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BENGALURU FC: Passion Personified
When JSW Group’s bid to
provide a team into the I League from the tech city of Bengaluru got accepted
by the AIFF, their humble yet passionate bunch of supporters probably didn’t
expect that team playing at the Bangalore Football Stadium would become the fourth most
successful club of Indian football, in terms of being the top division
premiers/champions within the upcoming decade, only behind giants Mohun Bagan,
Dempo and East Bengal. From the very beginning, the owners and the players were
driven by an ambition to introduce a fresh face into the Indian footballing
scene, at a time when the multiple issues such as lack of sponsorship,
corporate investment and advertising to match fixing allegations had culminated
to arguably an all time high.
I. The Big Bang
Winning the topmost division
in the very first season of a club’s existence sounds like a short film idea
for some amateur director, but the sheer intelligence (and a bit of luck) with
which they pulled it off deserves a complete movie of its own. The first
important factor in their success was their timing. They arrived at a time when
the big names of Indian football were struggling to find quality players and
were not much impressive on the pitch. The 2012-13 season saw Mohun Bagan,
Salgaocar, Shillong Lajong to occupy mid table finishes. Churchill Brothers,
the winners of that season happened to collapse in 2013-14, while East Bengal,
Dempo and Sporting Goa lost many points too. This gave the perfect
opportunity for Bengaluru to arrive into Indian football in an incredible
fashion. Coached by Ashley Westwood, and with a mix of skilled foreigners
(defender John Johnson, box-to-box midfielder Menyongar, forward Sean Rooney)
along with unproven but high potential Indian contingent involving Sunil
Chettri, Siam Hanghal and Beingachho, they brought on a flavour of modern
European football in India where full backs overlapped to put in
crosses while wingers preferred to invert into dangerous spaces, and did the
unthinkable within a budget reported to be less than 10 crores, an amount lot less than
what the big names of Indian football spent at that time.
II. On the Driving Seat
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| Courtesy: Press Trust of India |
What differentiated Bengaluru
FC from other Indian clubs who had achieved sudden rapid success was the
presence of investors who not only retained their crucial and potential first
team players but also brought in some new names in positions needing improvements.
They brought in Josh Walker from England as a marquee, along with players from
I League showing great potential, which included Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Udanta
Singh, who went on to become club legends. 2014-15 season had a shattering end for the
‘Men of Steel’ (a name coming from Jindal Steel Works Group which didn’t stick
much later) who, 4 months after winning the Federation Cup, were set to premier
back to back I Leagues until a 87th minute equaliser by Mohun
Bagan’s Bello Razaq stole it all away in the favour of the Mariners.
At the beginning of next
season, there were some doubts after the transfer window as established
performers Sunil Chhetri, Pawan Kumar, Darren Caldeira, Thoi Singh, Robin Singh
and Shilton d’ Silva left for ISL teams while Sean Rooney went to Australia,
but they were promptly replaced by another bunch of signings such as Kim Song-yong,
Amrinder Singh, Seiminlen Doungel, Daniel Lalhlimpuia and Nishu Kumar. The
“transfers” of Chhetri, Thoi and Robin included a clause which would bring them
back to Bengaluru after the end of ISL, a move which turned out game changing
for the Blues who got back some of their best players in the later crucial
stages of the season, helping them clench the I League yet again under good old
Ashley, 2 points ahead of their previous season’s heartbreakers from Kolkata.
