East Bengal in trouble ahead of the derby. Find out why

East Bengal players in a practice session today. Pic Courtesy: XtraTime
East Bengal players in a practice session today.
Pic Courtesy: XtraTime

Kolkata: In the first game of the I-League, city giants East Bengal conceded both their goals from the deal ball situations and as a result to work on the defensive measures, coach Khalid Jamil put the goalies Mirshad and Luis Barreto to test. However owing to faults the keepers conceded in the practice as well which certainly would be keeping Jamil under a bit of pressure ahead of the mega Kolkata derby.

East Bengal would be planning to opt for a 4-1-4-1 formation for Sunday’s encounter. The center back positions would be occupied by Eduardo and Salamranjan Singh while the side backs would be Deepak Kumar and Mehtab Singh while Bajyo would be a defensive blocker. The central midfield would be under the charge of Katsumi Yusa and Mahmoud Al Amna. Md. Rafique and Brandon would be operating in the wings while Wilis Plaza would be the lone forward.

Friendly moments were exchanged by the players of both the sides as Mohun Bagan were entering the stadium while the Red and Gold brigade departed.

After the completion of the training Khalid Jamil had an hour long discussion with his starting 11 players, while strategies of stopping Sony Norde were made by showing his videos.

Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa would be playing his first derby in Red and Gold colours. “I am eager to play the derby in new colours as it is very special to me. Whoever scores, the aim is to finish the match with 3 points in the bag”

“To win the derby we need to stop Sony while the defence needs improvement” added Katsumi.

Club offcial Debabrata Sarkar is however upset with the unruly behaviour of the fans in the past game. He said, ” Abstain from such events, because if such incident occurs we will have to abide to the decisions of the administration.”