Five lessons East Bengal should learn after Super Cup 2025 campaign

Red & Gold Brigade fought hard, but they lost in the final.

East Bengal came up just short in their 2025 AIFF Super Cup campaign, suffering a dismal 0-0 (6-5) loss to FC Goa in the final on Sunday (December 7, 2025). The Red & Gold Brigade had a pretty memorable Super Cup campaign, eliminating rivals Mohun Bagan from the group stage and producing an impressive win against Punjab FC to book their place in the final.

However, in the final obstacle, the Red & Gold Brigade slipped up to suffer a loss in a penalty shootout. Even though it wasn’t at all the worst campaign for East Bengal, there is a lot of brimming frustration among fans to see them slip up in the final moment.

This is a learning curve for Oscar Brusson, who still needs to work on improving certain aspects of the team to compete at a higher level. Let’s look at the five lessons that East Bengal should have learned from this.

5. Better usage of the centre-forwards at disposal

East Bengal were able to use both their new forwards Hamid Ahada and Hiroshi Ibusuki, in the Super Cup 2025, which excited fans to see an experienced forward lead their line. However, it turned out to be not as clinical as the fans would’ve expected.

Ibusuki scored his first East Bengal goal in their 4-0 thrashing of Chennaiyin FC, beyond which he was really frustrating to watch in the final third.

Hamid Ahadad was working more like a link-up person or ‘provider’ than one expected to get in all the key areas to trouble their opponents. Oscar Bruzon needs to make better use of his strikers, asking them to attack more crosses into the box and try to capitalise on more chances rather than worrying about link-up play.

Doing so could bring the best of Ahadad and Ibusuki, while continuing with the current approach will cause more frustration for East Bengal.

4. Substitutions need to be timed better for maximum impact

It is perhaps a matter of some concern that none of East Bengal’s substitutes could score for them in the 2025 AIFF Super Cup. That is probably on Oscar Bruzon himself, who doesn’t seem to have perfected the art of making impactful substitutions regularly just yet.

Bruzon probably needs to learn more about the timing of his substitutions and the kind of individuals that he would want to introduce to torment the opposition backline.

East Bengal have a decent squad depth in the 2025-26 season, thanks to their summer investment, but still seems to be struggling to get the best out of substitutes.

The likes of David Lalhlansanga and Nandhakumar Sekar can potentially be real assets from the bench, because of their unpredictable movement in the final third and ability to create or get to the end of chances.

3. The Edmund Lalrindika problem

Edmund Lalrindika arrived at East Bengal with a lot of anticipation around him in the 2025 summer window, but it doesn’t seem like the Red & Gold Brigade can use him as well as he’d want them to.

Edmund did not start a single match for East Bengal in the 2025 summer window, and he wasn’t utilised effectively as a substitute either. Lalrindika was limited to short cameos in some matches, coming on after the 70th minute when most matches were already decided.

The 26-year-old was still able to make an impact in the 4-0 win over Chennaiyin FC, producing an assist, but Bruzon refused to give him more playing time even after that bright performance.

Edmund had 10 goal contributions (four goals, six assists) in 24 games in the 2024-25 season for Inter Kashi, thriving under the freedom to cause trouble in the final third with his movement and execution.

However, unless he’s used more regularly and gets to start a few matches, he’ll never be able to imitate that for East Bengal.

2. Limit the reliance on certain individuals

A problem that arose for East Bengal in the 2025 AIFF Super Cup was that they seemed to have become overly reliant on a few individuals in the team. That is particularly with their attacking midfielders, especially when it comes to the creative force in their team.

Miguel Ferreira assumed a lot of the creative duties, being able to set up chances regularly for them with his clever final third passes or delivery from set-pieces. Naoarem Mahesh Singh and Bipin Singh also tried, but it seemed like East Bengal depended on Ferreira for creating the majority of their chances.

This division of creative demands from one or a few people ended with East Bengal, and made them easier to understand. Unless Bruzon can enhance the creative threat for more players, especially for the full-backs, East Bengal’s attacking force could be neutralised by smart defensive sides with ease.

1. Need for more grit and steel in pressure scenarios

East Bengal were arguably the best team in the 2025 Super Cup, in terms of performances, heading into the final against Super Cup. However, in the end, FC Goa’s experience levels and ability to showcase their grit in major games like the Super Cup helped them oust East Bengal to retain the Super Cup championship.

East Bengal tend to panic and become nervous when close to achieving a major goal, and that shakiness about their mental prowess came back to haunt them once again.

Oscar Bruzon needs to work on adding more steel to his side, ensuring that the players don’t feel overburdened or scared in the clutch moments of such big games.

East Bengal players will have to be more decisive in converting chances in such big matches and remain calm in crucial goal-scoring situations. To become stronger, East Bengal will need to ensure that their players are mentally stronger and can give their best in big matches.

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