Appreciating Dippendu Biswas' heroics in Mohun Bagan's defensive sturdiness in ISL 2024-25

Dippendu Biswas has 84% passing accuracy in ISL this season.

Mohun Bagan has earned their reputation as the team with the best defensive quality in the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) and have frustrated many teams so far.

The Mariners have managed to keep 12 clean sheets in 20 games so far this season, and have also conceded the fewest goals for any team in the competition.

Vishal Kaith is earning a lot of praise for keeping all the clean sheets. Mohun Bagan’s new foreign defensive duo Alberto Rodriguez and Tom Aldred have also played pivotal roles in helping them remain such an unbreachable defensive unit. Subhasish Bose has also been really consistent with his reliable performances.

However, the real breakthrough player in Mohun Bagan’s defensive line this season has been youngster Dippendu Biswas. The 21-year-old has only made 10 appearances but made a prominent impact in the majority of his performances.

Despite being the most inexperienced member in the backline, Biswas oozes confidence and his never-give-up attitude has helped him excel. He’s played a valuable role in helping the Mariners’ backline remain sturdy and has come up strongly against tough opponents too.

3. Brings versatility to Mohun Bagan’s backline

The good thing about Dippendu is that he’s not like a one-dimensional player. He is quite flexible in being able to play in different roles according to his team’s needs. While the 21-year-old is naturally a combative centre-back, he also has the essential skills to play in different roles too. In the 2024-25 season so far, Jose Molina has played Biswas in the right-back position quite a few times.

This has mostly been whenever Asish Rai has been injured or suspended, giving the youngster an opportunity to prove his quality in the wide areas. To his credit, Dippendu has actually been an efficient full-back because of his crossing ability and comfort in being able to burst forward with the ball.

Even though he doesn’t have a goal contribution as a full-back yet, Biswas has proven that he has enough pace and ball-winning ability to deal with speedy wingers’ threat as a right-back. This versatility will definitely aid him throughout his career, and Biswas is guaranteed to keep impressing managers with his ability to excel while also playing outside his comfort zone.

2. Adds aggression and energy to the defence

The thing that helps separate the 21-year-old from the rest of the Mohun Bagan defenders is how Dippendu’s been allowed to maintain his energetic playing style. Jose Molina has now forced him to tone down his aggression or stopped him from going hard into crunching challenges to regain possession.

This ability to play his natural game with utmost freedom has rubbed off positively on Biswas, helping him excel this season. The youngster realizes that he has the utmost support from his teammates and that someone will be there to cover his mistakes if he goes a bit too far into making challenges. Dippendu’s aggressiveness has helped him win battles against many tricky attacking players.

He has won 32 duels and made 26 possession recoveries and 12 interceptions in his 10 ISL appearances so far this season. Biswas has managed to frustrate many opposition players with his proactive nature and helped his side keep a solid defensive record.

1. Ability to adapt to different situations

Biswas has not shown the kind of nervousness that can be expected from young centre-backs in the ISL. The 21-year-old might get a decent amount of protection because of the quality of players with him at Mohun Bagan, but he can really dig in when the pressure rises during matches.

The youngster has helped Mohun Bagan keep clean sheets in some challenging matches this season. This includes his admirable performances in the wins of Jamshedpur FC and Chennaiyin FC at home this season, despite both sides being known for their physical threat.

He successfully neutralized the threat of Sunil Chhetri in Mohun Bagan’s 1-0 win over Bengaluru FC and also kept Punjab FC as well as Mohammedan Sporting attacking players quiet in recent games. Dippendu has the ability to recognize the tempo of a game quickly and properly adapt himself to produce the most optimum performances.

This ability to punch above his weight against more experienced opposition players has helped Biswas excel and be a shining star in Mohun Bagan’s backline this season.

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