Three ways Jose Molina's Mohun Bagan can line up without Subhasish Bose against Northeast United FC

Subhasish Bose and Alberto Rodriguez received their fourth yellow card of the season.

Mohun Bagan held onto their place on the top of the Indian Super League (ISL) table with a gritty 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC at the weekend. But the win came at certain costs. In what was a pretty physical and tenacious battle for the Mariners, they witnessed multiple players get booked and that will bring in repercussions for the upcoming game against NorthEast United.

Both Subhasish Bose and Alberto Rodriguez picked up their fourth yellow cards of the 2024-25 ISL campaign. This means they are suspended for the game against the Highlanders. Because of the shortage of quality full-back options, Jose Molina faces a bit of a challenging finding a replacement for Subhasish.

The Mariners’ skipper has been one of their more reliable players this season, being defensively rock solid and neutralizing the threat of many quality wingers. Replacing him won’t be easy at all, but here we look at three ways the Kolkata giants can lineup against NorthEast United without Bose.

3. Amandeep Bhan

Amandeep Bhan is the current alternative to Subhasish Bose in the Mohun Bagan set-up as he’s the only natural left-back apart from the skipper. Amandeep made three appearances in the ISL last season, having been given some encouragement by Antonio Habas. He’s yet to make an appearance under Jose Molina, but circumstances might force the gaffer to finally give him a chance to impress.

The 20-year-old is a vibrant, energetic figure who can cover a lot of ground in the wide areas and come up with crunching challenges to frustrate the wingers.

If given a chance, Amandeep has to be at his sharpest to keep NorthEast’s menacing wingers like Parthib Gogoi or Jithin MS quiet. If able to produce a fighting display against NorthEast and help his side get a clean sheet, Amandeep could win more regular playing time for himself in the future.

2. Tweaked role for Ashique Kuruniyan

Ashique Kuruniyan has shown sparks in his short cameos for Mohun Bagan in recent weeks, and it’s probably high time he gets a start. He can operate in a wing-back role if needed to, having done it a few times in his career. Kuruniyan can hold up against intense physical battles and has the sturdiness to win duels and regain possession in the wide areas.

ALSO READ: How Jose Molina can help Ashique Kuruniyan get back to his best after injury nightmare?

He’ll need to be extremely compact and maintain utmost concentration if deployed as Subhasish’s replacement in the left-back role against NorthEast United. But if he does it, it’ll be the perfect chance for Kuruniyan to prove that he deserves more starts and game-time for the Mariners.

He can also pose a bigger attacking threat on the left with his bursting forward runs and smart delivery in the box, adding a new layer to the Mariners’ attacking style.

1. Asish Rai as makeshift left-back

Fortunately for Jose Molina, his trusted full-back Asish Rai is at least back to full fitness and ready to start against NorthEast United. Even though the 25-year-old is at his best as a vibrant right-back, he can properly compromise for one game to play on the other side instead.

Rai has been an impactful defender for the Mariners, being very proactive during games in making crunching tackles and frustrating wingers.

He has helped them to four clean sheets already in the ISL this season, and is blessed with the pace and game-reading ability to neutralize NorthEast’s threat even while playing as a left-back. He might not be able to attack that much because of having to cross using his weaker foot, but Molina’s system doesn’t really encourage attacking full-backs anyways.

The 25-year-old could look to prove his versatility if played as a left-back against the Highlanders and further build on his reputation as one of Indian football’s most reliable full-backs.

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