Indian Super League 2020/21: SC East Bengal vs ATK Mohun Bagan – tactical analysis

The Kolkata Derby is regarded as one of the best and fiercest derbies in the world. However, the absence of fans in the stadium took away the enormous emotional aspects and fiery build-up to the game. Mohun Bagan after merging with ATK  formed ATK Mohun Bagan who were playing in the Indian Super League for the first time. SC East Bengal too were playing in Indias topmost league for the first time after the backing of their new sponsor, Shree Cements.

The fixture was a cagey affair throughout, however, it was ATKMB who had the last laugh.

In this tactical analysis, we will analyse the tactics and intricacies of both the managers and the reason it turned out to be a cagey affair.

Line-ups

Robbie Fowler started with his preferred 3-4-3 which moulded into 5-2-3/5-4-1 without possession. Debjit Majumder was protected by Surchandra Singh, Scott Neville, Danny Fox, Rana Gharami, and Narayan Das. The double pivot consisted of Ville Matti Steinmann, and makeshift winger, Loke Meitei. Balwant Singh, Anthony Pilkington, and Jacques Maghoma led the attack.

Antonia Habas stuck to his preferred 5-3-2 and made only one change to the lineup that won against Kerala Blasters. Jayesh Rane started in place of the Bengali Pronay Halder.

ATKMB’s midblock and East Bengal’s one-dimensional attack

ATKMB pressed East Bengal in a 5-3-2 midblock in a space-oriented man marking system. Space-oriented man marking is a mix of zonal marking and man-marking where each player has a space to cover and when an opposition player moves into the space covered by a player, he is aggressively pressed by that player. The front two keep their shape and one presses the ball-carrier centre-back when he steps into any of the front two’s space where the other shifts with respect to his teammate’s position.