Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: For the past several seasons, Mohun Bagan Super Giants have been playing in the Kolkata derby as favorites. From the green and maroon members and supporters to the officials, they used to assume that their team would defeat East Bengal. The discussion was about how many goals they would lose. That picture has now changed since East Bengal won the ISL last season. Then, after Mohun Bagan won against East Bengal in the Durand Cup group league game, the green and maroon fans felt that the previous dominance was still there. But East Bengal coach Antonio Lopez Habas overcame that mistake by defeating Mohun Bagan SG 4-0 in the derby final of the Durand Cup.
It seems that Mohun Bagan camp is unable to overcome the pain of that embarrassing defeat. Before participating in the IFA Shield, the Bagan Brigade could not win against East Bengal's reserve team footballers despite playing senior team footballers in the Kolkata Football League derby. Signs of a crack in the confidence of Mohun Bagan footballers have been noticeable in the game since then. It has also had an impact on the Shield match. After winning against Srinidhi Deccan in the first match of the group league, Mohun Bagan's game has been somewhat chaotic. The most important thing is that the Golkana tag has stuck to it since that match. In the last match of the group league, they could not win against North East despite scoring a goal and going ahead. Instead, they conceded a goal and drew the match.
The lack of finishing in Mohun Bagan's striking line is clear. For this reason, they are running out of time to win against Punjab FC in the semi-finals. When the match went to a tiebreaker after failing to score a goal, Mohun Bagan reached the Shield final relying on the trusted hands of goalkeeper Vishal Keith. There, they scored a tsunami of goals against East Bengal North East and went to the final by 7-2 goals, which is a sign of concern for the Bagan team. At the same time, it is needless to say that the pressure on the green and maroon coach Panagiotis Dimperis (Panos) is under. Because there is a strong rumor in the market that if they do badly in the Shield final, Panos will be responsible for keeping his job. Because after winning the tiebreaker in the semi-final match, Panos expressed his dissatisfaction and said that his team is not ready to play in the ISL yet.
The question is, does Panos think Mohun Bagan Super Giants are ready to face East Bengal in the Shield final derby on Thursday? The Bagan coach's "break it, but don't sprain it" type of answer deviates from his previous statement, "We have to be ready, be it the Shield final or the first match of the ISL on October 12. Derby is a special kind of match. How the team played in the previous matches, what the results were, these do not matter in a derby. This match involves a fight for dignity. The club's honor and the passion of the fans. So everyone is ready to jump in to win the match. That is how the footballers are preparing strategically and mentally." Mohun Bagan footballers have played well in the national team. Especially Manbir, Aniruddha Thapa, Sahal. Will Mohun Bagan's attack increase with their joining? Will the goal deficit be resolved? Panos' reaction, 'I am proud of the football that Manbir, Thapa, Sahal, Abhishek played for the national team in Panama, Uruguay and Brazil. Of course, their joining will increase the strength of the team. Just because the team did not score the expected goals in the last two matches does not mean that they played very badly. Opportunities were created, but there was a weakness in finishing. I do not think that that problem will remain in the derby. Rather, the footballers will give their best to win the match.'
If the match goes to the tiebreaker, will Vishal Keith under the goal give him an extra advantage to win the match? Moreover, does East Bengal's Edmund's hat-trick in the last derby and David's hat-trick in the Shield semi-final make you think before the final derby? Panos' straightforward answer, 'Vishal is undoubtedly a great goalkeeper. But the contribution of those who score goals by fixing their nerves in the tiebreaker is no less. I don't want the match to be drawn out until the tiebreaker. I will be more happy if the match is settled in the stipulated time. Of course, Mohun Bagan wins the trophy. And who scored hat-tricks in East Bengal is just saying, don't forget that Changte, Sahal, Manbir also have hat-tricks in our team.'
One of the team's top scorers, Jamie McLaren, is out of the field due to injury. Sideback Ashish Rai left the field due to injury at the beginning of the match against Punjab in the semi-final. As soon as Ashish left, Mohun Bagan's rhythm collapsed in the rest of the match. Coach Panos said that when Ashish left, his formation and strategy were ruined, which led to a loss of rhythm in the game. Panos did not say anything clearly before the derby whether Ashish was fit or not. It is not a big problem for Panos if Ashish does not play, because Abhishek Singh is ready to play in the derby after returning from the national team. Of course, time will tell how much he can give his best from the freshman. But if McLaren cannot play, how much Lee Harry Erwin, Dragic, or Zelkovic can fill his goal scoring capacity, that is now to be seen. Moreover, the Shield final derby is a big challenge for Miguel, who left East Bengal and put on the green and maroon jersey.