ISL 2022-23: "I felt more secure with Chennaiyin FC's offer than that of East Bengal" - Monotosh Chakladar

Monotosh Chakladar has been a fighter, both on and off the field. The young defender has weathered many a storm in his brief professional career to become a symbol of resilience.

Despite living a hand-to-mouth existence in a 10x10 square-foot house in Hooghly’s Chinsurah town, Monotosh never gave up on his dream of playing top-flight football. Thus, through all these years of acute financial hardship, the sport has helped him find solace.

Monotosh led Bengal to this year’s Santosh Trophy final, where they lost 4-5 to Kerala on penalties. His stellar performance throughout the tournament impressed the state cabinet so much that he was soon offered a job by the West Bengal government. The news brought much-needed relief to Monotosh’s family as their house was ravaged by a thunderstorm on the night before the Santosh Trophy final.

Recognizing Monotosh’s talent and leadership skills, two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Chennaiyin FC (CFC) recently signed him on a multi-year deal. This will be Monotosh’s first foray into the cash-rich league and the CFC management is hopeful that the centre-back’s addition will shore up their defense under new head coach Thomas Brdaric.

Before joining the Marina Machans, Monotosh plied his trade for a number of clubs, namely United Sports Club, Pathachakra, Gokulam Kerala FC, Bhawanipore, FC Bengaluru United, Peerless Sports Club and Madan Maharaj FC.

He also made a few appearances for Kolkata heavyweights Mohammedan Sporting Club and East Bengal Club, who were keen to acquire his services this year as well.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda from CFC’s pre-season camp, Monotosh spoke about his formative years, Bengal’s Santosh Trophy campaign, and the pay gap between Kerala and Bengal footballers.

The 24-year-old, who won the Calcutta Football League (CFL) title with Peerless in 2019, also explained his decision to choose Chennaiyin FC over East Bengal.

Here are the excerpts:

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Q: This has been a remarkable year for you so far. First, Bengal finished runners-up in the Santosh Trophy under your captaincy and then you bagged your first ISL contract…

Monotosh: The year would’ve been better had we won the Santosh Trophy (laughs). It was my dream to enter the ISL and I’m glad that I’m playing for a big club like Chennaiyin FC.

Q: How did the Chennaiyin deal materialize?

Monotosh: All the ISL and I-League clubs were watching the Santosh Trophy games to scout players. After the tournament, Chennaiyin FC reached out to my agent and made an offer.

Q: East Bengal were also after you. What made you choose Chennaiyin over them?

Monotosh: East Bengal told me that I would have to play and perform well in the CFL to cement my place in their ISL squad. If the coach felt that I was good enough, only then would he pick me for the ISL.

East Bengal approached most Bengal players before we headed to Kerala for the Santosh Trophy. Chennaiyin approached me immediately after the tournament. I felt more secure with Chennaiyin’s offer than that of East Bengal.

Q: How did you get into football?

Monotosh: I was introduced to the sport at a local club called Banichakra. Two senior players – Chanchal da and Biswajit da – used to train us. From there, I went to Shyamnagar Tarun Sangha’s trials for the Nursery League.

After playing there for a few days, I was selected by Nabab Bhattacharya for United Sports' junior team. I played for United Sports at the U-15 and U-19 levels before making it to the senior team.

Q: United Sports have provided a steady supply of talent to bigger clubs for many years now. What makes their scouting so good?

Monotosh: Nabab da looks after the administrative side, while Babun da [Debasish Das] and Joy da [Joy Chakraborty] scout players. The top kids are handpicked by them and are groomed to rise through the ranks before representing United Sports at the senior level.

Most of the kids who are selected go on to become successful professional players. This year, too, they boast many talented players like Dilip Oraon, Tarak Hembram, Basu Dev Mandi and Dipesh Murmu.

Q: Who is your football idol?

Monotosh: Arnab Mondal.

Q: Very few people expected Bengal to reach this year’s Santosh Trophy final as most of the players were young and inexperienced. How did you prepare yourselves for the tournament?

Monotosh: Right after we qualified for the final round, we had a long preparatory camp in Sonarpur. Indian Football Association's (IFA) Dr. Partha Sarathi Ganguly helped us immensely by organizing the camp on his school’s campus. However, the camp was suspended for a few days due to a spike in COVID cases during the third wave.

Once training resumed, Dr. Ganguly took the initiative to keep us all together until we went to Kerala. It was a unique initiative as no such camp was organized for the Bengal team before. The camp helped us develop a strong sense of camaraderie, which was evident during the Santosh Trophy.

Q: As captain, how did you pacify the boys after Bengal lost the Santosh Trophy final despite taking the lead?

Monotosh: Everyone was naturally upset in the dressing room. I told them that these things can happen in football. You also need luck on your side to win big matches. Sajal [Bag] was feeling bad about missing a penalty. I told him that even great players have missed many penalties, so there was no reason to think that was the end of the world.

Q: You’ve now spent a few days in the Chennaiyin camp. How differently does an ISL team function compared to an I-League team?

Monotosh: There’s a massive difference. The clubs I represented earlier had only one physio, but here we have three to four physios. We also have good masseurs, top foreign coaches and an experienced Indian coach in Syed Sabir Pasha.

Plus, our physical trainer is managing the dietary requirements of the team. I’ve now learned what to eat and what to avoid. As a professional player, you can’t ask for more when you get so many facilities from a club.

Q: The Bengal team won against ATK Mohun Bagan and drew against the Indian national team in a couple of warm-up matches in May. Did you get any compliments from Juan Ferrando and Igor Stimac?

Monotosh: After the ATK Mohun Bagan match, Ferrando said that he was impressed with our performance and that some of us were on his radar.

Q: Apart from yourself, which other Bengal players do you think can become future stars of the ISL?

Monotosh: I have high expectations from Sajal. He’s with me at Chennaiyin FC. Mahitosh [Roy], too, is extremely talented. However, I’m not sure if East Bengal will give him an ISL contract directly. Fardin [Ali Molla] has also been in good form and hopefully, ATK Mohun Bagan will give him enough game time.

Q: You’ve endured hardship and poverty for many years. What does a government job mean for Monotosh Chakladar?

Monotosh: It’s a big relief for my family and I’m very grateful to the West Bengal government, especially our chief minister Mamata Banerjee and sports minister Arup Biswas. Most of the players in the Bengal team come from poor families. They all aspire to become professional footballers, so it would be great if the state government could offer jobs to more players.

Q: Kerala received a cash prize of ₹1.14 crore from the state government after winning the Santosh Trophy, whereas runners-up Bengal received only ₹5 lakh from the IFA. Does the disparity in rewards affect the team’s motivation?

Monotosh: To be honest, Kerala is now way ahead of us in everything. If we had a match starting from 7 pm, the stadium would be full by 5 pm. This is remarkable given the fact that Malappuram is quite far from the city.

Talking about rewards, it’s true that there’s a huge difference. In addition to the cash award given by the Kerala state government, the Kerala team also received ₹1 crore from a large company. There’s nothing to feel bad about it though. I hope the West Bengal government continues to support deserving players like me as we all need stability.

Q: Final question. Which opposition attackers are you most excited to face in the upcoming ISL?

Monotosh: Let me start regularly first (laughs)! I’m looking forward to my duels with Hugo Boumous, Bartholomew Ogbeche and Alvaro Vazquez. I’m not sure if Roy Krishna and Greg Stewart will return to the ISL, but if they do, it would be great to throw a tough challenge at them.