Navigating the Red Mines | Mohun Bagan vs Jamshedpur FC Match Preview

byRitam Chakraborty -
jose khalid

As the long dreaded international break draws to a close, we look forward to the resumption of the Indian Super League. As Mohun Bagan lock horns with Jamshedpur FC at the Salt Lake Stadium, the visitors would vow to put the past struggles behind and aim for a fresh start.

I rarely talk about form while analysing the games but this time I will be a different here and talk about Jamshedpur FC (a lot infact). The team from the Steel City is placed seventh in the league standings with 12 points, already recording some vital wins against FC Goa, Mumbai City and East Bengal, that is at their home ground, but it would be prudent to state that their away form is not encouraging at all.

They played just two games away, losing out on both occasions to Odisha and Northeast, a 5-0 defeat against the highlanders followed by a 5-1 home defeat to Chennayin FC, coincidentally our next opponent. If we simply go by the stats, they have not performed badly, but a lot of factors comes into play here. 

They have, at times, looked quite rusty and uninspired, especially while chasing games, and the underlying numbers of them creating only 8 xG (expected goals) from seven games while conceding 12 xG (expected goals) shows that they have overperformed if anything. 


Moreover they have the third least touches in the opposition box, after Hyderabad FC and Punjab FC, indicating that even when they did manage to string in a few passes in succession, they were not able to break the opposition defence simply because of their lack of creativity/poise.

Mohunbagan on the other hand failed to keep the winning run going, sharing the spoils with Odisha away, a result which I consider as acceptable simply because of the ground dynamics. The pitch size is small with the other team players forcing you to play long balls over the defence and go for duels everywhere. 

It is a tough ground to win, much reminiscent of the basque grounds in Spain where even Real Madrid and Barcelona face problems. However that game is done, and the focus should be on the next.

JFC Players to Watch out For

Stephen Eze

The Nigerian defender stands at 6’6 and is a nightmare for most attackers. The player in my opinion, binds the team and the defence together, for instance when he got sent off against Northeast, Jamshedpur FC had only conceded one goal.

They not only conceded a further four in that game but five in their next game with him suspended. The thing is that he will be back to playing against the Mariners and that would surely cause us a few problems because pf his authentic pace and agility. However their defensive structure as a whole is quite underwhelming and that will need to change if they want to go home with a result against the Mariners.

Rei Tachikawa

The Japanese player, notable for his youth career in Italy can also be a torn in our path to victory in this particular game, I had already noted down their problems with creating big chances and their low amount of touches inside their penalty box. 

Well these things are not needed at all if there's someone who can strike the ball from distance as cleanly as him. He has already scored twice this season and his ability to break down defences and create that sense of unpredictability and confusion not only from his shots but also from his line breaking passes can be vital this game.

Jamshedpur FC - Tactical Analysis

jfc 1
Courtesy: ISL on JioCinema

Before going into their attacking and defensive dynamics, I want to point out the vulnerability in them while being pressed. And it is a major concern because when Pratik was pressed in this photo, he panicked and gave Wilmar Jordan a free goal. 

And that can be caused again if we are aggressive in our pressing and become physical because as we can see, they play a high line and if we can get the ball in danger areas, it should be over for them considering the pace Liston possesess.

jfc 2
Courtesy: ISL on JioCinema

Their attacking prowess mostly comes from counters with their players spacing themselves quite well, and making runs and overlaps with ease giving the passer a fair few options to execute when they spring forward. 

Sanan’s pace can be a danger to any team while Javi Hernandez, for example, can thread the silk through the needle effortlessly. I have also mentioned about Rei Tachikawa long shot prowess and that should come and help the team in certain situations. 

jfc 3
Courtesy: ISL on JioCinema

Their defence is characterised by an aggressive high-line with intense man to man mark which works sometimes but when not well executed, it can cause problems to them as well. The players are extremely physical in certain situations, especially in aerial duels and as Eze is back from his suspension, it should be a duel to watch between him and the striker, whoever we play upfront. 

Their coach Khalid Jamil can employ a midblock in certain situations as he can be extremely flexible and adaptive but mostly the team will play as they have played so far this season.

The Situation for Mohun Bagan

I had already broken down the form the Mariners are in and it would be prudent to just state the condition of the players and as always, the manager. With the defence still looking strong, we can trust the team not to leak goals like the game against Bengaluru FC. 

However, we have to avoid the mistakes like the one against Odisha FC, those lapse in concentration moments which I am sure will not repeat again. Apart from that we had a couple of moments where Odisha FC looked dangerous on the break and Vishal had to intervene.  

Asish Rai is gone for the game injured. Which means more than likely we will have to settle for the dreaded 3-5-2. Dippendu or Raj Basfore could have been tried at right back, but such injuries only highlight the alarming lack of depth in many spots even after spending a lot in team building.


About the midfield, there might be one concern. Not only Apuia and Thapa are performing but even Tangri has been tidy when he came on. Need a few Abhishek minutes however. Still that position is not of direct concern. Greg will be most likely absent but if Molina can finally trust Sahal in his natural position, he will surely not disappoint, else we will have to see more out of position Petratos from which he has looked bland.

But only one real change I would like to see is Cummings starting; I feel like if Jamshedpur do play a high line, Liston will exploit it but it will need our strikers to be in good positions as well, and I, from what I saw, felt Jamie is more of a link up player type. 

However I don’t think Jose Molina will share the same views as me and I will understand that as well, as the all-time A-League top scorer is just in a better shape than his countryman, and has spent more days in team training over the past two weeks. 

MBFT Fan's Voice

Starting Lineup Predictions

Mohunbagan:

Vishal; Alberto-Aldred-Subhashis; Apuia-Thapa; Liston-Sahal-Petratos-Manvir; Jamie

Jamshedpur FC:

Albino; Mehta-Chaudhury-Eze-Uvais; Sourav Das; Sanan-Hernandez-Tachikawa-Khan; Murray


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