ISL 2025-26: Oscar Bruzon looks optimistic ahead of SC Delhi clash

East Bengal FC looks to capitalize on their positive start

East Bengal FC  began their Indian Super League (ISL) 2025–26 campaign with a dominating 3–0 victory over NorthEast United FC at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Monday, February 16. A brace from Youssef was complemented by a composed ISL debut goal from Miguel ensured an emphatic start for the Red and Gold brigade.

With SC Delhi next on the schedule, the Kolkata Giants will be aiming to sustain their early momentum, and continue their strong start to the new campaign.

Ahead of the match against Sporting Club Delhi , Oscar Bruzon and Jeakson Singh addressed the media and spoke about the preparation of East Bengal FC and what is their aim from this year’s ISL Championship title with only 13 matches to play this season.

When Oscar was asked is there any plan within the team of winning the Championship this year

He stated: “Honestly no, simple in the past few seasons performance wise East Bengal was not up to the mark, we are one of the best clubs in India rather the best club and are currently at the top of the points table. I know where I am, the mental conditions of my players and the fans also want to win all the trophies.”

“Because the last five seasons we created a lot of expectations about the team among the fans but couldn’t deliver. But this year we don’t want to commit any mistake and create any pressure within the team about all the buzz and hype that is going around this year regarding winning the league. We want to approach the league match by match, focus on our progress, follow the three steps that I have mentioned before and don’t want to think about winning the ISL Championship title until the FIFA International break in March.” he further added.

Thoughts on the injuries and fitness issue of Anton Søjberg ahead of their second home game in ISL

Speaking about his thoughts on the injuries of East Bengal and the fitness issue of Anton Sojberg.

Oscar explained: “Rakip is quite fit and will be there in the squad against SC Delhi. Mahesh is also recovering well and will need some more time, may be 10-15 days more before to attain the full fitness. Kevin will be back within the next weekend and will train with the team and probably he will be included in the squad in the last few matches before the FIFA International break in March.”

“Regarding the fitness of Anton, he’s fully fit, motivated, very energetic and ready to play some matches. Before coming to East Bengal, he played some professional football in Denmark, and he will be there in the squad against SC Delhi.” he further added.

Thoughts on SC Delhi’s threat and East Bengal’s home advantage

Speaking about his thoughts on this re-branded SC Delhi from Hyderabad FC that his side faces off against in their second home game in ISL 2025-26.

Bruzon explained: “SC Delhi is not fully unknown, as they are the continuing part of Hyderabad FC from the last season and as per our information they have retained few players from the last season. We have some information about their coach also; he follows a particular methodology and a has a well-articulated playing identity.

He has a good intellect of football that’s the league is pursuing at present. He likes to play possessional football, likes to adapt, likes to use the full length and the width of the pitch, likes to create chances from the counter attacks. So, we have a proper plan about the formation for tomorrow’s match.”

“We have seen them playing in Super Cup and in the last match against Bengaluru FC. We are fully aware about what they bring onto the table and have planned well to face them. So, we have enough information regarding our opponent, and the plan is ready to get a positive result from this game.”

“I met Tomasz way back in 2019 when he was the assistant coach of Mohun Bagan and later on, he spent two years with Kerala Blasters FC in ISL. He comes from a Polish Academy, which has similarities with the Spanish Academy.

He likes to work with developmental players, likes to build up from the back and depends on counter balls. He likes to play passing and possessional football, good in transitions, likes to create positive chances by advancing forward using the central midfield area. They’re a young team with expertise in taking set pieces and coming here with the need of collecting their first points of the season as well.”

“So, facing them tomorrow, will not be an easy task, they’re a tough opponent. Their coach follows a much similar playing methodology like us so with all this information available to us, if we can maintain our shape, level of performance and carry the momentum from our last game, we can win and honestly, we will be a bit ahead of our rivals in the game.”

