Analysis by Suparno Chakraborty
As the bitter city rivals East Bengal FC and ATK Mohun Bagan are about to clash at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, let’s take a look at both the squads to predict how the age old rivalry is likely to fare at the Hero ISL tomorrow.
To start with, let’s see how both the teams would line up for the derby:
Here’s how East Bengal FC would line up:
Assuming that Stephen Constantine will not break the combination that grabbed full points against North East United FC. Although Lima and Sauvik could make their way into the starting line up provided they have recovered from their injuries. Aniket or Jangra could make their way in place of Suhair during the later period of the game.
Now let’s look at how would ATK Mohun Bagan line up:
Assuming Juan Ferrando will continue with the winning combination in the starting line up for ATK Mohun Bagan that bagged full points against Kerala Blasters FC in their last game with only one change in the form of Lenny making his way in place of Tangri.
Let’s now get into technical aspect of both the teams:
East Bengal FC: Under Constantine the team plays a conventional 4-4-2. They rely mostly on aerial balls while attacking. Constantine’s team tends to shift to the wings too early while build ups as the side lacks players in the middle corridor who can carry the ball forward from the back while attacking. They mostly depend on attacks down the wings using Naorem and Suhair. Naorem has been in good touch in the last two outings against FC Goa and North East United FC while Suhair is far from his best till now. At the heart of the defence Lalchungnunga has been rock solid throughout the season till now and tomorrow it’s going to be an acid test for him as facing Hugo, Kouko, Petratos and Colaco won’t be easy but looking at the form he is in it can be said that he is the best bet for East Bengal as the right center back. If he fails to deliver then Sarthak might take his place by making way for Rakip or Ankit as the right full back. Ivan needs to pull up his socks and do justice to his name. Given the type of form he is in it can be assumed that Juan will ask his boys to press Ivan hard and force him to be dragged out of position. Naorem and Suhair’s defensive job will be the key for East Bengal in both the flanks as they will have to track back continuously in order to resist Colaco-Kuruniyan and Manveer-Rai combination during the ATKMB attacks. Both Colaco and Manveer will look to cut inside while Kuruniyan and Rai will make those overlapping runs down the line. Jerry-Naorem and Sarthak-Suhair will have to be on their toes and they will need to make sure that they push the ATKMB wingers and wing backs outside towards the line. Allowing them to cut back and get into the attacking third will create problems for EBFC. If Kyriacou plays as the defensive midfielder then he has to ensure that he keeps on tracking Petratos and Kouko for the entire stretch of the game in the EBFC defensive third and beyond as Petratos and Kouko combines well to oplay as the false 9 in phases and deceives the opponent defence line very well. Kamaljit Singh under the red and gold bars will have to be at his best and must not repeat the mistakes that he has been committing during the games so far and he must also look into his distributions as it remains the key when a team builds up relying on long balls. Cleiton will be the key man for EBFC upfront and he should be given the role of a number 10 as that allows him to drift down into the midfield and shift towards the wings to make way for Naorem and Suhair to cut inside from the wings during the attacking build up and will also provide Cleiton with space to operate. Moreover Cleiton is much more effective as a second striker than playing as number 9. Haokip playing as a number 9 will have to be at the top of his game as chances will not come in abundance for East Bengal and he has to make count of the ones that come his way. Constantine might play a very low defence line and the midfield also as low as possible just above the defence line to deny ATKMB players the space to play between the lines. Jordan and Kyriacou’s role in the game will be very important as they are the ones who will be responsible to deny the ATKMB midfield and upfront any space to operate between the lines in the EBFC defensive third. Jordan will also have to look for those defence breaking passes and defence splitting runs down the middle which was missing in the last game, although that was technically his first game so he might need some more time to show what he is capable of.
Overall it will be a match where Stephen Constantine will be needed to do a lot of thinking to bring the best out of his boys.
ATK Mohun Bagan : The ATKMB squad can be termed as a squad full of qualities. Although despite of being a top quality team they also have their problems and will take a look into those areas as we progress with the derby preview.