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| Courtesy: Press Trust of India |
Before the beginning of the
next I League, they were up for the Asian glory in the AFC Cup. The underdogs
fought against big names from Malaysia, Myanmar, Hongkong and Indonesia and
stormed into the final at Doha, where their Asian dream crumbled through a
solitary goal by Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Air Force Club). They couldn’t replicate
their I League success under new coach Albert Roca after Westwood was roped in
by Malaysian club Penang, only finishing 4th, which could have been worse if not for a
4 game win streak at the end. Albert Roca’s hyper aggressive tactics didn’t sit well with the
inexperienced side. The 3-4-3 formation, coupled with a high backline left wide
gaps between as well as behind the defenders and they conceded most of their
goals from counter attacks. The midfield comprising
of Lyngdoh, Lenny and Cameron Watson didn’t gel together and were unable to
supply the ball to the front three. Roca, instead of changing his formation,
only experimented with his players as multiple rotations only aggravated the
lack of chemistry among players. It was not all over as they managed to bag
their second Federation Cup, winning over Aizawl and then Mohun Bagan in the final.
This match marked the temporary pause between the intense rivalry between these
two clubs, as Bengaluru finally executed their grand move to the Indian
Super League.
III. ISL Blues
It was somewhat obvious to Indian football
enthusiasts that the club was being developed to become a part of the more
lucrative ISL, and the transfer of a club from the I League’s declining legacy
to the up-and-coming Super League was significant in establishing the ISL’s
future as the official top division of Indian football, as it is today. And yet
again, the newcomers decided to embarrass the already established clubs of the
league as they ended first position in the league, but couldn’t end up
championing the ISL as they lost 3-2 to Chennaiyan in the final. This season, Albert Roca improved
his defense by structuring in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. Performances of ever
trustworthy Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the foreign CB pair of John Johnson and
Juanan, Sunil Chettri and Udanta Singh down the flanks with Miku up top finally
unlocked the creativity leading to Bengaluru scoring not only the most goals
but also conceding the least, ending the league season with a huge 19 goal
difference. The only time they had to play a 3 at the back was in the final due
to Subhashish Bose’s unavailability where they conceded 3 goals from counters
and set pieces.
Next season, they applied similar
principles, now under previous season’s assistant Carles Cuadrat, to not only
retain their top league position, but also champion the ISL. Although they
scored less and conceded more leading to a reduction on GD from 19 to 7, it
mattered less to Sunil Chhetri and Co. who now had become the first ever team
to conquer both the ISL and the I League. They came close again in 2019-20 when
they gave up their joint first position win by getting only 2 points from their last three
games (although winning the shield would have been unlikely due to Goa’s much
higher GD) due to mid-week AFC Cup qualification fixtures, and then facing a
1-3 loss to ATK in the second semi-final leg even after getting a 1-0 win at the
first.
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| Credit: Press Trust of India |
2020-21 was not at all favourable for the
Blues as an ageing squad (avg. 29.8) could only provide the club a measly 7th
place finish. They had undergone a fruitless transfer due to growing
differences between the board and Cuadrat, who had become a lot more defensive
over time, got the sack in early January. Their transitional period continued
under new manager Pezzaiuoli who came with a more attacking mindset, but the
defense couldn’t keep up with his aggressive principles, leading to a 6th place finish. There
were some positives as their player choices were a lot better leading to more
young Indians such as Roshan Singh had their ISL breakthrough..
IV. 2022/23: The Remontada
3 wins, 1 draw and 8 losses. Then 10 wins.
Non-stop. Something changed, mostly a major tactical overhaul, and the rest a bit of luck. These two versions of nearly the same set of
players were quite remarkably differentiated by two formations. 4-3-3: 87.5% (7
out of 8) loss rate and 3-5-2: 6.25 % loss rate (1 out of 16). Bengaluru had
started the league with a three man defense, winning their first match against
North East, but after drawing to Chennaiyan and losing to Hyderabad, they
switched to a back four. A high line with aggressive full backs is only
possible with ball confident CBs with a good passing range, and Alan Costa,
Parag Srivas and Sandesh Jhingan were not at all good in such a role. They
would get intercepted in their own half during build up multiple times leading
to concessions of embarrassing goals and frustrating defeats even when their
overall performance was even better than the opposing team.
