I would like to win the matches in 90 minutes, says Mohun Bagan coach Jose Molina ahead of Durand Cup 2024 final

Jose Molina also mentioned the team’s effort for success.

Mohun Bagan face off against NorthEast United in the 2024 Durand Cup final at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday (August 31). The Mariners are looking to retain the Durand Cup title after having won it last year and kick off their 2024-25 campaign in an emphatic fashion under new head coach Jose Molina.

Mohun Bagan not taking NorthEast United threat lightly

Despite Mohun Bagan having tons of trophy-winning experience, something the Highlanders don’t, Molina is not taking them lightly. Speaking ahead of the final, he reiterated, “NorthEast United are a very good team. We got the idea that they’ve played well in the Durand Cup matches, they are doing well. They’re defending well and have very fast wingers on the attack and good attackers. It’s not easy to score goals against them.

“But we’ll always be positive and think that if we do a good job then we can score goals. We are expecting a tough task, and the team in front of us is very good to be in a final with us. We are confident in our work that if we trust in our style, we can win the match and make everyone happy afterward,” Jose Molina added.

Desire to play more friendlies and Subhasish Bose situation

The gaffer insisted that he’d like to play a few more friendly matches before such competitive games, but that his side is ready to play irrespective of how many foreigners are match fit. Jose Molina stated, “I would prefer to play some friendly matches before the start of the campaign. We are now preparing for the official matches. We didn’t have that many friendlies to prepare with. But the rules are rules, we are fine with that.

“We’ll play all the matches we need to and do our best. We’ll prepare strongly for the ISL and AFC Champions League and of course tomorrow we’ll look to win the final. Every match, we play to win. It doesn’t matter if we are playing with four or six foreign players.”

Molina also hinted that captain Subhasish Bose could start in the final if able to fully recover from the injury he sustained against Bengaluru FC, claiming, “Subhasish trained very well yesterday, but we don’t know if he can start. We have two more training sessions and if there are no problems then he will be playing in the final.”

No place for individual praise in Molina’s Mohun Bagan

The Spanish gaffer refused to pick out praise for individuals or label any particular player to be more important than the other. Jose Molina insisted, “If we win, it’s because everyone has done their job perfectly. It’s not the special work of only one player.

“We can concede two goals like the last match, we are not happy with that of course, we don’t want to suffer goals and want clean sheets. We’re working on that. But it’s not a case that we need one or two special players to win, if we win it’s because everyone did well. If we don’t win, then also it’s not like one or two individuals did their job wrong, it’s the responsibility of the entire team.”

Aspiration to wrap up results earlier

Jose Molina insisted that he’d like for Mohun Bagan to wrap up results within the 90 minutes after playing out two back-to-back penalty shootouts, saying, “I would like to win the matches in 90 minutes, but sometimes we can’t. It’s better if we can, and we want to score more goals and win the match in the 90 minutes. Then we can avoid a penalty shootout and not be in that kind of a nervous situation.”

Molina sends stern message to Mohun Bagan players

Finally, when asked if he’d like to take into account Greg Stewart’s desire to be in the starting XI in the final, Molina warned his players that even those on the bench are required to be motivated to give their best. He explained,  “Greg Stewart, Jason Cummings, Dimitri Petratos, Subhasish Bose and everyone in the squad want to be in the first XI. That’s normal, I understand.

“That makes me happy because they’ll all fight very hard to be in the first XI. There will be a high level of competition within our squad for a place in the starting XI and that will help us increase our performance levels. I’ll tell the players that to be in the first XI is very good, but the players who come from the bench are also key players in every match.

“In Jamshedpur against Punjab FC, Manvir Singh came from the bench and scored a goal, Jason Cummings did the same. They are key players! I understand that they’ll always want to be in the first XI which is normal.

“But they must understand that irrespective of if they start or not,  they have to be prepared to help the team at any moment.

“If they can’t get to start, they might have five to 10 minutes towards the end to make an impact. I want them to have a mentality to push for scoring a goal in that late cameo. If a player is in the starting XI, that’s great. But if they’re not, support your teammates from the bench, help them and be ready to come onto the pitch to fight and work 100% to get positive results,” Jose Molina finished off.

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