Mohun Bagan will begin the voyage of winning more silverware in the 2023/24 season having also won the Durand Cup early in September. Now playing by the new name and logo of Mohun Bagan Super Giants, rebranded from ATK Mohun Bagan after winning the ISL for the first time last season, the club is poised to add more to its 134-year-old history with a number of eye-catching signings this summer. This will be the third season for the Mariners in the ISL.
The Green and Maroons will also compete in the AFC Cup as they make the competition a big priority on their list. They will battle fellow ISL club Odisha FC, Basundhara Kings from Bangladesh and Maldives league champions Maziya in the South Zone group. The competition will also be played in the autumn to spring period for the first time. Hence, Mohun Bagan has to manage both tournaments at the same time.
Previous season performance
The 2021/22 season ended spectacularly for the Kolkata giants as they made a remarkable turnaround from a situation of not qualifying for the playoffs to being crowned as Indian Super League champions. After managing to finish third on the ISL table for the playoffs, Mohun Bagan faced second-placed Hyderabad FC in the semi-finals. The aggregate score remained 0-0 at the end of two legs leading to penalties which the Mariners won 4-3 in front of a rousing home support at the Salt Lake.
In the final played at Goa, a shootout was required again to decide the winners with the same victors and the same margin as well. The game in normal time ended 2-2 with Dimitri Petratos scoring twice from the spot to grab the Golden Boot of the tournament. Goalkeeper Vishal Kaith was the reason Mohun Bagan got in the final and he was awarded the Golden Glove. Additionally, Juan Ferrando’s team also beat Hyderabad FC in the playoff game for the AFC Cup qualifiers, through penalties once more, to advance into the competition.
Mohun Bagan 2023/24 Transfers
IN: Sahal Abdul Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Armando Sadiku (Foreign), Héctor Yuste (Foreign), Anwar Ali (on loan, option to buy), Jason Cummings (Foreign), Rohen Singh (on loan), Serto Kom
OUT: Slavko Damjanovic (Montenegro), Pritam Kotal, Carl McHugh (Foreign), Tiri (Foreign), Federico Gallego (Uruguay), Ricky John Shabong, Puitea, Deep Biswas, Nongdomba Noarem, Avilash Paul, Florentin Pogba (Foreign)
The talk of the season has been Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s star-studded arrivals with a blend of Indian and foreign superstars. Two high-profile midfielders from the national team, Sahal Abdul Samad from Kerala Blasters and Anirudh Thapa from Chennaiyin FC have joined through big-money moves. As has been the signing of 2022 World Cupper and last season’s A-League top-scorer Jason Cummings and Albania’s active record goal-scorer Armando Sadiku. A third foreign signing who has been a solid addition to the defence is Héctor Yuste with a bag full of experience playing in European leagues. However, the signing of the summer not only for Mohun Bagan has been India’s uprising centre-back Anwar Ali on loan from I-league side Delhi FC.
With some key arrivals, there have been some notable departures as well. None more eye-raising than captain Pritam Kotal who led the team to the ISL success moving to Kerala Blasters as part of the swap deal to bring in Sahal. The same could be said about Carl McHugh’s contract termination to leave for FC Goa as one of the best defensive midfielders in the league. Slavko Damjanovic was also released having also played an integral role last season at the back. Another defender Tiri left for Mumbai City after recovering from a long-term ACL injury and ties were cut with Florentin Pogba after he came for pre-season training with a hip injury.