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Parag Srivas losing possession from pressure by Ogbeche (Courtesy: Indian Super League Youtube) |
The turn around only happened
after Bengaluru’s midfield partners of Javi Hernandez got sorted after multiple
variations involving Bruno Ramires, Suresh Wangjam, Danish Farooq and Rohit
Kumar among others. By the time the ideal combination of Suresh and Rohit was
figured out by Grayson, along with back three of Alan Costa-Jhingan-Jovanovic
and full backs Prabir and Roshan, the calendar had already flipped. It was a
fight or flight, a now or never scenario, for the players and for the manager
to make a name for themselves. The presence of an added defender released the
build up pressure from the CBs who could now focus on the defending, and were
more adept at staying together and closing down the incoming forwards. Even
when the arial advantage of the CBs were used in the opposition box late in the
game to find winners, Suresh, Rohit and one of the full backs always stayed
back to tackle the counters.
The 3-4-1-2 also caused the
formation of a midfield diamond when 1 of the CBs went a bit forward, thus
creating the man advantage while building up from the back. Excellent crossing
abilities of Prabir Das and Roshan Singh led to some beautiful goals
originating from the wings, but the most important creator, rather expectedly, was
Javi Hernandez. The seasoned attacker with sensational passing and positioning
skills, coupled with a tremendous long shot ability proved overwhelming for
even the most respected defenders of the league. In defense, the double pivot
of Suresh and Rohit forced play wide where one CB, one FB and one of the pivots
tried their best to close down the incoming cross, while there would be 2 CBs
man-to-man with the forwards inside the box and the other pivot marking the
late runner.
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CBs giving less space and closing down opposition forward (Courtesy: Indian Super League Youtube) |
Siva Shakti and Roy Krishna,
with their powerful shots, blistering speeds combined to create a lethal
counter attacking team, evident from their drop in possession from an average of 50.5% in their first 12 games
(when they used 4-3-3) to 40.5% in their next and final 12 games (when they
switched to 3-4-1-2 from the beginning of 2023). They churned out back to back decisive victories, mostly through close margins, and marched on till the very final match of
the Indian Super League against Mohun Bagan. That fierce rivalry which had
brewed for nearly a decade now had reached its very peak as the Blues faced the
Mariners in yet another showdown for conquering the league. After conceding an
early penalty, they equalised the game through a penalty themselves in the
added time after 45 mins. Former MB star player Roy Krishna gave them the lead
again, but a foul on Kiyan Nassiri which ended inside the box was judged as a
penalty, which was converted as the game went on to extra time and then penalties, where the
Mariners caused yet another heartbreak for the Blues at the final game of the
league, and thus putting a dent on Bengaluru’s fairytale run.
V. The First Game of 2023/24
Bengaluru’s most recent transfer window has been impressive and potential filled. A big club clear out led to some of the big names such as Udanta Singh, Pablo Perez, Roy Krishna, Sandesh Jhingan and Leon Augustine moving on. With this a lot of ageing players were replaced, a commendable move by the management who made sure their previous mistakes would not get repeated. In their space, the impressive Halicharan Narzary and Rohit Danu from Hyderabad, crucial defender in Mohun Bagan’s ISL winning season Slavko Damjanovic, Dutch second division player Keziah Veendorp, Jessel Carneiro from KBFC and foreign attackers Ryan Williams and Curtis Main were welcomed.
Simon Grayson took out a rather interesting 11 in their opening clash vs Kerala Blasters. Jessel started at LB while it seemed like there were two right mids, Roshan and Bhutia. Roshan was on the more attacking side, sending in threatening crosses from his dominant left foot, while Bhutia covered Roshan’s forward movements. Veendorp started as a DM with former pivots Rohit and Suresh being together a lot more forward. Ryan Williams switched between the wings as Siva Shakti Narayan was put as a lone striker. Now this combination proved rather ineffective in front of the zealous Blasters who had a thirst for revenge after that infamous saga between these two the previous season.
