'Not Just Another Kolkata Derby' | Mohun Bagan v. East Bengal Durand Cup 2024 Match Preview

Courtesy: Durand Cup Media

Kolkata bleeds football, the game which has been an integral part of the Bengali lifestyle for multiple generations now. The Maidan at the heart of the City of Joy has seen a lot, from the young juggling with the ball around the busy streets to the elderly at a local tea shop discussing about the match which was played the previous day or the one which is going to be played tomorrow. 

Reading the headlines of the newspaper, the grandad states his views on the game, sipping his cup of hot tea sitting in the balcony and reminiscing the days when he used to own a season ticket to watch his favourite football club play, narrating untold stories in front of his yearning grandchildren. 

Just like every major footballing city in the world, Kolkata too offers a storied rivalry between multiple big clubs of the present and past, the biggest of them being the 99 year old Kolkata derby. This derby is the competition between two heavyweight institutions for the same objective or for superiority in the same field. 

The highlighted word, superiority has significance here; a club will try with all their might to be better than their rival, which will eventually give rise to fierce battles, endless banter and a never-ending feud. But rarely has there been a rivalry as fierce as that between these two Kolkata giants, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. 

The derby, considered one of the biggest derbies in the world, has seen packed stadiums, nerve-racking finishes and fantastic goals. The sheer beauty of this rivalry lies in the fact that these two clubs probably couldn't have survived without each other. The thirst to strive against all odds, the motivation to one up each other. It is a question of pride and respect, a question of their social identity which shapes up this unique rivalry.

And these two meet again on the 18th of August, 2024, that too in the oldest football competition in Asia and the fifth oldest in the World, the prestigious Durand Cup. Mohun Bagan have comfortably won their first two games, so have East Bengal. Both have secured their Quarterfinal berth, but this game will decide to tops this Group, and will definitely be a lot more charged compared to the average Kolkata derby.

Anwar Ali and the current Transfer Market

Official! #EastBengalFC announces signing Anwar Ali before #kolkataderby

🗣️:"I want to dedicate the best years of my career to this iconic club and its passionate fans. Whenever I take the field, I want to make our fans proud and happy. Joy East Bengal!”

#IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/KXCw3oVve9

— Neeladri Bhattacharjee (@Neeladri_27) August 13, 2024

To understand why it is not just another Kolkata Derby, particular focus must be brought towards the latest transfer scenario around both clubs, the mood of the players and how it is going to affect the teams. As Anwar Ali moves onto a new adventure, the AIFF's Player Status Committee (PSC) asked Mohun Bagan to issue a No Objection Certificate (NoC) to allow Anwar to move on to East Bengal on a permanent deal.

Mohun Bagan are thus left with no time to ponder, yet to make a quick move to cover up the defensive loss through an able transfer. Bagan's former captain Pritam Kotal is currently heavily linked with a return to the Mariner's tent. Bagan will be waiting for the PSC's final decision which would paint a clear picture of the amount of compensation money Bagan are about to receive.

However the team is in a great spirit. After a 6-0 win against the Indian Air Force team, fans have already started expecting more such stellar performances from the players and the coach, with the  immense dynamism of the players allowing them to move the ball quite freely without much problems at all. 

The blistering speed of Liston Colaco, added with the vision and creativity of Sahal Abdul Samad and the runs made by our fox in the box, Jason Cummings creates a formidable trident that can pose significant danger to any opposition and at any moment. 

The second half of Bagan's latest game against the Indian Air Force Football Team also proved that Thapa, Stewart and Sahal can easily control the tempo of the game if needed by forming triangles in the middle of the park. Tom Aldred was solid aswell, and he will have to repeat his monster performance when we face our arch-rivals on Sunday evening.

What to Expect from East Bengal

Courtesy: Sony Liv

Mohun Bagan fans are well aware with the team dynamics of East Bengal from the very start of the last season when a Nandakumar Sekar goal propelled Bagan to a shock defeat at the same stage at the Durand Cup itself. After some ups and downs, we are back to that same matchup, albeit with a much different team, from both sides. 

