What Mohun Bagan must do to launch stronger challenge for ISL Shield Championship?

Mohun Bagan will look to finish as table toppers at the end of the season.

Mohun Bagan will be determined to make a stronger push for the top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) table when they return to action after the November international break. Up first is a tricky home clash against Jamshedpur FC, who have surprised fans with some brilliant results against ‘superior’ opposition this season.

The Mariners, of course, cannot take this game lightly at all and need to win it to build another winning run in the ISL after their recent draw against Odisha FC. The Kolkata heavyweights are currently three points behind league leaders Bengaluru FC (with a game in hand) and will look to pile pressure on the Blues by bringing consistency to their winning nature.

To do so, Jose Molina’s side needs to fix some issues still holding back the squad from their absolute best. The Mariners might have produced some scintillating football so far in the seven matches, but they’re far from their best. If Mohun Bagan wants to dominate the ISL league phase until the end of the campaign, they’ll have to up their game in certain areas and also find solutions to their problems.

Be less reliant on set-pieces

Mohun Bagan have scored 13 goals in the ISL so far in their seven matches, the third-highest for any team in the division. But an alarmingly high number of those goals have come from set-piece situations. The Mariners are blessed to have some expert set-piece specialists like Greg Stewart and Dimitri Petratos to whip in inviting crosses, which has resulted in eight goals coming from set-pieces.

While set pieces have turned out to be one of their major strong points, they need to be careful not to be too reliant on them. If the Green and Maroon Brigade look to get goals from corners or free-kicks at all times, they risk seeing their tactics being found out and opposition sides neutralizing their threat in these situations.

Molina needs to urge his players to look for more scoring chances from open play and link up moves dangerously to score from slick, quick passing moves too. Once the Mariners can tap into that fine line of effortlessly scoring from open situations and set-pieces, they’ll be near unstoppable.

Convert chances better

A reason why the Mariners have been a bit overly reliant on set-piece goals so far this season is because things aren’t clicking that well for them in normal situations.

As seen in the Odisha FC match, they are still a bit sloppy with their finishing and putting away chances as clinically as Molina would like them to. In the seven matches so far, Mohun Bagan have created an impressive 85 chances – averaging 6+ chances for every goal scored so far.

ALSO READ: Three Mohun Bagan players who have improved most under Jose Molina

The good thing is that the team is creating a healthy amount of chances and no major creative issues are holding them back. Now, it’s all about the execution. Molina probably needs to put his forwards to train harder in finishing away chances as well as anticipating them better in the opposition half.

Jamie Maclaren, of course, will look to kick on and score many more goals after getting two in six matches so far, but it’s also on the likes of Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and Greg Stewart to get into more goal-scoring chances and convert the opportunities compellingly.

Solve the occasional defensive lapses

Mohun Bagan had a shaky start to the ISL campaign defensively, conceding seven goals in their first three games. They’ve recovered well with three clean sheets in their previous four games, having the third-best defensive record in the division so far after seven games.

With that being said, even if their four-man backline is operating strongly, it’s not like the Mariners are defensively impenetrable or something like that. The draw against Odisha FC was itself proof that they’re still prone to mistakes.

Back after a break 💪🏻🔥#MBSG #JoyMohunBagan #আমরাসবুজমেরুন pic.twitter.com/YysFtnfED3

— Mohun Bagan Super Giant (@mohunbagansg) November 18, 2024

Asish Rai and Vishal Kaith’s miscommunication resulted in the indirect free-kick that was converted by Hugo Boumous. The Mariners can’t be that sloppy defensively if they want to go on a prominent winning run and take control of the ISL title race.

They have to be more composed and proactive defensively, sniffing out the smallest of danger and maintaining utmost concentration all game long. They have to defend strongly as a unit to wrack up the clean sheets, as a strong defensive state is quintessential to winning titles.

Urge more attacking contributions from full-backs

A possible reason for concern in Molina’s system at Mohun Bagan is that it doesn’t give that much freedom to the full-backs.

Asish Rai and Subhasish Bose have been told to spend the majority of their matches in their half, refraining from making overlapping runs to help the wingers or add a special spark to the attacking front. Mohun Bagan need to be able to use their full-backs better and give them more license to roam forward if they’re to add a new dimension to their attacking style.

This is especially relevant for matches where they are desperately looking for goals, be it in those they’re losing or drawing. Rai and Bose have to be given more encouragement to burst forward into the opposition’s final third to help overload the opposition box.

The overlapping full-backs can allow both Manvir and Liston to move more inwards into central positions, increasing their goal-scoring possibilities too.  The Mariners defend as a whole team and now must learn how to attack as one to be the terrorizing force necessary to win the ISL league shield again.  

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