“We usually have our training sessions at 4 PM in the evening. But match day minus one we have a morning training session and after the press conference we have our lunch together. This is the new tradition within the team. And in the evening, I want to give proper rest to my players so that on the match day they can play in free mind and give their best. I don’t want to give any pressure to my players and wants them to stay calm and composed” he also added.

Oscar also commented on the game changing moments created by Edmund Lalrindika and PV Vishnu in the last game against the Highlanders and clarified his views on playing Jeakson Singh in a defensive role this season.

The gaffer explained: “Yes I know we have a powerful squad this year and have a very good chance of winning the title. But as I have told you all we don’t want to think about all these ambitious things right now and repeat the mistakes that we have made in the past season.

We want to approach the season game by game and don’t want to take any pressure of winning the Championship title till until the FIFA International break in March, then we will think. Now we want to focus on our game, play against some of the best clubs in the league and only think about our rivals, SC Delhi and after the final whistle tomorrow, we’ll think about the next game against Jamshedpur FC.”

“Yes, Edmund was a key player in the last match, but I will also mention about PV Vishnu. They changed the impact of the game, coming as substitutes after the 60th minute. This is the thing we were talking about that how important it is for us to use the full strength of our squad this year.

You can see many of our rivals are facing this issue that is some of their players are facing cramps after the 60th-70th minute of the game due to lack of proper pre-season. But here we are superior to many of our opponents this season, we want to focus on all the players of our squad and give equal chance to them rather than focusing just on the playing XI. If you ask me about our playing XI against SC Delhi, you have to wait for 24 hours and then you can see our planning for the game.”

“Regarding why Jeakson is playing as a central back and not in the midfield I think you need to change the question first. Jeakson have played under a lot of different coaches in his career, and they have mainly used him in the central defensive position. If you do a detailed analysis on Jeakson, you will understand. I know East Bengal have signed Jeakson from Kerala because he plays in the midfield, but I am confident that he can operate in both the positions.

“Mainly a lot of foreigners play in this central defense position as here you need a 360-degree approach. But I think Jeakson has the capability to control the game from the back. As I have told you during the last press conference, Jeakson understands the game very well, helping both the midfield and forward from the back by creating goal-scoring. You can clearly see this sign during our second goal against NorthEast, how he created the ball from the back and helped our strikers” he added.

Jeakson Singh opens up on East Bengal’s ISL preparations, 13-game challenge and his new defensive role

Jeakson Singh addressed the media before the match against SC Delhi along with coach Oscar Bruzon.

Jeakson stated, “I am very fortunate to play for a club like East Bengal FC. We have prepared really well during the pre-season knowing that it will be short-delayed league this year and played quite a few matches in the last six months. As I have already told you that we have prepared really well, training hard and improving our game day by day.”

“If you can see in the past I have played as a central defender as well as a midfielder under a lot of coaches, so it was not new to me and a bit easy for me to adjust. I also got a lot of confidence from the coach and my other teammates. I want to contribute more, help my team in the coming games and ready to play in any position as my team requires and the coach wants me to play.”

“I try to improve my game daily by assessing the mistakes. As a professional footballer, I kept on motivating myself by playing football and spending time with my family during the uncertain period in the Indian Football. Many of the other players in other clubs were facing a lot of problems but we were very lucky in East Bengal, we got proper game times during the Durand Cup, the IFA Shield and the Super Cup, the management also helped and supported us really well during the tough times” he also added.

Oscar and Jeakson’s message for the fans before their second home match of the ISL

“Fans have supported us throughout the season. They also came in large numbers in the last match and motivated us to play well. So, we want them to come in large numbers in all of our home games as well as tomorrow so that we can produce some positive results for them and East Bengal FC.” Jeakson added.

“Fans are the main pillars of the club. I want them to come in large numbers tomorrow as it is an evening game and also it is a weekend game. I want to learn Bengali, but it is a bit difficult to learn. I really like the Bengali chants and the slogans used by our supporters and fans. So, I want them to come in large numbers tomorrow with all those Bengali chants, slogans and support us for more positive results in the favour of East Bengal FC.” Oscar finished off.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.