Jose Molina reflects on Mohun Bagan's winning formula after win over Mohammedan SC

Jose Molina’s men bounced back with a dominant win against the Black Panthers.

Jose Molina’s Mohun Bagan made a statement of intent in their big 3-0 win over Mohammedan SC in the first mini-Kolkata derby of the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign on Saturday (5 October). The Mariners scored three goals within the first 40 minutes, with Jamie Maclaren scoring his first goal for the club and strikers from Subhasish Bose and Greg Stewart.

After the game, Jose Molina insisted that he was pleased with the result but also hinted that his team still has a lot of room for improvement. Jose Molina stated: “I’m happy with the result. We defended well, we attacked really well and that is because we defended well. We also defended really well, and we attacked well. For me, it’s both actions and that’s not easy. I’m not happy as we could’ve scored more goals, and that makes me not so happy.

“But I’m happy as I think the team is getting closer to what to where I want them to be. That takes time, but I’m happy. Hopefully, they’ll keep improving every day. Now we have 15 days, some players go with the national team. Hopefully, they come back without injuries and prepare for the next match strongly. We’ll have a good 15 days and now we work to prepare for the next match,” Jose Molina added.

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This game also helped the Mariners get their first clean sheet of the ISL campaign after conceding seven goals in the last three games. When asked if he was satisfied with the shutout, the gaffer reflected: “I’m satisfied with the result. I can’t separate clean sheets, scoring goals, or clean matches. For me, football is a whole thing.

“It’s not that I’m happy as we had a clean sheet, we had that in the AFC Champions League Two game too. But you weren’t happy as we didn’t win that match. We had a great performance and the point is it’s only one match, we’ll have another match in 15 matches and more matches after that. We have a lot to do and we can be calm now before the next match against East Bengal.”

Based on how electric Mohun Bagan’s performance was, one can’t be blamed for believing this to be the best XI that the Kolkata heavyweights might have right now. But Jose Molina doesn’t believe in that mindset, as he explained, “I don’t know to be frank. I hope this isn’t my best XI. That’s because I don’t want only 11 players performing at their best. Yesterday, we trained with 25 players plus three goalkeepers and Sahal is injured. I want my entire squad to be ready to be great players for Mohun Bagan.

“I aim to ensure that regardless of whoever is playing the team is playing well. In some moments, a few players play well and that’s fine. Ashique Kuruniyan did well from the bench, Suhail Bhat, and Deepak Tangri helped us today, and Dimitri Petratos also.

“That is what you want. Maybe I make changes in the next match, or maybe I won’t. Hopefully, we don’t have a clear starting lineup, that is what I want. We could play Dimitri Petratos, Greg Stewart, Jamie Maclaren, Jason Cummings or Manvir Singh it doesn’t matter, we must play great as Mohun Bagan. That is most important,” Jose Molina also added.

Mohun Bagan will now have a pretty lengthy break because of the upcoming international window. They face off against rivals East Bengal in the first Kolkata derby of the campaign on 18 October.

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