Both clubs have had exceptional transfer windows. Not only the fact that East Bengal have signed Dimitrios Diamantakos and Jeakson Singh from Kerala Blasters, Madin Talal from Punjab FC who had the highest number of assists in ISL 23/24, and young striker David from Mohammedan who scored his first goal with East Bengal against Altyn Asyr in their Qualifiers for the AFC ACL2, a match which they lost which sends them to the AFC Challenge Cup, the third tier of Asian Continental Football.

Not only that, East Bengal have also managed to keep hold of their star Center Back Hijazi Maher in spite of interest from other teams in the Middle East. Even after their loss to Altyn Asyr, they will pose a very very difficult challenge to us, much different from the previous two games, and it is expected that the Bagan coach Jose Francisco Molina and the players prepared very well for the match.

East Bengal possesses a dynamic 4-2-3-1 formation, which changes to 4-1-3-2 or a 4-1-4-1 while in attack, depending on the opposition. They have excelled in such combinations simply because of the fact that they have a solid target man now which they lacked.

Courtesy: Sony Liv

East Bengal's build up starts from the goalkeeper itself as one of their full backs comes down to support and circulate and then pushing up, leaving a space between the Full Back and the Centre back which is then occupied by their Defensive Midfielder who drops down between the two Centre Backs to be able to carry the ball from the defense, reminiscent of when FC Barcelona's Sergio Busquets used to drop and receive, trying to evade the excess pressure.

But when a physical opposition came calling in form of Altyn Asyr, East Bengal were heavily exposed. Even a physically adept ball winner like Souvik Chakrabarti was outmuscled by the Tajikistani players which proves that the system has some faults as well and thus cannot be trusted against physical sides. 

In the picture above, Naorem Mahesh can be spotted as well, implying that in build up, he has his own contribution from the midfield too, which can prove to be very dangerous if he decides to run through our midfield as his dribbling ability is very refined.

Expectations from Mohun Bagan and Match Predictions

The pictures below depict a sequence of the average East Bengal attack from the flanks, crafted by the able tactician Carles Cuadrat. Their build up consistently involves the wide players and generally starts from one wide player to the other in search of the extra man in the flank. 

Courtesy: Sony Liv

It can be spotted how the right back, with a lovely reverse, finds the free man in the middle who evades his marker gracefully, escaping his press and then giving a lovely through ball to the flanks for the winger to run into. That attack ended with an over-hit cross to the middle which evaded everybody but Bagan should not let those opportunities arise whatsoever, as they have got some very good headers of the ball and if the correct cross arrives, it can very easily prove to be fatal.

East Bengal also have midfielders seamlessly swap their places and their wave of attacks seems very dangerous especially when they commit men forward, which means that Molina will be ready to execute efficient counter attacks with the utmost precision. Liston’s pace will be the key in such situations.

As for their defensive formation, they switch to a 4-4-2 formation which not only allows East Bengal to be more compact while the ball is with the opposition, but also prevents flank switches where the wide wingback moves across from his starting position to track the receiving winger. 

Courtesy: Sony Liv

The compactness and the congestion in the central areas of the pitch prevents too many cutbacks and the only way to break through their defence, at times, is by giving precise through balls to the striker, which Sahal can be trusted to execute. 

The interesting feature of this formation is that both their attackers push forward even without the ball to stay by the shoulder of the opposition centre-backs which helps the team in transition a lot as the wingers and attacking midfielders from the wide areas can easily find one of them in the final third. Thus Bagan will need to be super careful while attacking as well and hopefully not commit too many men forward.

Molina-ball has been quite pleasant and this is only the beginning of the season. It will definitely be a close contest. Molina's men will need to iron out some mistakes and will have to take into consideration the opponent at hand and not let the current off field situation get into their head, rather take advantage of it and display the Bagan might on the field and go all out to defend the Durand Cup. 

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