Eleven goals on successive Indian Super League (ISL) nights this week. That’s what the Kolkata giants have shipped in the third round. On Tuesday, SC East Bengal (SCEB) lost 4-6 to Odisha FC and that was followed by champions Mumbai City FC tearing ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) to ribbons in a 5-1 win.
The teams have met four times since ATK and Mohun Bagan, champions of the ISL and the I-League in 2019-20, merged and Mumbai City FC have won all of them. But exactly how much of sucker-punch it was for the maroon-and-green shirts could be gauged by the team skipping the post-match media conference. Prior to the game, ATKMB coach Antonio Lopez Habas had said he wasn’t letting the history of three defeats last term weigh them down because Mumbai City FC have “new coach” and “new players”. It was probably the only thing the often crusty Spaniard got right about the night.
Vikram Pratap Singh is 19 and was making his first start in light blue after 98 minutes over 11 games as a substitute last term. The former player from Indian Arrows — the development side of the All India Football Federation— had zero goals and assists in that time. On Wednesday, Singh, his hair highlighted, haring down the right, had ATKMB on the mat from the off. With two goals inside 25 minutes, it was, as Singh said in the post-match interview to the official broadcaster, “a great start.”
True, the second goal shouldn’t have stood as it hit his hand but with three shots on target and 21 of 23 passes being successful, Singh showed why he is on India head coach Igor Stimac’s radar.
Also read: Glut of goals in ISL’s opening round but is that good?
By using the speed of Mandar Rao Dessai, Singh and Bipin Singh, “new coach” Des Buckingham exploited the space usually left by ATKMB’s wide attacking players Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh. Buckingham, 36, mentioned doing “a lot of work tactically” before the game which the players took “a shine to”. According to the ISL website, ATKMB had one shot on target (Mumbai City had 10), played nearly 200 passes less than their opponents (274-459) and had 41% possession.
“I think we took our chances in key moments and I think we are starting to show more glimpses of our playing style on a more consistent basis,” said Buckingham.
Not since December 12, 2015, had Habas been blindsided in India like this. That was in the first leg of the semi-final against Chennaiyin FC which ATK lost 0-3. Habas’s teams are known for their defensive solidity. In 2020-21, ATKMB let in 15 goals in the league, the least. In 2019-20, that number was 16, the second lowest after Bengaluru FC, which is how it was in 2014, the year ISL began, and in 2015. Habas’s worst defeat last term was 0-2 to Mumbai City FC. In the season prior, it was 1-3 to Chennayin FC.
Will he now stop using attacking players as wing backs? Will he set up more defensive teams? These are questions Habas will have to deal with along with showing he can cope with the minimum number of foreigners since ISL began. But at least he has the personnel to be able to put this behind them. A man light for almost half the game on Wednesday, ATKMB have India players in all areas of the pitch and some of the ISL’s best foreigners.
That cannot be said for SCEB. Coach Jose Manuel Diaz said after the loss to Odisha FC that “we don’t have enough quality for playing these kind of matches.” At Thursday’s virtual media conference, which he attended as a Chennaiyin FC player, former India and East Bengal defender Narayan Das was asked, “How sad are you?”
On Thursday, Diaz said SCEB give up when the opposition scores and that they were losing concentration while defending set-pieces. For the second season, SCEB are a hastily-cobbled squad, the after-effect of internecine conflict between the club and its investors. By the time, SCEB, who have leaked 10 goals in three games, sorted out things, the best Indian players were taken in a season where seven had to be on the pitch.
“You cannot improve a team in two months in all functions,” Chennaiyin FC coach Bozidar Bandovic said on Thursday.
When the National Football League began in 1996-97, Mohun Bagan couldn’t qualify and East Bengal finished third. The Kolkata giants won six of the 11 editions between them before it was replaced by I-League in 2007-08 where their record is poorer. In 13 seasons, East Bengal’s best was four runners-up finishes. Mohun Bagan have won it twice.
So, it’s been a while that the Kolkata biggies haven’t been bossing Indian competitions. I-League had teams from Goa, Mumbai and Bengaluru consistently matching, if not bettering, them in attracting the best available talent. Occasionally, the historic clubs— East Bengal are 101 years old and Mohun Bagan 132 — were also shocked by outliers from Aizawl, Ludhiana and Chennai.
SCEB have struggled in ISL but it was different for ATK and then ATKMB. Till Wednesday, that is.
Also read: Greater focus on Indians in new ISL season
So are these defeats a sign that ISL too is chipping away at Kolkata’s pre-eminent status? The jury is out on that but it is a fact that Mohammedan Sporting, the other historic club from Kolkata, are not in India’s top league and have not been regulars in I-League’s top tier either. As is FC Goa’s fighting performance in the 2021 Champions League and ATKMB losing 0-6 to FC Nasaf in the AFC Cup, a second-rung Asian competition.
Taken together with three ISL teams (Hyderabad FC, FC Goa and Bengaluru FC) being serious about developing Indian talent and Buckingham saying Mumbai City FC, now part of the City Football Group, would like to have “the best Indian players because we want to develop them” it does mean testing times for the Kolkata giants.
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