3 underused East Bengal players who should get more playing time in final stages of 2024-25 ISL season

East Bengal are in the 11th spot in the ISL Table.

East Bengal’s hopes of qualifying for the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) playoffs were more or less extinguished with their 3-0 loss to Chennaiyin FC. The Red & Gold Brigade are now 11 points behind sixth-place NorthEast United with five matches remaining.

Even if they win all five matches, there is no guarantee that they’ll make the top 6. Hence, the best possible objective for Oscar Bruzon’s men right now would be to aim for a strong finish to this sour season. They will be participating in the AFC Challenge League in early March and will focus on going as far as possible in the continental competition.

As a result, this might be an ideal time for Bruzon to give playing time to some players who have gotten limited playing time this season. He could add freshness to his side’s playing style by introducing some fresh faces and also protect key first-teamers from injuries. Here we name the three underused East Bengal players who deserve more gametime in the final stretch of their ISL campaign.

3. Mark Zothanpuia

After having an encouraging 2023-24 campaign at Hyderabad FC, Mark Zothanpuia’s growth has stagnated at East Bengal. The 22-year-old left-back has only been restricted to six appearances for the Kolkata side this season, seeing Lalchhungnunga and Nishu Kumar above him in the pecking order.

Zothanpuia wasn’t helped by a bad injury he sustained in the 2-0 loss to Mohun Bagan earlier this season, which kept him out for quite some-time. However, the 22-year-old is now fully fit and deserves his chance to prove his quality. East Bengal’s left side was badly exposed in the loss to Chennaiyin FC and Zothanpuia can perhaps fix their issues on that side.

He is a vibrant, hard-working full-back who made 95 possession recoveries and won 73 duels in 18 appearances in the ISL last season. He can bring that defensive sturdiness with his ability to make crucial challenges and is also a threat going forward. Zothanpuia likes to burst forward with the ball and boasts an impressive distribution ability, as he can perhaps even help give more freedom for Richard Celis to find his best form.

2. Jesin TK

East Bengal continue facing troubles when it comes to converting their chances and actually scoring gaols in matches. They tend to create a lot of chances, but are lacking that final spark in converting their opportunities. They have signed Raphael Messi Bouli to fix their goal troubles, but there are more options at Bruzon’s disposal to add a more cutting-edge threat to his side’s forward line. Jesin TK can be used as a secret weapon by Bruzon as the 21-year-old has already proven his quality as a clinical goal-scorer.

Jesin scored 13 goals in the 2024 Calcutta Football League for East Bengal, winning the Golden Boot. He’s only made two appearances in the ISL this season and needs more game-time to show how good his finishing skills are.

Jesin has the instincts of a reliable goal-scorer, as he can carry the ball into dangerous areas and also get at the end of attacking moves very well. He can add something unique to East Bengal’s attack because of his predatorily instincts and finishing prowess.

East Bengal can easily use him as an impact substitute to terrorize defenders in the second half and immobilize their ability to score more late goals in the final few games of the ISL campaign.

1. Sayan Banerjee

Sayan Banerjee looked set to be East Bengal’s breakout young talent in the 2024-25 season after his heroics in the previous campaign. Last season, the 22-year-old winger produced some admirable performances in their Super Cup victory and made eight appearances in the ISL. He even scored an amazing goal in their final game against Punjab FC. However, Banerjee had been totally sidelined this season. He’s made seven appearances with an accumulate 49 minutes played. The 22-year-old has not been able to make an impact under Bruzon or fit his system that well.

But with East Bengal’s attacking issues showing no signs of waering down, perhaps the Spanish gaffer can now utilize Sayan more prominently. Banerjee is a passionate East Bengal fan who will play with his heart on his sleeve and work extremely hard to cover long distances.

He is also a technically talented player who can dribble past bodies and boasts a pretty good crossing ability, as well as scoring the odd excellent goals at times. If not anything else, at least Sayan deserves to get more than the odd 5-minute cameo and atleast needs 30 minuets to make his mark.

East Bengal can’t really lose much giving playing time to one of their own and the energetic, unpredictable style of Sayan can perhaps add that missing edge to their attacking patterns.

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.