KBFC out of possession kept a box structure at front with Luna, Peprah, Jeakson and Danish. Luna charged at the goalkeeper (which even led to a goal) while Peprah tried to close the pass to Veendorp whose distribution skills seemed quite impressive. Since Suresh and Rohit were further up, the ways to get them the ball was through a long ball from GK which were being won by Jeakson, Danish or the CBs, the other being through the full backs, who were being pressed by Daisuke and Aimen. Even when Suresh and Rohit got the ball, they were just not clinical enough with passing the ball onto Siva or Ryan. Also Bhutia or Roshan weren’t as attacking as expected, leading to Siva being overpowered by the much more physical Pritam and Milos. Their failure to progress the ball forward centrally is pretty evident from their pass map of the match, as even though they enjoyed 60% possession, the field tilt (ratio of touches in the final third) was at 50%, as they were mostly seen distributing the ball through their defensive line.
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| Courtesy: @totalf0otball via Twitter |
Bengaluru’s defense was solid
overall, rather had to be after keeping 6-7 defensive minded players in the
lineup, although it can be opined that such a defensive approach was the plan
as Javi wasn’t 100% match fit so the goal was that if the attack cannot be good
enough, might as well keep the defense solid until Javi comes on. After their
talisman’s arrival, there were some glimpses of last season but since the
Blasters had already established their 2 goal lead, they were happy to sit back
and see the match through. The goals were conceded primarily due to the early
season rustiness, but over time, if the same defensive system as last season is
preserved, and Javi still maintains his exemplary performances, the team again
has the potential to qualify for the playoffs.
VI. Mohun Bagan’s approach
After toying with Punjab FC,
Mohun Bagan will face their first mighty challenge in the ISL. As Bengaluru are
expected to learn from their tactical deficiencies at Kochi, Roshan might slip
back to his preferred left, with Bhutia organising the right. With Javi likely
to start, BFC have the potential to again display their style which initiated
their comeback last season. The Mariners’ defense and midfield need to be at
their absolute best, not overcommit and always keep a look at Williams/Main,
Siva and Javi. Thankfully both Anwar Ali and Hector Yuste are brilliant on the
ball and have displayed incredible maturity in their movements. Anwar has got
the pace to catch up with Siva’s notorious accelerations, while Hector’s intelligence
in creating offside traps compensates for his slower pace.
As Sadiku’s struggle continues,
Cummings, after executing a rather De Bruyne-esque pre assist, is expected to
pair Petratos up front. Boumous and Sahal most probably will feature along with
Thapa, whose pressure releasing skills through his sensible passing into free
regions would be key as he returns after an (unexpected and somewhat confusing)
suspension. It is expected for Juan to field a team similar to that in the
Odisha game due to a somewhat similar approach by Bengaluru in certain aspects,
but there can be atleast one surprise due to the fact that both Liston Colaco
and Ashish Rai played full 90 minutes in the Punjab clash, 4 days prior to the
match against Bengaluru. If neither of them are fit enough to start, Subhashish
might act as the left wing back again, or even Sahal might shift to the left. On
the other flank, Manvir Singh might again play as right wing back, a role he plays
surprisingly well as seen in the Durand clash vs Mumbai. If neither Colaco nor
Ashish Rai start, another Glan Martins appearance might be on the cards, or maybe either Cummings or Petratos won’t start and Manvir would be a forward while Hamill would be
added to the defense.
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| Possible Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan Lineups |
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Juan Special Surprise Lineups |
The 2023-2024 season promises to be a saga
of redemption for Bengaluru FC. The pain of last season's near-miss has only
intensified their hunger for the coveted ISL title. This rivalry is defined by
the contrasting styles and identities of the two clubs. Mohun Bagan represents
tradition, heritage, and the old guard of Indian football, with a legacy
stretching over a century. Bengaluru FC, in contrast, embodies the new wave of
Indian football, bringing a modern, innovative approach marked by tactical
brilliance and a commitment to success. When these ideologies clash, it's not
just a game; it's a battle for supremacy, pride, and bragging rights, making
every encounter a spectacle that transcends the league table.
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