A piece by Sayan Ghosh
‘The best attacking midfielder to ever grace the ISL', this might be a wild claim, but his stats speak for him, with 29 goals and 33 assists to his name in only 95 ISL matches, he is definitely the best. Known for his exceptional playmaking ability and link up play he is without a doubt a menace for our opponents. His exceptional through ball abilities and even his keen eye for goal makes him dangerous, besides he can also play a false number 9 which allows him to score more goals. But , still he has got a reputation of being inconsistent and being temperamental, but on his day he is the best player on the pitch.
TYPE OF PLAYER HE IS AND HIS ROLE IN THE TEAM FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON :-
In the previous season, where Juan ferrando opted for no proper number 9 in the squad, it was imminent that the attacking midfielders of the team are going to have an extra responsibility of scoring goals, Boumous, known for his goal scoring ability, scored some goals but couldn't live up to his hype, the hype which he has created with his hundreds of magical plays he scored only 5 goals and assisted 4 in 20 ISL matches , in the previous season. Though is some matches his magical touches were seen, especially in the 5-2 comeback against KBFC in kochi and in the 1st leg of the kolkata derby against EMAMI FC, where he scored from 40 yards from the goal post. All the creative department of Mohunbagan went through him, the gone season where he created 48 chances for his teammates but his numbers didn't fired up, all thanks to the misfiring Mohun bagan forward line.
But this year with two proper centre forwards like sadiku and Cummings in our team, his numbers are bound to go up leaps and bounds, Previous season where, sometimes he looked clueless when surrounded by 3 to 4 players because of no support from Midfield other than kauko, this time with the arrival of anirudh thapa, he is expected to get more support and get more creative in opening up low block defenses. He is expected to play a newer more attacking role this year under Juan ferrando in both ISL and the AFC Cup, If he can cement his place, which he surely can ahead of Dimitri petratos, Mohunbagan faithfuls may now really get to see the Boumous, they have been craving for the past 2 sesons.
HOW JUAN FERRANDO IS GOING TO USE HIM:-
Boumous is not particularly a ferrando target but was in the radar of Mohunbagan management since his FC Goa days and was roped in for Mohun Bagan back in 2021, where he joined as the most talked about off season transfer of the summer transfer window of 2021. Since joining, he has put forward a decent number but not really the numbers he was signed for this season, Mohun Bagan being the defending champions, we will be going all out for all the major trophies like AFC Cup, ISL league shield and ISL championship, where he will have to be consistent to keep his cement his place in the starting 11, with a plethora of attacking players in our team this season, nobody is guaranteed a place in Starting 11. Juan might go for an false with nine strategy with Dimitri petratos as number 9 like previous season, or in the hole behind Cummings or sadiku or even both Cummings and sadiku in AFC Cup where 6 foreigners are allowed, he might tear up opponents with Dimi-Cumdog-Sadiku ahead of him. Moreover, If he gets right pre season, he might be the game changer for us this season with all the creative department of team lying on him.
In AFC Cup where 6 foreigners are allowed , he might tear up opponents with Dimi-Cumdog-Sadiku ahead of him. Moreover , If he gets right pre season, he might be the game changer for us this season with all the creative department of team lying on him.