How Mohun Bagan are getting best out of ruthless Jamie Maclaren in 2025-26 ISL campaign

Jamie Maclaren is the current top scorer in the ISL with seven goals.

Mohun Bagan have had an extremely dominant start to their 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign, winning all four of their matches in style. The Mariners seem to have adapted relatively well to Sergio Lobera’s system, producing some thrilling attacking football and establishing themselves as major favourites to win another ISL title.

A major reason for Mohun Bagan’s dominance in the early phase of the 2025-26 ISL season has been their free-scoring forward, Jamie Maclaren. The Australian forward has scored seven goals in the first four matches of the campaign, flying his way to the top of the goal-scoring charts in the ISL.

Maclaren appears to be performing at a much higher level in the 2025-26 ISL campaign than he did in the 2024-25 season, and a lot of the credit actually goes to Sergio Lobera for getting the very best out of his forward.

While the Australian forward has definitely improved certain aspects of his game, Lobera’s tweaked system has played a crucial role in getting the absolute best out of him. Here, we look at the reasons for Jamie Maclaren enjoying such a prolific campaign at Mohun Bagan.

Improved positioning in the danger zones

Jamie Maclaren’s seven goals in the first four matches of the 2025-26 ISL mark a stark improvement from what he managed in the same period last season for Mohun Bagan SG. The Australian forward has definitely outscored himself from the previous campaign and has already reached a major tally after only scoring 12 goals in 25 ISL appearances last season.

A key reason for Maclaren’s heroics is actually how well he is positioning himself inside the box and in the danger zones to get to the end of the chances. The Australian forward appears to have improved on realising how his teammates like to create chances through their build-up play and improved his intuition in realising exactly when the ball will come into the danger areas inside the box.

As a result, the Australian forward is automatically getting at the end of more chances inside the box and being able to outwit defenders as well. His improved positional sense is definitely benefiting Maclaren, who appears to have hit top form for Mohun Bagan and now knows the ins and outs of their attacking style.

Not being forced to drop deeper for build-up play

A notable difference from how Maclaren is operating in Sergio Lobera’s system as compared to how he did in the previous campaign under Jose Molina is regarding what he’s been ordered to do b the two gaffers. Last season, the Australian forward was often seen in matches where he dropped deep into the midfield in an effort to drag defenders out of position and clear up space for his teammates to move into.

However, Sergio Lobera doesn’t really require his No. 9 to do that, as he plays with a system with a free-moving no. 10 operating behind Maclaren. With the likes of Dimitri Petratos and Jason Cummings taking up the majority of the creative responsibilities to help with the build-up play, Maclaren isn’t asked to come deep to help create chances or improve the build-up play.

The freedom earned by Jamie in terms of being in and around the opposition penalty area is definitely helping a box striker like him. As a result, he can constantly look to outwit defenders by moving past them into the pivotal positions inside the box and finish off chances in a clinical fashion.

Better delivery into the final third

With all being said, a major reason for Maclaren scoring so many chances is that the delivery to him has been much better in this campaign than it was for the majority of matches in the 2024-25 ISL season. Last season, the Australian forward was not even able to average two shot attempts per game, showing the death of options for him in the final third.

In the 2025-26 ISL campaign, he’s already had 22 shot attempts in just seven games, averaging well over three shot attempts per game. The key reason for that is that Lobera is urging the Mohun Bagan forwards to constantly try to find Maclaren in the middle rather than take shots from unrealistic positions.

The Australian forward is actually receiving better passes inside the box, with teammates picking him out in clutch positions to allow him to score goals. Moreover, the Mohun Bagan players have also realised how to track Maclaren’s off-the-ball movement to play clever through balls to send him through on goal after he’s burst past the opposition defensive lines.

A mix of teamwork from the Mohun Bagan players and Maclaren’s personal improvement has seen a start to improvement for his goal-scoring fortunes from the previous campaign. Sergio Lobera, however, hopes that the Australian goal machine can only keep on improving his final product and scoring more goals to guide Mohun Bagan to the ISL championship at the end of the campaign.

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