Mohun Bagan 2023/24 Squad
Goalkeepers: Arsh Shaikh, Syed Bukhari, Vishal Kaith
Defenders: Héctor Yuste, Anwar Ali, Brendan Hamill, Asish Rai, Subhasish Bose, Sumit Rathi, Ravi Rana
Midfielders: Sahal Abdul Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Abhishek Suryavanshi, Deepak Tangri, Ashique Kuruniyan, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Hugo Boumous, Engson Singh, Glan Martins
Forwards: Armando Sadiku, Jason Cummings, Dimitri Petratos, Manvir Singh, Fardin Ali, Liston Colaco, Suhail Bhat, Kiyan Nassiri
Head Coach: Juan Ferrando
Preseason
The pre-season period could not have been more delightful for Mohun Bagan Super Giant as they lifted the Durand Cup title for a record 17 times. Suppressing the joint-record shared with their rivals East Bengal for 18 years by beating them in the final. The victory tasted sweeter in the sense they won the final even after going down to 10 men and seeking revenge for the Kolkata derby defeat earlier in the competition’s group stages. Mohun Bagan beat the likes of Mumbai City and FC Goa to make their way into the final in the first place. Additionally, the club secured their path to the AFC Cup group stages by beating Machindra FC from Nepal and Bangladesh’s Abhani Dhaka in the qualifying rounds.
How will Mohun Bagan Lineup for the 2023/24 season?
With the wealth of talent and depth the squad carries, a number of formations could be used to maximise the potential of the team. However, with Ashique Kuruniyan out for the season, the possibility of using a three-man defence becomes less as new captain Subhasish Bose is unlikely to perform the left-wing back role while Liston Colaco’s quality would be compromised if played there. Reserve squad’s Amandeep Singh could be trusted for it but will be a risk. Due to only four foreigners allowed in the ISL, it is unlikely three foreigners will spearhead the attack. So one of Petratos, Sadiku and Cummings will begin from the bench in case the team goes with two strikers upfront. Manvir Singh is the optimum choice on the right wing while Anirudh Thapa could act as a number six to allow Sahal and Boumous to control the middle of the park.
Check out here Mohun Bagan Super Giants Fixtures for ISL 2023/24
Strength
The strength of the team is the cluster of individual stars they have. Armando Sadiku and Jason Cummings are still acclimatizing to their new surroundings so once they settle in, given their calibre, the goals will pour in. Anwar Ali’s brilliance at the back with Hector Yuste also makes Mohun Bagan a solid outfit with the 23-year-old also coming up with goals at the other end. New signings Sahal Abdul Samad and Anirudh Thapa alongside the ever-present orchestrator Hugo Boumous bring immense creativity from the middle of the park. The existing stars like Dimitri Petratos are proving themselves again as his winning goal in the Durand Cup final will suggest. Their mentality of not backing down while trailing against FC Goa in the semi-finals and also going on to win the title with a player disadvantage in the final against arch-rivals says it all. The depth and quality in the squad will also help in a season that will have more games than ever. Leadership is also an attribute that most of the players in the squad carry.
Weakness
Despite being star-packed in almost every area on the pitch, the defensive midfield position will be a thing of concern for the Mariners. Carl McHugh was let go, a midfield steel at his time in the club, without a proper replacement. Although Hector Yuste’s signing was made to fill in the role, he has since joined Anwar in the back four partly due to Brendan Hamill’s injury and he is being used in that position instead. Anirudh Thapa has also played the role with Glan Martins being off-colour so only time will tell how Mohun Bagan copes up with that deficiency. That being said the team won a title despite the issue. Another major blow to the team has been Ashique Kuruniyan’s season-ending injury which jeopardizes the plan of using someone at the left-wingback role should the Green and Maroon go for three at the back. A formation that helped them in the Durand Cup success and AFC Cup qualification. Kuruniyan’s injury also means Colaco is the only fit natural left winger in the squad.
Prediction
If Mohun Bagan is able to manage the lack of a proper defensive midfielder in the team, Ashique Kuruniyan’s injury and the crunching schedule of ISL and AFC Cup group stages side-by-side, anything will be possible for the defending ISL trophy champions to achieve. Even though their top priority is continental success, they will not let go of their title guard so easily. Also, trying to win the Winner’s Shield by topping the league. The Green and Maroons went on to become the ISL winners despite struggling for goals last season so it is left to see what they can achieve with so much firepower in the frontline.
