into their fortress and will eventually start challenging for big prizes.