Three things East Bengal must improve ahead of Super Cup

East Bengal will open their AIFF Super Cup campaign against Dempo SC.

East Bengal are heading into the AIFF Super Cup after suffering a dismal end to their 2025 IFA Shield campaign by losing in the final against Mohun Bagan. Despite fighting hard to get a win, the Red & Gold Brigade were ultimately undone in the penalty shootout and went down to a 1-1 (5-4) defeat to their bitter rivals.

This denied Oscar Bruzon the opportunity to win his first piece of silverware as East Bengal boss, despite seeing his side dominate the majority of the IFA Shield campaign. Ultimately, it was only the fine margins of the game that forced them to lose the derby against Mohun Bagan, despite having taken the lead in the game.

The loss should be a reality check for Bruzon and one that he needs to learn from. There are still aspects of managing the East Bengal side that he needs to improve for them to operate like a well-oiled machine and be a force to be reckoned with in major competitions. Here we look at the things East Bengal must improve after the IFA Shield final setback.

3. Ruthlessness in the final third

It’s not like a case where East Bengal were totally playing on the back foot and looking to grind out a narrow win against Mohun Bagan. They did play some relatively eye-catching attacking football and had plenty of chances against the sturdy Mariners’ backline.

However, a case of unfulfilled potential in the final third ended up hurting Oscar Bruzon’s side. East Bengal were not clinical enough in ideally taking up their chances, as their players failed to convert quite a few decent scoring chances even after taking the lead.

Their inability to finish off chances and add a sense of ruthlessness to their final product ended up dragging the game all the way to a penalty shootout, where Lady Luck didn’t favour them at all.

Bruzon has to work with his players to help them improve their finishing and for them to be way more prolific in converting opportunities from promising positions inside the box. Unless East Bengal are able to be more clinical in finishing off chances in big games, they’re likely to continue suffering setbacks as they did in the derby and come up agonizingly short against top teams.

2. Midfield combination

With the IFA Shield placing a strict four-maximum foreigner limit like the Indian Super League (ISL), Oscar Bruzon had to be careful with using his foreign talents. In the majority of the games, he used a foreign midfield trio of Mohammed Rashid, Saul Crespo and Miguel Ferreira.

However, he opted to change that system right in the final against Mohun Bagan, even though the trio were operating really smoothly together and helping the Red & Gold Brigade dominate matches. Naorem Mahesh Singh was brought into the midfield for the final, which was to accommodate Hamid Ahadad into the frontline.

This ended up disrupting the flow and momentum of the East Bengal side because they ended up coming up short in the midfield battle against Mohun Bagan. The lack of Miguel Ferreira in the starting lineup also hurt them, as they missed the Brazilian’s high energy levels and creative quality from the kick-off.

Bruzon has to be smart in deciding his midfield combination for major games going forward. Ferreira, who is arguably the most creative and unique midfield talent in the East Bengal squad right now, needs to be given priority for them to properly dominate games. A kind of dilemma has crept up for Bruzon, but he needs to be spot on with his midfield selection in the major tournaments going forward.

1. Left-back issue

A persisting thorn that keeps troubling East Bengal is the entire drama around their left-back situation. Even after signing Jay Gupta to strengthen their backline, and him featuring in the IFA Shield group games, Oscar Bruzon opted to bench the full-back against Mohun Bagan.

He continued to persist with the tactics of playing Lalchhungnunga in the left-back situation, even though he’s not a natural full-back and was really inconsistent with his performances in that position last season. The result was Mohun Bagan’s equaliser being created through Lalchhungnunga’s wing and him being tormented almost throughout his performance.

Bruzon ultimately brought on Jay Gupta to replace Nunga in the second half, but it was a case of too little too late, as they had already conceded a goal.

To add insult to injury, Gupta also ended up seeing his penalty saved in the shootout, which allowed Mohun Bagan to get the win. Oscar Bruzon has to find a solution to the left-back issue and come up with a player who can consistently play in that position.

At this moment, the ideal candidate for that seems to be Jay Gupta – because he’s defensively solid and is a natural left-back who can navigate things properly on that side – something Lalchhungnunga just can’t seem to do!

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