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Since partaking in the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2020, East Bengal FC have experienced a monumental slump in their performances across competitions. They have lingered at the bottom of every ranking, barring the negative ones. But with every passing season, they've returned to the foray with renewed ambition. Until now, those hopes had been uprooted at every nascent stage in the season.
But this reign under Carles Cuadrat feels slightly different and for good reasons. For the first time in three years, the club finished atop the groupings in any major competition in the country.
After going unbeaten for three straight matches in the ongoing Durand Cup, East Bengal skyrocketed to the top of the pile in Group A. For the first time in over four years, the club also managed to silence their noisy neighbors in the historic Kolkata Derby.
Hence, understandably there's a lot of excitement regarding the direction the club is heading towards. But it's still just the conventional season opener. How much emphasis should fans in general put on the results and performance in the Durand Cup?
Is it all just part of the pre-season randomness or merely a fluke? Let's discuss all of those angles briefly.
#1 The vigor of Cuadrat's East Bengal is undeniable
Before delving into much more technical aspects of this new and improved Red and Gold Brigade, it's important to highlight the basics that have been corrected from the past seasons. For long, under multiple coaches, the East Bengal outfit looked largely devoid of character. It was in contrast to everything the club had stood for all this while.
However, under the tutelage of the Spanish tactician, many of those areas have improved significantly in a short span. Particularly, the fight the team has shown in most phases of matches has been noticeable. Be it against Bangladesh Army FT, arch-rivals Mohun Bagan SG, or Punjab FC, East Bengal suffered for a considerable amount of time. But at no point did they look out of depth or close to waving the white flag.
On paper, East Bengal are still significantly inferior to a few of the frontrunners in the ISL, hence, they'll need the heart and fight to grind out results against such oppositions. This factor cannot be and shouldn't be just limited to the pre-season, it's more about the overall mental conditioning that these players have undergone.
#2 A critical look at the Kolkata Derby victory
Given the emotion, the pride, and the sentiment analogous to the historic clash, there's always the possibility of losing the critical viewpoint while analyzing these results. Especially given the circumstances and context around East Bengal's victory.
But how significant was that Kolkata Derby victory in terms of the performances? Well, let's paint the picture and spice it with the context before delving deeper into the match itself. For Mohun Bagan, it was their third game of the season, while for the Torchbearers, it was only their second.
In their first game against Bangladesh Army, the Mariners resorted to mostly their reserve players to carry the team over the line. Hence, it's fair to say, both first teams had just a single match to prepare for the fixture. That neutralizes any sort of advantage that the Green and Maroon Brigade could've had. Both teams didn't have the most illustrious training sessions in pre-season, with foreigners from both teams still joining the pack well into the Durand Cup season.
Now that we've established that both teams had almost similar build-up leading to the Kolkata Derby, it's time to look at the performances. Neither teams were unsurprisingly at their pinnacle and showed some level of rustiness in terms of passing. That ultimately led to Mohun Bagan's downfall as they failed to carve open the EBFC defense from the central zone and had to rely on crosses.
Jordan Elsey was pretty adept at dealing with those hooved balls. There were other notable individual performances from East Bengal. But at the core of their victory was the resilience to maintain discipline and the ability to suffer out of possession. They continued to frustrate the opposition and more importantly, didn't go into a shell. Something they were accused of doing under Constantine.
Pre-season or no pre-season, the ability to stick to their plan resiliently is definitely a step in the right direction for the Cuadrat's men.
#3 Emerging stability in East Bengal FC's system
Although early signs, a close look at the Red and Gold Brigade's matches have indicated some re-emerging patterns. Right from the very first game of the Durand Cup, there was a clear focus on establishing a system by Cuadrat. The passing hasn't evolved a great deal yet, but it's evident that everything in that midfield goes through Saul Crespo.
Having Borja Herrera alongside the former Odisha FC midfielder also helps a great deal. The attacking midfielder has the ability to find pockets of space whenever he's on the pitch. These are not just limited to pre-season. This is how the Spanish tactician is renovating his new club.
The usage of Javier Siverio is interesting too. Will Cleiton Silva, the club's top scorer last season, slot into that role sometime in the future is still a mystery. But there are enough layers to unravel when it comes to the position Cuadrat wants his forward to take. Siverio has been a menace for Bangladesh Army, Mohun Bagan, and Punjab FC defense.
Despite not enjoying massive possession, the 25-year-old has been able to link up play and bring Naorem Mahesh Singh or Nandhakumar Sekar into the game whenever the opportunity arrived. Furthermore, Siverio has also been extremely sharp inside the box, enabling himself to even pound on half chances.
Albeit there's a very visible counter-attacking system in play, it's not all hit and hope. East Bengal have emphasized on their passing.
Last season, even halfway into the ISL, Constantine was still tinkering with his system and lineup. If the approach in Durand Cup is anything to go by, Cuadrat has already managed to iron out those details. That can't be all pre-season randomness, can it? But for now, let's still wait for the quarter-finals to shed some more light.
