Three things Jose Molina must fix after Mohun Bagan's disappointing AFC Champions League Two start

Mohun Bagan lost to Ahal FK in their opening ACL 2 fixture on Tuesday.

Mohun Bagan had a stuttering start to their 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two campaign by suffering a disappointing 1-0 loss to Ahal FK. Despite having the support of a 40,000-strong crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium, the Mariners lacked that special spark in their performance and went down because of a late winner.

Jose Molina’s team now has a lot to do if they aspire to get back into the race for the top two places in Group C. After having lost a match that many expected them to win, the Mariners will need to pop a few surprises in their next few games to get back in the reckoning for a place in the top two.

Molina, for one, will need to make a few changes to his set-up and selection from now on to get the very best out of his players. This includes some necessary personnel changes following the loss to Ahal FK and utilizing his overseas core more effectively. Here, we look at the three things Jose Molina must fix after Mohun Bagan’s disappointing start to the AFC Champions League Two group stage.

Also Read: Mohun Bagan vs Ahal FK: Kiyan shines, Cummings fails to create impact, and other talking points

3. Be braver in giving more freedom to the full-backs

An aspect that has remained the same in Mohun Bagan’s playing style is that Jose Molina is quite restrictive when it comes to the movement of his full-backs. He likes his full-backs to stay close to or within his team’s half, helping pass the ball forward but not really providing the necessary amount of support.

Only when they desperately need goals are the individuals allowed some license to roam forward and add more bodies in the opposition half. Molina is blessed to have proactive and hard-working full-backs like Asish Rai, Abhishek Singh, and Subhasish Bose, who are not only defensively sturdy but can make an impact in the opposition half as well.

The Mohun Bagan gaffer needs to allow more freedom to these full-backs and urge them to make darting overlapping runs to support the wingers and raise Mohun Bagan’s attacking threat. Having these full-backs making runs into the wide areas can allow the wingers a chance to drift into the central areas and get into more goal-scoring positions.

Moreover, the overlapping full-backs can stretch the opposition defensive shape and open up more chances for the forwards. Molina has to allow his full-backs the chance to make the forward runs more often to amplify his side’s attacking threat and take the fight to their opponents.

2. Drop Jason Cummings into deeper role

Jose Molina opted to start Jason Cummings as his no.9 option for the Ahal FK clash, even though the Australian forward didn’t exactly play there for the majority of the 2024-25 season. Cummings had a really frustrated outing as the lone centre-forward against Ahal, barely getting to touch the ball in the first half and slamming a shot into the stands.

In fact, Cummings started showing signs of liveliness in the second half after Molina introduced Jamie Maclaren into the game and allowed Jason to drop down into a much deeper attacking midfield or second striker role. Cummings thrives with the freedom he receives in such a role, which he proved by excelling in the position last season.

The Australian started playing in the withdrawn striker role midway through the 2024-25 season, and ended up scoring three goals and providing six assists in the Indian Super League (ISL) as a result. Cummings likes the opportunity to help dictate things in the opposition box and link up promising attacking moves, while he also boasts clever final passes to help create big chances.

Giving him that kind of freedom can benefit Mohun Bagan and allow them to play more free-flowing attacking football going forward.

1. Make full use of his foreigner core

Jose Molina surprised many by opting to start with just three foreign players in the game against Ahal FK. Later on, he claimed that his selection was based on selecting the best possible lineup to win the game. However, the reality of the situation is that Mohun Bagan cannot compete at a higher level in the AFC Champions League Two without their foreign talents to support them.

Indeed, the Mariners need to start all their foreigners together or at least have five of them in the starting lineup to be able to sustain themselves in the tough continental matches. New signing Robson Robinho is someone who needs to start matches to be able to prove his quality and raise the quality in the advanced areas for the Mariners.

The likes of Cummings and Maclaren have to spearhead the attacking line, while Dimitrios Petratos can be used as an impact substitute if Molina can’t find a starting role for him. Molina needs to unleash the full might of Mohun Bagan’s attacking threat by allowing the foreign talents to express themselves and be a menace to the opposition in the upcoming matches.

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