Five things Mohun Bagan Super Giant did right in ISL 2024-25

Mohun Bagan Super Giant will play Bengaluru FC in the ISL 2024-25 Final.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant raced into the final of the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign with a thrilling 2-0 (3-2 on aggregate) win over Jamshedpur FC in the semi-final. After losing the first game by a 2-1 margin, the Mariners picked up a big win in the second leg, thanks to goals from Jason Cummings and Lalengmawia Ralte.

The Mariners are now looking to complete the ISL double, having already won the shield championship in style. While they might have assembled the most expensive squad, but the Kolkata side’s management and players stepped up when it mattered.

Here we look at the five key things Mohun Bagan did right in this campaign.

5. Tweaking Jason Cummings’ role

The Australian striker had a bit of a shaky start to the 2024-25 ISL campaign, scoring just once in their first nine games. But coach Jose Molina decided to just slightly tweak his system and deploy Cummings in a role which will get the best out of him.

Cummings, who usually played as an out-and-out striker, was shifted to a second striker role. He was played just behind Jamie Maclaren in the frontline, something which hugely benefitted him. The Aussie attacker started to flourish with the newfound freedom, even ensuring that Greg Stewart’s absence wasn’t felt by bringing a lot of creative threat to the table.

After having just one goal in his first nine games, he’s managed three goals and six assists in the 15 matches since operating in his new role. That included two huge goals in the ISL semifinals against Jamshedpur FC, proving that Molina’s slight gamble with him was the right one to take.

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4. Mohun Bagan Super Giant deciding on two foreign centre-backs

Before the beginning of the 2024-25 ISL campaign, Mohun Bagan Super Giant were rocked by the news of Anwar Ali’s departure. The centre-back opted to terminate his loan spell and join East Bengal FC, with fans worrying about who can fill his void in the defence.

Fortunately for the Mariners, they had perfectly planned their 2024 summer recruitment to have a solid backup plan in place.

They switched around their players at the backline, releasing Hector Yuste and Brendan Hamill. While two good centre backs were released, in came Alberto Rodriguez and Tom Aldred.

Despite the defenders having teething issues early on and needing some time to adapt, they went onto build an immense defensive partnership. Rodriguez’s aggressive style and physicality compliments the more composed, assertive defensive style of Aldred.

The two worked together to significantly strengthen Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s backline, ensuring that they kept churning out one clean sheet after another. The Mariners have managed 16 clean sheets in the 2024-25 season, and a major reason for that is the defensive partnership of Aldred and Alberto.

3. Patience in Molina’s style

The initial response towards Jose Molina’s arrival at Mohun Bagan Super Giant wasn’t as ecstatic as is the fans’ mood around him right now. The Mariners’ loss to NorthEast United in the Durand Cup final and shaky start to the 2024-25 ISL didn’t help things. The Mariners only won one of their first three games, being held at home by Mumbai City and suffering a 3-0 loss to Bengaluru FC.

Some chants of ‘Molina go back’ were even heard after the Mariners’ draw against Ravshan Kulob in the AFC Champions League Two opener.

However, the management did not get deterred by the initial hiccups. Molina found utmost support from within, being urged to continue with his own playing style and techniques to improve the squad. This had positive reflections, as Mohun Bagan Super Giant started dominating after the initial hiccups.

Fast-forward to the end of the 2024-25 campaign and they have won the ISL shield championship and set many ISL records at that. Showing full trust in Molina’s ability to lead the side was definitely the smartest thing the management could do.

2. Rotations

Mohun Bagan Super Giant have the luxury of having multiple quality players for almost every single position in their team, and Molina was smart enough to use that to perfection. He gave ample playing time for almost every member of the first-team squad, barring a few youngsters or injury-prone players (like Ashique Kuruniyan).

What Molina has really excelled at is the rotation of the foreign players, especially the attacking foreigners. That is why the likes of Cummings or Dimi Petratos have made significant impact as substitutes.

In fact, Molina’s substitutions have been quite on point, often allowing the Mariners’ to change a game’s result or help them make that late push for a win.

The smart rotations have also ensured that key players have not suffered from constant injuries, allowing the Mariners to maintain a fit and energized squad for the majority of the campaign.

1. Nailing the set piece tactics

Mohun Bagan Super Giant have played some highly entertaining attacking football in the 2024-25 season, utilizing their attacking prowess to torment defences.

The Mariners have scored 51 goals in 26 matches, averaging nearly two goals every season heading into the final. But their special weapon when it comes to scoring crucial match winning goals have been their set pieces.

Indeed, the Mariners have scored 22 goals from set-piece situations in the 2024-25 campaign (including penalties). This is the highest scored from set-pieces by a team in a single ISL campaign. A key reason for Subhasish Bose having six goals in the ISL or Alberto Rodriguez bagging five goals is because of the Mariners’ success from set pieces.

Molina clearly worked hard with his teams in working on set-piece efficiency in training and it has paid off marvellously.

They have tormented teams with innovative set-piece tactics and the delivery from corners or free-kicks have been immense too. This decision to work hard on set pieces has worked out brilliantly and played a key role to help the Mariners get to the situation they are in right now.

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