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East Bengal was thrashed poorly in their first game of the ISL 2022-23 against Kerala Blasters. They lost the match by a margin of 3-1. The defense of East Bengal completely looked helpless in front of the likes of Adrian Luna and Ivan Vukomanovic.
Although Alex Lima scored a goal, it was nothing more than a consolation prize for the fans.
A lot of questions were asked regarding some of the decisions taken by Head Coach Stephen Constantine. His selection of the first XI also raised the eyebrows of football experts. The team seemingly lacked creativity in the midfield which cost them the match.
Here, we will discuss five mistakes made by Constantine that need to be rectified before the next match.
1. Late introduction of Jordan O'Doherty
Jordan O'Doherty is a creative footballer who can create lots of chances for the striker. His excellent passing ability would have helped East Bengal build the game from midfield. The 24-year-old also has very good defensive qualities that could have prevented the second goal which occurred due to lack of blocking in the midfield. But his introduction near 90 mins left him with nothing much to do on the field to keep EB on track.
2. Substituting Souvik Chakrabarti with Amarjit Singh Kiyam
Souvik Chakrabarti and Alex Lima were two standout players in midfield for East Bengal. Souvik Chakrabarti's ability to hold the ball in midfield helped East Bengal to stay defensively compact in the 1st match. But Amarjit Singh Kiyam looked totally unfit when he was introduced. He gave away the possession too easily on several cases. His poor blocking was one of the main reasons behind the second goal of the match.
3. Continuing Sumeet Passi for 90 mins
Sumeet Passi wasn't in the best of his form in the last match. He looked totally clueless. He was also a bit lethargic on the field. His poor communication with Ankit Mukherjee allowed the KBFC striker to attack from the right flank on several occasions. He also made several mispasses upfront and was very slow. In the next match, the coach should think of some other fit player to play at his position.
4. Going with 2 foreign defenders
East Bengal doesn't have many options upfront. They could have used Elinandro and Cleiton together upfront. But playing with two foreign defenders makes little sense. It reduced the foreigners upfront. It led to a lack of physicality upfront and EB losing many balls to Kerala defenders. Constantine should use two foreign strikers or midfielders upfront to increase physicality in the attacking section of the team.
5. Using players out of their actual positions
In the match against Kerala Blasters, Charalambos Kyriacou was used as LB in place of RB/CB. It affected his game. He looked clueless regarding his positioning. During every attack, the ball traversed to his wrong foot which compelled him to make wrong passes.
Constantine had enough options on the left of the field like Pritam Singh and Tuhin Das. But using him on the left side was a suicidal decision taken by Constantine.
The 59-year-old should rectify these mistakes, which could help East Bengal to qualify for Super 6 of the ISL 2022-23.
