Bino George confident of Anwar Ali's involvement for East Bengal

The Torchbearers have had a disappointing run this season.

Under the guidance of stand-in coach Bino George, East Bengal FC travel to face a sturdy Jamshedpur FC side at the JRD Tata Sports Complex (Jamshedpur) on Saturday (5 October) in the Indian Super League (ISL). It’ll be their first match since the departure of Carles Cuadrat as the Red & Gold Brigade hope to put an end to their five-match losing streak.

The Kolkata heavyweights have to be strong defensively to have a chance of defeating Jamshedpur FC in their own yard. East Bengal are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, but have one of Indian football’s best defenders in Anwar Ali.

The 24-year-old has had a shaky start to his East Bengal career and produced some underwhelming performances in recent games. He’s made uncharacteristic errors leading to goals and still does not seem to be fully synchronized with the Red & Gold Brigade’s defensive shape, being caught out of positions and lacking his commanding nature in the last two games.

Despite that, East Bengal’s interim head coach Bino George is confident that we’ll get to see the best of Anwar very soon as the centre-back is now well adapted to the side’s playing style. Ahead of the Jamshedpur clash, George stated: “You know that Anwar has been playing in the national team continuously and he’s a very good player.

“He’s now settled into our team, he now understands our playing style and what we need from him. He knows that. We are now looking for the next game.”

ALSO READ: East Bengal part ways with Carles Cuadrat after disastrous start to ISL 2024-25

Anwar’s stuttering performances for East Bengal could be because of everything that went down regarding his move to the Red & Gold Brigade this summer. As he opted to end his loan spell at Mohun Bagan Super Giant before the start of pre-season, he missed out on vital pre-season training and couldn’t even play in the 2024 Durand Cup.

While the 24-year-old did play a game for India in the Intercontinental Cup, that definitely wasn’t enough to raise his match sharpness. He also joined East Bengal training later than many summer signings, which is why it’s taking him more time to adapt. Anwar will hope that the Jamshedpur FC clash not only signals the turning of a new page in East Bengal’s season, but also his own as he aims to get a clean sheet and regain his confidence.

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