Three things Miguel Figueira must improve to become Mohun Bagan's driving force in 2026-27 ISL title charge

The Mariners roped in the former East Bengal midfielder ahead of the new ISL season.

Mohun Bagan SG signed Miguel Figueira as their marquee acquisition of the 2026 summer transfer window, knowing their need to improve the number 10 role and add some much-needed creativity in their attack.

After seeing the Brazilian midfielder play an inspiring role in helping East Bengal win the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) title, beating them to the championship, they decided to get one back at their rivals by stealing away Figueira.

However, Figueira has ended up having a pretty sloppy start to his career at Mohun Bagan. He only featured in two of their 2026 Durand Cup matches, both times as a substitute because of his lack of match sharpness in time for the tournament.

In his second outing, Figueira watched his former side, East Bengal, defeat Mohun Bagan 4-1 to win the 2026 Durand Cup title.

Even though he might not have been fully fit for it, the Brazilian midfielder’s performances in the Durand Cup left much to be desired.

He was lethargic with his operations in the final third, failing to get amongst any goals or create anything noteworthy for Mohun Bagan. It’s clear that for him to be a major influence for the Mariners, some elements of his game need to improve going forward.

Hence, here we look at the three things Miguel must improve to help drive Mohun Bagan’s charge for the 2026-27 ISL title.

Keeping his cool in intense situations

Miguel Figueira might be a really entertaining player to watch, but he has a bit of a temperamental problem that sometimes lands him in trouble.

The Brazilian midfielder showed signs of becoming very emotional during matches for East Bengal last season, allowing opposition players to trigger him into becoming overly aggressive.

That caused the 26-year-old midfielder to pick up three yellow cards in the ISL last season, as well as his sending-off in their draw against Bengaluru FC. Miguel needs to learn how to be much calmer on the pitch for Mohun Bagan, not allowing the shenanigans of other players to get to him.

He needs to maintain his cool and concentration when subjected to too much fouling or when players make some nasty challenges to spark a reaction out of him.

If Miguel can keep himself more composed in matches and keep his aggressiveness down in intense situations, he won’t only lower his chances of being sent off but also ensure that the hard work of players to spark a negative reaction from him will go to waste.

That can automatically ensure that he regularly starts matches in the Mohun Bagan midfield and raise his chances of getting more goal contributions.

Be more clinical with his finishing

Miguel might not have really gotten that much playing time at the 2026 Durand Cup for Mohun Bagan, but he didn’t really help himself with his work in the final third in his substitute appearances at all.

The Brazilian midfielder was not able to raise the Mariners’ goal-scoring prowess after coming on as a substitute, being unable to move the ball into the danger zones to create shooting opportunities for himself to get at the end of any crosses or final third passes.

Miguel only scored two goals in the 2025-26 ISL campaign from 45 shots attempted, which definitely isn’t a sign of a really clinical goal-scorer.

He needs to be way more accurate with his shooting and finishing, being able to trick goalkeepers with a variety of different shots to raise his overall goal-scoring threat.

Mohun Bagan will have expectations for Miguel to be a reliable goal-scorer for them as well, and considering that he scored 34 goals for Bashundhara Kings, the 26-year-old definitely knows how to finish off chances well.

It’s just a case of him adding more efficiency with his finishing and being smarter at latching onto big chances inside the opposition penalty area to be able to enhance Mohun Bagan’s goal-scoring threat and help them win more matches.

Amplify his chemistry with Mohun Bagan attackers

It’s still early days for Miguel Figueira’s term as a Mohun Bagan player, as he only joined training with his new teammates a few days before the Durand Cup semi-final.

The Brazilian midfielder needs time to adapt to the change in tactics under Panagiotis Dilmperis, as well as getting to know the playing style of the Mohun Bagan’s attacking players as well.

Miguel has to adapt his game according to how the likes of Jamie Maclaren, Dejan Drazic, Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh operate in the frontline, working hard in training to create a solid understanding with these attacking players.

Figueira has to work hard to track the movement patterns of the Mohun Bagan forwards, realising when exactly to play the forward passes to send them through on goal or the kind of crosses he should aim for them into the penalty area.

Once the Brazilian midfielder is able to create an intuitive chemistry with his teammates, he should spark an explosiveness in the Mohun Bagan attacking moves.

Miguel can not only carry the ball forward, but also has impressive variety in being able to play clever defence-splitting passes or crosses (be it from open play or set-pieces) to cause panic inside the opposition penalty area.

Once he reaches a consistency in nailing his final product for his teammates, he should start assisting more goals and help Mohun Bagan torment their opponents in the ISL.

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