" Play the extra Pass! " Lobera's philosophy that changes Mohun Bagan.
Under Jose Francisco Molina, Mohun Bagan had a defence-first approach. Molina's side will always make sure to get a 0-0 draw instead of winning a game 5-4. That certainly helped Mohun Bagan last season as Bagan had to rely on the defensive duo of Tom Aldred and Alberto Rodriguez, with Subhasish Bose and Asish Rai playing crucial roles. Bagan relied on set pieces as a source of Goals and scored 41% goals from set plays. The defensive trio of Bose, Alberto and Aldred scored multiple goals to earn 3 points.
Mohun Bagan always had the best of Indian Footballers and they have the pleasure of recruiting world-class foreigners nowadays. Mohun Bagan have three Aussie World Cuppers, Dimitri Petratos, Jason Cummings and Jamie Maclaren; they also have a Monstar in defence, Alberto Rodriguez, who is a dream player to have in any coach's squad. Despite having this world class talents, Molina opted for a pragmatic approach, and Bagan won the ISL double. Though the joy was short-lived, as Molina's system had many flaws in attacking transitions. Opponents figured out the Molina philosophy, and Bagan struggled to beat a third division (now IFL) side, Dempo SC. Molina had to leave, and Mohun Bagan recruited one of the finest in this industry, Sergio Lobera!
From a Pragmatic coach to someone who doesn't compromise on his philosophy, the transition was never easy. Mohun Bagan played in the Molina system for almost 18 months, and, when Lobera took over, he had a team in hand, which is brilliant but disoriented. His first task was to implement the possession-based Tiki Taka System.
Being a fan of football, a name you cannot ever ignore is Josep Pep Guardiola, and Pep's possession-based football has reshaped the way this beautiful game is played in the last 15 years. What Pep always emphasizes on playing the extra pass.
Hailing from the setup of FC Barcelona, Lobera and Pep Guardiola's philosophy has many things in common. Interestingly enough, during the 2005/06 season, Guardiola (alongside Luis Enrique and Jordi Cruyff) worked under Lobera to earn his coaching licenses. Lobera was a veteran youth coach at the time, having joined Barcelona's academy in 1997.
“I love to pass the ball. A thousand, million, boring boring passes, I love it! You have to give passes and passes, an extra pass, an extra pass; If there isn't a sequence of 15 previous passes, a good transition between attack and defence is impossible." Pep stated in an interview. Sergio Lobera's Mohun Bagan is no different.
The Passing Game
Before Indian football spoke about positional play, Sergio Lobera’s FC Goa (2019-20) were already doing it — long passing sequences, positional overloads and controlled build-ups inspired by the Barcelona school. And, Lobera has tried to replicate the same model which gave him success in Indian Football this season again. Under Molina, Mohun Bagan had a passing accuracy of 76% in the entire ISL campaign, with defender Tom Aldred and Alberto Rodriguez being the top pass providers; under Lobera, Mohun Bagan's passing accuracy has seen a massive improvement, where, currently, after just 4 games, Mohun Bagan have completed 1489 passes with 80% passing accuracy.
This time, midfielder Apuia Ralte is the key contributor, averaging 52 passes per game with an accuracy of 87%. Anirudh Thapa has shared the ball distribution duty and improved his passing game to a whole new level. In ISL 24/25, Thapa had 31 successful passes per game, but under Lobera, the stat saw a massive rise as now Thapa completed 46 passes per game, a 48% improvement from last season, showcasing the Lobera philosophy of taking control of the game and relying on the midfielders to control the tempo.
Why The Extra Pass?
Molina's 2024-25 side avoided the extra pass, preferring a direct and efficient style to punish opponents quickly. In contrast, Sergio Lobera has turned the extra pass into a tactical weapon for the 2025-26 season. By keeping the ball longer, Mohun Bagan now tires out defenders and forces them out of position, creating clear gaps for Jamie Maclaren to exploit. While Molina played to stay organised and strike on the break, Lobera uses high-volume passing to dictate the game and break down teams that "park the bus." This shift is exactly why Anirudh Thapa’s passing numbers have jumped from 31 to 46 per match.
The extra pass philosophy is evident against a low-block team. When teams sit deep (like Mohammedan SC or Odisha did), one pass won't break them. But, a few extra passes, however, force defenders out of position, eventually opening a "lane" for a striker like Maclaren. Two quick examples are the opening Mohun Bagan goals against MDSC and OFC.
When Bagan were trailing 0-1 against Mohammedan, Jason Cummings suddenly found an opening inside the box. Jason quickly realised an MDSC defender was charging towards him and taking the shot would reduce the chances for an equaliser, and he quickly saw Robson behind and played a backheel pass to the Brazilian, who quickly took the shot to an open goal, and Bagan equalised.
Against Odisha, in the first ten minutes, it was getting difficult to stretch the Juggernaut's defence. Dimi suddenly saw an opening. The Odisha defender thought Dimi would shoot towards the goal, but Dimi saw an overlapping run from Subhasish Bose, and played a brilliant backheel pass to the left back, whose cross finds Jamie's head perfectly as Bagan go 1-0 up within the first quarter of the game.
Jamie Maclaren's Back
One more key change Lobera made, which changed Bagan, is involving the world-class Jamie Maclaren in the game. Jamie Maclaren’s transformation into a pure "fox in the box" under Sergio Lobera is best captured by his surging efficiency in the danger zone. In the 2024–25 season, Macca often drifted wide or dropped deep to link play, averaging a modest 3.1 touches in the opposition box per game. This season, the tactical shift to a high-possession, "Tiki-Taka" style has pinned opponents back, allowing him to stay central and patient. As a result, his presence has more than doubled to a staggering 6.5 touches in the box per game in the 2025–26 campaign. By focusing his energy exclusively on the width of the goalposts, Maclaren has turned increased service into a lethal scoring rate, proving that his improved box presence is the primary engine behind his record-breaking start to the season. Jamie's scoring rate has exploded alongside his box presence. In the 2024–25 season, he was a steady scorer, averaging 0.48 goals per game (12 goals in 25 matches). This year, under Lobera, he has become a scoring machine, nearly tripling that rate to 1.75 goals per game. With 7 goals in just 4 matches, he has already scored more than half of his previous season's total. By staying central and clinical, Maclaren has turned into a high-volume striker who is currently unstoppable.
From Set-Piece Kings to Open Play Monsters
While discussing the change in Philosophy between the two Spaniards, a Point we shouldn't miss out on is the change Lobera brought to his chance creation dynamics. Under Coach Molina, Mohun Bagan created 68 opportunities from set pieces, 28% of the total chances created, as Bagan scored 20 goals from Set Pieces (Corner, Free Kick, Penalties), 41% of the goals Bagan scored in the historic campaign. Sergio Lobera has changed that dynamic completely, as this season, the Mariners are more reliant on Open Play goals. Amongst the 14 Goals Mohun Bagan scored this season, only 1 goal came from Set Plays, and the remaining 13 were Open Play goals. Bagan's created 9 chances from set pieces so far, only 16% of the chances the defending champions have created, a major decrease in numbers from ISL 2024-25.
In contrast to Molina's strategy, which frequently depended on individual skill or swift counterattacks to score goals, Lobera's approach makes use of the extra pass to establish team rhythm. This shift has dispersed the threat throughout the entire field and relieved pressure from just one or two players. Bagan no longer needs to wait for an opponent to make a mistake because they have the tactical means to do so by moving the ball continuously. For a full ninety minutes, this change from "reacting" to "dictating" makes the team much more unpredictable and challenging to defend against.
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