Field Vision

The AIFF PSC has handed 4 months ban to Anwar Ali in lieu of terminating his loan agreement with Mohun Bagan.

Anwar Ali, the Indian national team defender who had recently penned a contract with East Bengal has now been banned for four months and East Bengal have been barred from registering new players for two transfer windows. At such a juncture, the Carles Cuadrat-led think-tank must be thinking about how to shape up their defensive structure in the absence of Ali.

A four-month ban, means he won’t be able to represent his club for the entirety of September, October, November and December, and will only be eligible post-December. We will analyse how East Bengal may line up their defence in these four months and what challenges they may face.

What could be the centre-back combinations?

East Bengal have four proper centre-backs apart from Anwar Ali – Hijazi Maher, Hector Yuste, Lalchungnunga, and Gursimrat Singh Gill. However, they don’t have the quality in the right-back position to complement the other three defenders. Mark Zothanpuia will be a favourite to start in the left-back position since Nishu Kumar is injured and yet to register a comeback. In an ideal situation, Carles Cuadrat might have opted to deploy Lalchungnunga in the right-back position and Anwar could have settled in with either Hijazi Maher, who was a mainstay last season, or Hector Yuste, with whom Anwar played most of the last season at Mohun Bagan.

So, at this moment, it would be ideal for East Bengal to use the pre-existing combination of Hijazi Maher and Lalchungnunga, who did comparatively well last season, alongside newcomer Mark Zo in the left-back position with Mohamad Rakip continuing as the right-back like he did last season. But Nunga’s dipping form and the Jordanian defender’s “yet to gain his form this season” status means the Red & Gold Brigade might be in trouble at the start of the ISL season.

Secondly, what Cuadrat could do is create a new defensive combination of Hector Yuste and Gursimrat Singh Gill. Gill has some experience in the Indian top tier but was never the favourite to start regularly for any club. This situation will allow him to showcase his brilliance and perhaps open a new option for East Bengal going ahead into the season. Yuste, on the other hand, is new at the club and it will become easier for him to command a new defensive duo.

Thirdly, East Bengal can deploy both Hector Yuste and Hijazi Maher in defence. Hijazi knows the club as he has been there since last season and Yuste knows Indian football and Kolkata maidaan since he was at Mohun Bagan last term. Both the defenders share a similar playing style and it might help Cuadrat at least for the first set of fixtures.

Challenges for East Bengal

If East Bengal field two foreign centre-backs, then they have to sacrifice someone up front, which might be a risk. The club has creative players like Saul Crespo, Madih Talal and last season’s Golden Boot awardee Dimitrios Diamantakos and club captain Cleiton Silva. From what was observed during the Durand Cup, the Kolkata giants prefer to use one foreign centre-back along with Saul’s box-to-box functioning with Talal playing in a free role. Diamantakos stays up front to convert the chances.

If both Hijazi and Yuste start, who will be the other two foreigners? While Diamantakos will definitely start ahead of Cleiton, the Spanish tactician will now have to sacrifice either Saul Crespo or Madih Talal, which will be a creative headache for the team. If Saul goes out, the team’s overall functioning comes to a pause and if Talal is not there who will create chances for Diamantakos?

Now, if Gill and a foreign defender start, there will be relief for the tactician regarding the creativity up front but he will certainly be distressed about the defensive third. Jeakson Singh wasn’t seen in form in the India vs Syria game and also during the Durand Cup clash against Shillong Lajong. If he takes up added responsibility and tries to get back his momentum, Carles Cuadrat will be relieved.

So whatever happens, East Bengal will be under pressure for the first half of the season until Anwar Ali returns and unless someone else steps up in his place to guard the Red & Gold fortress.