Oscar Bruzon explains how East Bengal plan to deal with injury issues before Mumbai City FC clash

East Bengal will be without quite a few key members when they take on Mumbai City FC.

Oscar Bruzon’s East Bengal looks to get their second straight win in the Indian Super League (ISL) when they travel to face Mumbai City at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday (31 January). Coming off an inspired win over the Kerala Blasters, the Red & Gold Brigade need three more points to retain any hopes of a playoff spot.

However, the Kolkata side are dealing with a complicated injury crisis with both defenders Anwar Ali and Hijazi Maher ruled out for this.

Speaking about how he’s approaching the game knowing the injury situation, Oscar Bruzon explained: “I have to be strategic and have to adjust the strengths and weaknesses of our rivals and also the capabilities and resources we have every week, which is different from last week. I like to play one or two systems in the season. We’ve already played with four different formations, that is our strategic flexibility. I try to experiment and think about how we can cover all the problems we are having.”

“We might not have four defenders on the pitch against Mumbai City, we need to make adjustments. Hijazi Maher won’t be there and Mohamad Rakip won’t be there either. We might play an offensive player as a right-back and cover him with another player in midfield and a player with more defensive responsibilities.”

“I like to have a good balance in the team, always trying to play quite symmetric. We need to be effective from set pieces and not penalize other players that much. These are all headaches we having through the season. What we are doing is quite fine, finding solutions game after game and the team is not doing bad at all,” he also stated.

On goal-scoring issues and conversion rate

Oscar Bruzon was asked if he’s prioritizing to ensure his side concedes fewer goals or works harder on solving their goal conversion issue heading into this match. Oscar Bruzon revealed: “If you see the standings, we are in the 11th place. But if you consider the last 10 ISL games, I think we are fourth in this situation. Something is good. You can watch it us being in no.11 or in the fourth team in the ISL form table in the last 10 games. We have competed strongly against three of the best clubs in ISL.

“Creating chances, and playing a game perfectly could get results against any of the best clubs. We try to focus on the positive things that we see. If we see into the negatives, like injuries or losses, that is when we are going to start being a victim.

“If we see into our reputation, the willingness, the hungriness, and the history of the comebacks of our club, if we have that reference, we could finish the season in the best possible way,” he finished off with.

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