#3 Mohun Bagan’s system might need a re-think
Mohun Bagan, along with East Bengal are the only team in the League still unbeaten. But, that record was under serious examination against Aizawl on Saturday, and DSK Shivajians last time around.
Sanjoy Sen has played with effectively a 4-2-4 system with four uber-attacking players. Instead of two banks of four, Mohun Bagan play with two holding midfielders, among which one often joins the attack. What that allows is, Mohun Bagan to attack very fluently and sometimes effectively with the likes of Jeje, Daryl Duffy, Katsumi and Sony Norde (or Prabir Das as on Saturday) in the team.
On the flip side though, when they lose possession, they become incredibly easy to open up for the opposition, with the midfield in more than one occasion being overrun. DSK exposed them, having considerably more possession with Moun Bagan finding it difficult to win back the ball. So did Aizawl, with Jaryan in the middle, and Mohun bagan were lucky to have not been punished more severely.
Against East Bengal though, who play with a three midfielder system, things will be different, and they might well be punished. Sanjoy Sen needs to re-think the formation, or drop one of the strikers to play a midfielder like Katsumi Yusa at number 10.
