How can Liston Colaco save his Mohun Bagan career in 2026-27 ISL season?

The Green & Maroon has to find its form under Dilmperis

Liston Colaco endured a really disappointing start to the 2026-27 season with Mohun Bagan, failing to make any kind of major impact for them in the 2026 Durand Cup campaign. Despite the Mariners reaching the final, where they ultimately lost to East Bengal, the Indian winger was not able to score a single goal or produce any inspired performances to uplift their overall threat against opponents.

Colaco was actually quite frustrating to watch in the Durand Cup campaign, lacking that element of surprise and tenacity that fans have expected to see from him at Mohun Bagan in the last few years.

Things just didn’t work for him, with his overall finishing and creativity being quite uninspiring as well – as he failed to elevate the overall quality of Mohun Bagan’s attacks and was particularly disappointing in their knockout stages matches/.

The 27-year-old is coming off a pretty topsy-turvy 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign in which he scored just one goal and provided four assists for Mohun Bagan. Now,  Liston will face even more pressure in his left-wing role at the Mariners after the signing of Dejan Drazic and Lallianzuala Chhangte to strengthen the wide areas.

With his contract expiring at the end of the 2026-27 season, Liston needs to do something truly eye-catching in the upcoming ISL campaign to be able to prolong his career with the Mariners. Here, we look at how Liston can save his Mohun Bagan career in the 2026-27 ISL campaign.

3. Stop being speculative with efforts

A rather frustrating issue that has stayed with Liston over the years at Mohun Bagan is how he often tries to look for the spectacular that will earn him a place in the headlines. Even though the 27-year-old does boast some impressive long-distance shooting qualities, he often tries to go for goal in situations where better link-up play can enhance his side’s goal-scoring ability.

Liston tends to be able to dribble his way into nice positions outside the box, only to waste the chance by skying shots well over the opposition’s goals. He needs to stop being so speculative with his long-distance shooting, because too few of those efforts actually end up going into the back of the net.

As he’s now playing under Panagiotis Dilmperis, who prefers more selfless football from his players, Liston’s tendency to go for long-range shots and botch those efforts can harm his reputation with the gaffer. He needs to be realistic with his shooting, reserving it for when he’s closer to the goal and in & around the penalty area before trying to accurately guide the ball into the back of the net.

Unless he gets rid of his speculative nature, Liston will only damage his reputation among fans and harm his long-term future at the Kolkata club.

2. More decisiveness with his final product

Even though Liston did set up four assists for Mohun Bagan in the 2025-26 ISL campaign, there is still a lot more to be desired from the winger when it comes to his creative qualities. He only managed a 36.7% crossing accuracy for the Mariners in the league last season and just under 74% passing accuracy.

Those kinds of numbers are unlikely to make him a crucial figure under Dilmperis, because the Greek gaffer isn’t one to tolerate players who give away possession regularly or misplace simple passes.

Colaco has the ability to dart into the danger zones with his ball-carrying and dribbling qualities, but it’s what he does after reaching a promising position in the attacking third that matters the most. The 27-year-old winger has to work hard in training to become more accurate with his inviting crosses into the box to benefit Jamie Maclaren & co.

He also needs to be smarter with his cut-backs or overall passes into the danger zones to teammates to be able to create bigger chances and rack up more consistent assists in the 2026-27 ISL, which can increase his importance for Dilmperis’ squad.

1. Ruthlessness with finishing chances

If Mohun Bagan are to dominate the 2026-27 ISL campaign and reclaim their trophy, they will need to play some commanding attacking football and require goals from all their attackers rather than just a few individuals. Unfortunately, those players who come up short of Panagiotis Dilmperis’ expectations might get benched or worse, and that is why the pressure is definitely mounting on someone like Liston to be able to thrive under the pressure of expectations this season.

That means the 27-year-old winger needs to be way more ruthless with his finishing than he was last season or at the 2026 Durand Cup for Mohun Bagan.

Not only does he need to drop the act of trying to score long-range stunners, but Liston needs to be more realistic in trying to get into promising positions inside the box.

He must finish chances from closer ranges smartly to enhance Mohun Bagan’s goal threat and add more to his own tally. Unless he can be more consistent in front of goal, Liston risks being left behind at Mohun Bagan and potentially offloaded after the 2026-27 ISL season.

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.