ISL 2024-25: Belief and super-subs driving Mohun Bagan’s resilience, says Jose Molina

ISL 2024-25: Belief and super-subs driving Mohun Bagan’s resilience, says Jose Molina

Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s head coach Jose Francisco Molina was all praises about his side’s squad depth before their Indian Super League (ISL) match against FC Goa here on Friday.

“We have a lot of good players, not 11 players but 25 – all of them, working well. Some of them have to wait on the bench to come in the second half, maybe, wait for the opportunity and that (hunger) makes us a really strong team,” Molina said.

One of the most important aspects of Mohun Bagan’s consistency has been its available options when first-team regulars are injured.

Jamie Maclaren, its star signing this season, started an ISL game almost a month after the league started. In the three ISL matches before that, Dimitrios Petratos and Jason Cummings stepped up while the former became a No. 10 when Greg Stewart was sidelined.

“The problem for a coach is, when you sit on the bench, there’s nothing to do. That’s a problem, but it’s not the case in our team,” Molina quipped.

“I have a lot of good players on the bench in every match and I try to encourage them because I told them a lot of times in modern football, players coming from the bench are key players a lot of times.”

Cummings has become the prime example of Molina’s philosophy, consistently delivering impactful performances as a substitute, particularly in terms of goal-scoring. The Australian has scored three goals in the ISL 2024-25 so far, all while coming on as a substitute and all three have changed the complexion of matches.

Molina, who has had an impressive stint in Asian football, previously helped Hong Kong’s side Kitchee SC win the domestic treble in his only season in charge and then guided ATK to the ISL title in 2016.

Having served as the sporting director of Spain’s football federation (RFEF) from 2018, he returned to coaching this summer and Mohun Bagan, under him, tops the standings almost midway into the season, with 26 points from 11 matches. 

“In some moments, we can win even if we don’t play at our best. That’s true. That happened, for example, last match. We were not at our best and even then, the players proved their character and team spirit to come back and win,” Molina added.

The Mariners, who have a better head-to-head record against Goa, will have a chance to take a five-point lead in the league if they can secure full points against Manolo Marquez’s boys. But Molina said the Gaurs, coached by his compatriot, could be a tough nut to crack on Friday.

“I usually don’t speak too much about the opponents, but Goa is a really good team. They are enjoying a good run of form and I have no doubt that tomorrow will be a really difficult match for us,” he said.