Why must Oscar Bruzon improve decisive substitution calls to improve East Bengal's push in ISL 2025-26?
Bench strength could decide East Bengal’s title fate.
East Bengal might have enjoyed a terrific start to their 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign, winning their first two matches in style, but they’ve been brought back to reality in recent weeks. The Red & Gold Brigade are now winless in their last two games, picking up only one point from a possible six – something that has deterred their ISL title challenge.
Even though East Bengal appear to have a pretty strong foreign core this time around, with the likes of Miguel Ferreira, Youssef Ezzejjairi and Mohammed Rashid all impressing – individual heroics cannot guide them to victories every time! That itself was proven in their loss to Jamshedpur FC and recent draw against FC Goa, causing them to slip up in the ISL title race.
Oscar Bruzon definitely has a stronger East Bengal squad at his disposal in the 2025-26 ISL campaign as compared to the previous campaign. There is decent depth in almost all their positions, and there is only a need for better handling of the squad options to maximise the output of nearly every player on the pitch.
One element of Bruzon’s management in East Bengal’s ISL matches so far this season has to do with substitutions, which have proven topsy-turvy results. Indeed, while his substitutes in a few matches have had a positive impact on the result, the Spaniard’s decision-making with substitutions in their recent games has been extremely underwhelming. Here, we look at how Bruzon can be more impactful with smarter substitutions for East Bengal to improve their push for top places in the 2025-26 ISL.
Smarter change in shape
Because of the kind of versatility on offer for Oscar Bruzon when it comes to his squad options, he can actually opt to tweak his formation multiple times in a single match. As he tends to have several forwards and wingers on his bench, Bruzon can tweak East Bengal’s shape from a slightly defensive one to go offensive if he feels like it.
East Bengal have mostly shaped up in a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1 formation so far in their ISL matches, but there is enough on offer for Bruzon to tweak that if he wants to. He could bring on players like PV Vishnu and David Lalhlansanga at earlier points as substitutes and potentially switch the formation to an attacking 4-3-3 if required – adding more pressure to the opponents.
Being able to switch formations can help East Bengal add more freshness and unpredictability to their attacking style. The opponent players would also get more and more confused if they’re not able to properly read East Bengal’s build-up play, which can tend to change if there is a change in their system.
Rather than sticking to the same tactics, Bruzon needs to use his substitutes to usher in new methods of attacking the opposition goal. If East Bengal are able to keep changing their patterns of attacking play and move forward with more numbers, thanks to attacking substitutes, it’ll put the opposition players under intense pressure and gift the Red & Gold Brigade with more goal-scoring chances too.
Bigger role for Anton Horup as an impact substitute?
As they’ve placed a lot of their attacking responsibilities onto Ezzejjari and Figueira, East Bengal tend to get frustrated when the two players’ threat is neutralised. Bruzon has to realise the need to take action when these players aren’t able to perform to their best, which can be seen by bringing in a quality foreign player from the bench.
Anton Horup was benched in the match against FC Goa, and he might struggle for regular starts once Kevin Sibille and Saul Crespo are available. However, Oscar Bruzon has actually opted to use the Danish midfielder as an impactful super-sub, who can turn around the drift of their performances in tense situations.
Horup is capable of working hard in the midfield, and he can be particularly useful against tired opposition players. He can make smart off-the-ball runs to help expand East Bengal’s control in the midfield, as well as create big chances with his lively final third passes. Horup is also capable of finishing off chances nicely, and he can raise East Bengal’s goal-scoring qualities as a decisive finisher from close range.
Could using Edmund Lalrindika as a substitute bring better results?
Edmund Lalrindika has been one of the stars of the 2025-26 ISL campaign so far for East Bengal, scoring two goals in the four appearances so far. Out of that, he has started in three matches and scored two goals in that period as well. However, Edmund actually looked pretty good as an impactful substitute in East Bengal’s 3-0 win over NorthEast United, putting in a diligent effort.
Oscar Bruzon could opt to start Edmund in a substitute role if he opts to play Naorem Mahesh Singh in a right-wing role going forward. Lalrindika could actually be a much more efficient substitute option in the big games because of his ability to torment defenders. His pace, off-the-ball runs and ability to sniff out chances would be more threatening against exhausted defenders, who might give him more free room to manoeuvre in the final third.
Considering that Lalrindika doesn’t look that comfortable playing out wide anyhow, playing him in a more central area as a substitute could be a better alternative in some major games. That could allow the Indian forward to get to the end of more chances and potentially raise East Bengal’s goal threat in the second half of matches, potentially allowing them to win more games.
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Uttiyo is a sports journalist who has been covering football since 2016. He is an avid football enthusiast who spends hours either watching the beautiful game or writing about it. He has covered various tournaments for Khel Now, such as the FIFA U17 World Cup, ISL, I-League & AFC Champions League.