Under Juan Ferrando this ATKMB side plays a False9 in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Dimitri Petratos plays the role of a false 9 for ATKMB. During build up they mostly play a passing game trying to keep possession as they keep on switching the game from the wings to the middle of the park looking for those defence splitting passes that Dimitri would latch onto. During the build up Kouko and Hugo remains their main player as Kouko plays the role of a box to box midfielder and Hugo plays as an attacking midfielder. Joni Kouko, a class apart remains effective and important for his team during both attacking and defensive transitions. He has the ability to both snatch and build up as a deep lying playmaker who has an exceptionally good distribution ability alongside scoring goals. Kouko combines very well with Petratos to execute the False9 game style of Ferrando. At the heart of the defence ATKMB has got some problems as Kotal is not at the top of his game at this moment.
Specially those first 20 minutes against Kerala Blasters FC the ATK Mohun Bagan defence was all over and could have conceded more than one during that phase, although they recovered well and won the match finally. Although ATKMB will play a attacking game tomorrow in the derby still they will need to keep close eyes on Naorem, Suhair, Cleiton and Jerry. As Naorem and Jerry has shown signs of combining well down the left flank, the ATKMB left winger Colaco and left wing back Kuruniyan will have to ensure that they won’t allow them space. Cleiton will play his natural game of drifting sideways and down into the midfield trying to take the ATKMB defenders and defensive midfielder out of their position which they have to handle wisely. Kuruniyan and Rai will need to get back to their positions fast as EBFC will look to attack down the wings during transitions. With Kouko playing as the deep lying playmaker the role of Lenny will be very important as a defensive midfielder as he will have complement well with Kouko and considering the form he showed after coming in as a substitute against KBFC, he will raring to go in the derby. Lenny himself can also play the role of a deep lying playmaker as he has that ability to distribute and feed balls upfront down the middle and towards the wings. Hugo on his day can toy with any defence line in the Hero Indian Super League and will be more than ready for tomorrow after finally getting back into touch in their last game. Colaco and Manveer can cause real threats for EBFC as they both can operate in speed while running down the flanks and cutting back inside into the opponent’s defensive third and beyond. If they can manage to create space for themselves then they are supposed to wreck havoc. Colaco with his sublime skills will tend to draw the EBFC defenders and midfielders specially Sarthak, Suhair, Kyricou and Lalchungnunga towards him trying to create space for Hugo, Dimitri and Kouko. Manveer mostly depends on his speed to create problems for opponent players and he will use all his speed and power to push Naorem and Jerry down to their own half. With Manveer’s blistering burst of speed at phases during cutting back inside might create problems for Ivan. Dimitri Petratos remains the most important player for ATKMB in order to implement Juan Ferrando’s False9 strategy successfully. Dimitri drifts down during attacking build ups creating problems for the opponent defenders to track him as he tricks them into coming out of their positions creating spaces in the defence which is made use of by players like Hugo and Kouko. Vishal Kaith although has been in good touch still he has tends fumble during important junctures of the game and the EBFC upfront will try and test him. He needs to remain into the game mentally for the entire stretch. Against KBFC despite having one of his best games he fumbled to that Rahul KP shot and let that into the ATKMB net which otherwise should have been a routine save for any goalkeeper. Pritam Kotal will also be tested by the EBFC upfront as they will try to press him during the attacks. Hamill will have to complement Kotal very well. After getting back into rhythm in the game against KBFC such a long gap from competitive might create some initial glitches for Ferrando’s boys and they will have to be careful during the first quarter of the game if they don’t hit back to rhythm from the word go.
Overall it can be said that ATK Mohun Bagan will walk into the Kolkata Derby as favourites.
Hero Indian Super League for the first time is about to experience the flavour of a houseful Kolkata Derby as the City of Joy is about to experience yet another Clash of the Titans.
Picture Courtesy: East Bengal FC Twitter
