Could Subhasish Bose work in exhaustive left-back role for India?

Subhasish Bose scored six goals this season in ISL 2024-25.

Subhasish Bose has enjoyed a richly prolific 2024-25 season with Mohun Bagan. He’s led from the front to help the Mariners win their second straight Indian Super League (ISL) league shield title. They have been quite reliant on Subhasish to make that left-back spot his own, mostly because of the lack of reliable options in that position.

The 29-year-old defender has maintained admirable consistency and has only missed one game for the Mariners. Despite working his socks off in every game, he’s stayed injury-free and not allowed his performance levels to fall off. Subhasish’s impressive performances this season must’ve piqued the interest of India football team head coach Manolo Marquez.

That left-back position in the Blue Tigers is definitely there for the taking for Subhasish. Akash Mishra is struggling to fend off injury issues, while neither Jay Gupta nor Aakash Sangwan have been as consistent at FC Goa.

Bose will be eyeing to become India’s go-to left-back for the upcoming matches in the March international break. There is, however, some debate over whether the 29-year-old defender can be relied upon in that exhaustive full-back role.

PROS

His form and momentum

Subhasish Bose is arguably the most in-form left-back in Indian football right now. He’s helped the Mariners keep 12 clean sheets in 22 appearances so far this season and also allowed them to keep the best defensive record. The 29-year-old is sailing high on confidence levels and his momentum has kept on building the more clean sheets he helps Mohun Bagan wrack up.

Manolo Marquez would definitely prefer to use players who are high on confidence levels and are in the right head space to excel for the Indian team. In that case, Bose definitely comes up as an ideal option because he’s being able to produce sturdy performances because of his sheer confidence and self-belief.

Defensive and leadership qualities

The Mohun Bagan defender has been extremely proactive in their matches so far in the 2024-25 ISL season, not allowing himself to switch off or slack off at any moment during matches. Subhasish’s impressive game-reading ability and tendency to make the right challenges have helped him frustrate many prominent wingers in the ISL.

In 22 matches, he’s made 42 tackles, and 54 clearances and won 139 duels! Subhasish Bose knows exactly when to get into the right areas to make the clutch clearance and win back the ball for his team. He’s also developed an admirable leadership trait at Mohun Bagan and has been an inspiring captain for them. Bose knows how to motivate his players to get the best out of them and can often step into key areas to help our teammates, raising their confidence levels.

Goal threat

Subhasish Bose has been surprisingly prolific in getting at the end of chances in set-piece situations for Mohun Bagan this season. He has scored six goals for the Mariners so far this season, making him the second-highest scorer for them in the ISL (after 23 matches). Bose has been superb in knowing exactly when and where to get into the empty spaces in set pieces and flick the ball into the back of the net.

Subhasish Bose can bring a new kind of goal threat for the Indian national team too. He can boost their chances of scoring more goals from corner or free-kicks because of his tendency to convert smartly from inside the box. With India only having two goals from their last five matches, they could get all the goal-scoring threat they get.

CONS

Needs backing from fellow defenders

Subhasish Bose might’ve produced impressive defensive displays from Mohun Bagan this season but is blessed to have a lot of protection around him. That is because whenever he had a slight lapse in judgement, Bose was often covered by Alberto Rodriguez covering the empty spaces to save his blushes. The 29-year-old, however, is unlikely to get that with the Indian national team.

That is because if a center-back is forced to cover the left-back’s spaces, that could end up disrupting the entire Indian backline’s shape and give opposition players enough leeway to break through to test the goalkeeper. Subhasish Bose’s occasional tendency to move out of his position or being unable to hold a strict defensive line is a possible concern that Marquez might need to think about more.

Lack of pace

Subhasish Bose might’ve been defensively quite sturdy for Mohun Bagan this season, but he doesn’t exactly look comfortable when having to defend against quick wingers. He might’ve held his own against Indian wingers, but doing so at the international stage against unpredictable foreign players is a different ball game. Subhasish is not the quickest full-back, which causes him to be prone to being outpaced by quick wingers or even outwitted in the wide areas.

That is why he tends to cover up that by trying to get to the ideal positions and avoid one-on-one confrontations with opposition players. This issue was highlighted in Bose’s shaky performances in India’s 3-0 loss to Syria and 1-1 draw against Vietnam in 2024. So if Manolo Marquez wants a razor-sharp, quick full-back, then he could have to re-evaluate Subhasish’s role.

The dynamics issue

A certain problem that has been showcased in Subhasish Bose’s performances on the international stage is when it comes to understanding the dynamics of the game. He has often struggled to get a grip of the distance between himself and opposition players, getting tricked into overcommitting into needless challenges and leaving his fellow players exposed.

Moreover,Subhasish Bose has also been goaded into leaving his ideal position many times in recent international games, causing him to fall behind when having to backtrack during counter-attacks. He made a few errors in Syria and Vietnam matches last year, showcasing vulnerability when having to tweak his game for the international standards.

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