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East Bengal Comment: The Need To Buck-Up...
Another docile performance was dished out against JCT on Sunday...
12-Oct-2009 4:12:50 PM
One of the biggest names in the Indian football, East Bengal
were considered one of the title challengers in the I-League a few months back.
After a disastrous pre-season, their performance in the I-League hasn’t been
all that wonderful either.
Following the pre-season embarrassments at the hands of Tata Football Academy (TFA), Chirag United and Shillong Lajong, the list could have added the name of Pune FC as well in their I-League opener. It was only for the poor ground conditions coupled with a mixture of poor finishing and bad luck that Derrick Pereira’s side couldn’t get their first three points at the cost of East Bengal.
Against Mahindra United, they played without any “tactical sessions” as coach Subhash Bhowmick put it, but put up a fight against the Red Devils and much of the credit for the same would go to Yusif Yakubu who turned the game single-handedly in the second half. The Ghanaian oozes class every time he touches the ball and leaves the opposition stupefied with his goal against the Jeepmen exemplifying the same.
On a Sunday evening playing in front of their home crowd, East Bengal were put up against an in-form JCT. The Red and Gold’s have been whining about having a single foreigner in their line-up as Julius Akpele is injured while their third foreigner, who is likely to be Abel Hammond, hasn’t yet arrived. This argument didn’t hold much water against JCT, who have signed just a single foreign player in Orji Penn.
The Kolkata giants had three opportunities in the game with first falling for Bhaichung, whose shot went wide. Yakubu couldn’t slot it home from six yards while Nabi’s header from pint blank range was straight into the hands of the JCT custodian.
Had they converted those chances they could have won? But it wasn’t that the other team didn’t have any during the course of the game. Sakatar Singh had two opportunities, where once he was denied by Nirmal Chettri’s block and on the second occasion, hit it into the hands of Abhra Mondal.
Where Are You Going?
While critics have been mentioning East Bengal’s defence being all at sea, it’s their midfield which has been non-existent in all their three games. The likes of Riston Rodrigues and Mehtab Hussain have been second best in all the matches played and haven’t created anything for their strikers. JCT’s Jagpreet Singh and Orji Penn looked more solid and composed than the East Bengal duo, just that they didn’t attack as much as they would have liked, which their coach attributed to the boys being tired playing on the artificial turf.
Their wingers too haven’t had much luck except for Renedy Singh, who was injured on Sunday, and Syed Nabi. Sanju Pradhan, who was known to run up and down the right flank with blistering pace, seems to have forgotten the tricks which East Bengal saw while recruiting him.
Impressive Nabi
Interestingly, Nabi was the most impressive player in the opening 45 minutes but was slotted in as a left-back in the second session which did halt East Bengal’s creativity when going forward. However later, when the East Bengal skipper was asked to once again play from the position he started, he did much better but didn’t have the players around as many of them looked tired especially the strikers.
East Bengal’s next test is against Mohun Bagan who have their own issues to contend with. In a battle of teams who have failed to live up to the promise, the Red and Gold’s would have to seek inspiration from the impressive 3-0 victory over their arch rivals last season.
It’s that brand of football which is pleasing to the eye. But can they stand up to the challenge?
For now, just buck-up!
Rahul Bali.
What do YOU think? Can East Bengal Return to top form?
Following the pre-season embarrassments at the hands of Tata Football Academy (TFA), Chirag United and Shillong Lajong, the list could have added the name of Pune FC as well in their I-League opener. It was only for the poor ground conditions coupled with a mixture of poor finishing and bad luck that Derrick Pereira’s side couldn’t get their first three points at the cost of East Bengal.
Against Mahindra United, they played without any “tactical sessions” as coach Subhash Bhowmick put it, but put up a fight against the Red Devils and much of the credit for the same would go to Yusif Yakubu who turned the game single-handedly in the second half. The Ghanaian oozes class every time he touches the ball and leaves the opposition stupefied with his goal against the Jeepmen exemplifying the same.
On a Sunday evening playing in front of their home crowd, East Bengal were put up against an in-form JCT. The Red and Gold’s have been whining about having a single foreigner in their line-up as Julius Akpele is injured while their third foreigner, who is likely to be Abel Hammond, hasn’t yet arrived. This argument didn’t hold much water against JCT, who have signed just a single foreign player in Orji Penn.
The Kolkata giants had three opportunities in the game with first falling for Bhaichung, whose shot went wide. Yakubu couldn’t slot it home from six yards while Nabi’s header from pint blank range was straight into the hands of the JCT custodian.
Had they converted those chances they could have won? But it wasn’t that the other team didn’t have any during the course of the game. Sakatar Singh had two opportunities, where once he was denied by Nirmal Chettri’s block and on the second occasion, hit it into the hands of Abhra Mondal.
Where Are You Going?
While critics have been mentioning East Bengal’s defence being all at sea, it’s their midfield which has been non-existent in all their three games. The likes of Riston Rodrigues and Mehtab Hussain have been second best in all the matches played and haven’t created anything for their strikers. JCT’s Jagpreet Singh and Orji Penn looked more solid and composed than the East Bengal duo, just that they didn’t attack as much as they would have liked, which their coach attributed to the boys being tired playing on the artificial turf.
Their wingers too haven’t had much luck except for Renedy Singh, who was injured on Sunday, and Syed Nabi. Sanju Pradhan, who was known to run up and down the right flank with blistering pace, seems to have forgotten the tricks which East Bengal saw while recruiting him.
Impressive Nabi
Interestingly, Nabi was the most impressive player in the opening 45 minutes but was slotted in as a left-back in the second session which did halt East Bengal’s creativity when going forward. However later, when the East Bengal skipper was asked to once again play from the position he started, he did much better but didn’t have the players around as many of them looked tired especially the strikers.
East Bengal’s next test is against Mohun Bagan who have their own issues to contend with. In a battle of teams who have failed to live up to the promise, the Red and Gold’s would have to seek inspiration from the impressive 3-0 victory over their arch rivals last season.
It’s that brand of football which is pleasing to the eye. But can they stand up to the challenge?
For now, just buck-up!
Rahul Bali.
What do YOU think? Can East Bengal Return to top form?
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