I-League 2018-19: Can Quess East Bengal Arrest the Fall and Win the League?
Quess East Bengal Football Club kicked off their I-League 2018-19 campaign brightly by winning two away matches at NEROCA FC and Shillong Lajong, raising the hopes among fans that they would finally bag the elusive I-League title this season at least.
But soon, their performance began to dip drastically as they suffered two back-to-back losses, one at home to league leaders Chennai City FC and then away to Aizwal FC, who were bottom of the table then.
Suddenly, one of the biggest and most successful Indian clubs, which looked extremely formidable on paper after being taken over by a rich investor, a new foreign coaching staff and some high profile signings, looked no different than any other average small budget clubs in the country.
On the contrary, small budget teams like Chennai City FC, Gokulam Kerala FC and Churchill Brothers, with less than half of Quess East Bengal's budget, have surpassed all expectations with their performances on the field. So where has it all gone wrong for the 98-year-old club? Would the millions supporting the club be deprived once again like every year? Can the team turn around by resorting to some tactical changes or tweaking the team formation? These are some common questions playing around in the minds of the supporters and the Indian football fraternity.
From our observations, we intend to highlight the weaknesses of the team and add a few solutions that coach Alejandro Menéndez García can probably look at.
East Bengal's Deficiencies:
- The essence of a successful team lies in its midfield and that is precisely where a team like Quess East Bengal is lacking big time. Coach Alejandro Menendez has more often used Kamalpreet Singh and Lalrindika Ralte to anchor the midfield but the Indian duo has misfired badly. They often look confused with their roles and are caught out of position most of the times.
Singh in particular has looked lackluster throughout and seems a total misfit in his role as a destroyer. In order to make up for the gaps in the midfield left by his counterpart, Ralte's playmaking ability has been badly affected. He is being drawn to make rash and unnecessary challenges.
He has already received two yellow cards in his four outings and was very lucky to escape a red card against Aizwal FC. Both Singh and Ralte lack the ability to dictate proceedings at the center of the field. The former is a right-back and the latter is an attacking midfielder by trade. Hence their lack of depth in the middle of the park is evident.
- Coach Alejandro's apathy towards Kassim Aidara's inclusion in the first eleven has contributed more to their midfield woes. It is a known fact that Kassim is a far better fit as a central defensive midfielder than Kamalpreet Singh. If he is not in the Coach's plan, then the team management should get rid of Kassim immediately. If not, the coach must play him.
- It is extremely unfortunate the club is missing the services of a player of Mahmoud Al Amna's quality at the center of the field. We are aware of his capabilities with regard to creativity and ball distribution, although he doesn't score much.
At 36, it is quite understandable that Amna is already past his prime and injuries do not recuperate easily. In fact, chances of recurrence are maximum at this age. In such a case the club should respectfully do a golden handshake with him and sign a good quality central attacking midfielder (in the available foreign quota) who can play in the No 10 role just behind the striker/s.
Such a player can help the team by creating chances in the final third and adding to the scoresheet. A quality No 10 can additionally help the team by pressing the opponent team high up the pitch and disrupting their build-up play.
Enrique Esqueda is an out-and-out box striker, hence he would like to be fed with quality passes upfront.
- The high profile signing of the Costa Rican defender Johny Acosta, who featured in the recently concluded FIFA World Cup in Russia, created a lot of buzz in the Indian football fraternity. A lot was and still is expected of him, but his display has been inconsistent.
His slide tackles and clearances cause more problems than help the team out in the defence. To be fair to him, his distribution and positioning is second to none. On the other hand, a lesser known Spanish defender Borja Gomez seems to steal all the limelight and is certainly leading the defensive line with his positioning sense, tackles and clearances.
- The Indian contingent of the squad looks relatively inferior in skill,speed and stamina compared to other teams like Chennai City FC, Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala. This is certainly impacting the team badly. Next year, the team management has to be more cautious while recruiting Indian players.
Solutions for East Bengal
- Coach Alejandro should be open to changing his team formations and strategies based on the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. He just cannot stick to a single team formation or combination, which is usually a conventional 4-4-2.
With limited options in his hands, he should immediately resort to a more balanced and more robust 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-3-2 formation in order to make the midfield and defense more compact, arrest the gaps and at the same time, make constructive attacks either through the wings or down the middle.
The coach can utilize Acosta in a sweeper role in front of the central defense or can use a double pivot in front of the central defence. With Acosta's vast experience and superior game reading, he can disrupt the game play of opponents at will. Moreover his immaculate passing will certainly aid the team in its build-up play.
- With the arrival of the young Spanish winger Jaime Santos Colado, the team does not lack in quality. It is expected that the Coach will play him in his preferred area i.e.left wing. It is expected that his explosive pace, finesse shooting and tendency to cut inside will add more dimension to the team's attack.
- As mentioned above, the team management has to act quickly and recruit a specialist foreign creative midfielder. It is certain that this introduction will immensely improve the dynamism of the team.
- Additional focus should be given in regard to the goalkeeping department. East Bengal has quite often suffered from erroneous goalkeeping in the past. In the last two matches of the ongoing I League, this department has looked susceptible.
The Coach needs to address this and make arrangements for extra training sessions for the goalkeepers. Rakshit Dagar is a quality goalkeeper and with more practice and guidance, he will prosper.