4 Reasons: Defeat hat-trick of defeats to win League-Shield, India top Mohun Bagan by magic
Mohun Bagan won the League-Shield in the 2023-24 ISL. They beat Mumbai City FC at home in the last match. In which magic is Mohun Bagan the best in India?
As soon as the referee blew the whistle at the Yuva Bharati Sports Complex, a bomb exploded. word-bomb About 50,000 green-maroon supporters shouted together. They filled the gallery for this moment. One prayer. The favorite team should win the league-shield. That’s what the green-maroon footballers did. In the 10-year history of the ISL, Mumbai City FC, which Mohun Bagan could not beat even once, defeated the team 2-1.
Even half an hour after the end of the game, Yuva Bharati’s gallery is packed to the brim. No one wants to return. Eight to eighty are dancing with joy. Many have tears in their eyes. They want to leave the field after seeing the team’s league-shield victory. This night is not for them. When Mohun Bagan captain Subhashis Bose received the league-shield from Football Federation of India president Kalyan Chaube, the decibels of the noise rose further. It increased with the celebration of the team’s shield victory.
A huge tifo was seen in Yuva Bharati at the start of the match. There the footballers of the team stood together with their hands on each other’s shoulders. Above, “Let’s do it together.” A little further away is the famous view of another Tifo shoal. Jai-Biru sitting on a motorbike. The faces of the characters have just changed.Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra are replaced by Jason Cummings and Armando Sadiku. Indeed, this victory would not have been possible without playing together. After the game, Bagan footballers talked about that team again and again. Respect for each other. India is supposed to be the best together.
However, Mohun Bagan lost three consecutive matches in December last year and fell behind in the League-Shield battle. How did they come back from there? Anandbazar Online searched for 10 reasons behind Mohun Bagan becoming the best in India.
1) Mid-Season Coach Change – Last year Bagan won the ISL under Juan Ferrando. This time also he was the coach from the beginning. But after losing to Mumbai, Goa and Kerala, the Bagan management decided to change the coach. They have shown the courage to remove an ISL winning coach in the middle of the season like this.However, they had already prepared an alternative. Indian football coach Antonio Lopez Habas was roped in with Ferrando from the start of the season. Technical director Habas already knew the team’s footballers. So when Ferrando was removed and coached, he did not take time to adapt to the team.
2) Habas Magic – Habas is a very successful coach in Indian football. He has previously won the ISL twice with Atletico de Kolkata. Those who know Habas say that this Spaniard is very strict. Discipline is first for him. If that is not accepted, no matter how big the name is, he does not think twice to cut it. Habas knows that the team’s defense is the most important to win the league. He did that this season too. He also increased the edge of attack with him. He has come out of his familiar table.Mohun Bagan has scored the most goals this season. This statistic is the achievement of Habas. Most importantly, he brought the team under one umbrella. Everyone played with everyone there. Rejoiced in each other’s success. Mohun Bagan played as a team. That’s where they beat the rest. That’s why the Bagan footballers said after winning the league-shield, they want a tough sir like Habas.
3) Continuity of six foreigners in the team – This time Mohun Bagan’s foreign footballers have caught the eye. In defense were Hector Yuste and Brendan Hamill. Johnny Kouko and Dimitri Petratos in the middle. Jason Cummings and Armando Sadiku in attack. Among these six foreigners, Kouko and Petratos were regular members of the first XI. One person started each match in defense and attack. But Habas gave everyone a chance.Everyone had healthy competition. Cummings or Sadiqou, tried to score whenever they got the chance. There is healthy competition between the two. The coach also swapped the two defensive players. Due to the long league, everyone has been given enough rest. At times, Cummings did not score. Many green and maroon fans criticized him, but the coach kept his faith. But the league-shield winning goal came from the foot of Cummings.
4) Kawko’s inclusion – Kawko has not been in the team since the start of the season. Hugo Bumos was playing then. Bumos’ relationship with Bagan coach Ferrando and management was deteriorating since last season. Even after that, this time he was left from the beginning. But Bumos’ game was getting worse. It seemed that he did not want to play. After Habas took over as coach, Boumos was replaced by KoukoNorwegian footballer Kauko has worked as a midfield general in this team. All of Mohun Bagan’s attacks started from the Kawko pass. As the defense cut through the passes, he scored goals when necessary. Attack as well as defense. Kawko acts as an invisible thread between defense and attack. He explained that Habas did the right thing by bringing him into the team during the season.
