Mariners will resume their unfinished CFL 2010-11 campaigns tomorrow after a month long break due to Federation Cup and Durga Puja vacation. And needless to say that they have a task on-hand. Till now, the CFL campaign for the last two consecutive years’ champion has been anything but impressive. With 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the opening encounters, Mariners are expected coming back with a bang. Though the nightmare of 2nd Oct would still continue to haunt us some more time, it’s time for the Team to continue the momentum and tempo displayed during the Fed Cup.
Mohun Bagan will start their post Puja campaign in fresh and hopefully with all the squad members fit.
However, the team management needs to do serious introspection on certain aspects while deciding upon the team strategy –
- 5 CFL matches for the Mariners in 11 days (between 19-Oct-2010 and 30-Oct-2010) – Physical fitness will be a big challenge for any team in this situation. The key is to make suitable rotation amongst the squad members. Going by the first four CFL encounters of this season, only 3 players (Sangram, Kingsuk Debnath and Surabuddin) have got all the four matches full times whereas 11 players (out of 30) in the squads, who have been registered for CFL 2010-11, have not yet been utilized in any of the CFL encounters so far. We might expect a lot of flexibility on rotation front from the think tanks.
- I-League campaign will start only on 27-Nov-2010 – Hence we have some time to experiment with the various formations and combinations so as to get all the right plans in place before i-League kicks off. And CFL matches are ideal for these kinds of experiments. However, the huge fan pressures with sky high expectation would always put the team management on a tight rope. And that is always tagged to the brand ‘Mohun Bagan’. Living up to the expectation with all sorts of experiments is the name of the game!!
- All out attack vs Sicilian defense – The team have scored 2.5 goals per match (on average) in the first four encounters of this year’s CFL whereas the opponents have been able to score 1 goal per match (on average). Despite the facts that it’s still very early into the league campaign and big matches have still to come, our defense is, by no means, anywhere comparable to formidable Sicilian defense. However, the big positive factor could be the resilience and determination shown by our defenders during the Fed Cup campaign where our defense only conceded 3 goals in 5 matches.
- Card offence and fair play – This might look trivial but plays a crucial role in crunch outings. The story could have been different if Gauranga Dutta, who was outstanding in previous matches, wouldn’t miss the final because of 2 yellow card offences. 4 players (Muritala, Kingsuk, Surabuddin and Sk. Azim) of the squad have been cautioned once by the match referee in as many CFL encounters till now. We have to more careful in forthcoming encounters on this dimension.
Here we go then. For the fans of Mohun Bagan, all the above mentioned tactics, facts and figures do matter a lot. However, just 3 points in each and every CFL encounter from tomorrow onwards can set aside all the statistical jugglery, and that is what matters most to the entire die hard Mohun Bagan fans across the globe.
So seat back, relax, keep your fingers crossed and expect the big guns of Mariners roar again!!