East Bengal FC head coach Oscar Bruzon acknowledged that his team is in a bad shape and have plenty of areas to improve as he saw them go down 0-2 to Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday.

The Red and Gold brigade slumped to their fifth defeat in as many ISL games and the incoming Spaniard watched the team perform first hand for the first time since being named the successor to Carles Cuadrat.

“We are in the observation period. I deserve some time to observe and tackle things that are not working well,” Bruzon said during the post-match press conference.

“Our team is missing aggression, some intensity, sometimes we are making mistakes in the build-up. It's true that Mohun Bagan SG were the better team in many aspects on the pitch. They were better due to physicality. We have talented players, some of them play in the Indian team,” he added.

Match Report: East Bengal FC 0-2 Mohun Bagan Super Giant

“But in terms of intensity, we have to work with the team otherwise we have to score 5-6 goals in every game which is impossible. Our team has conceded 11 goals in five games and this is the first thing that we need to improve,” he continued.

The former Mumbai City FC assistant coach firmly believes that his team can still achieve the club’s targets provided they get some time to work with the players.

“We can absolutely finish in the top six. Right now our season is a failure. We are not going to hide. The target of the club was to finish in the top three,” he said.

“I have full faith in the team. There are certain things that we want to improve. Give us some time and I am sure that things will get better,” he added.

“We need to do a lot of mental work. We need to find solutions. After the AFC Challenge Cup, we have 15 days of preparation and then you will be able to watch the real East Bengal FC,” he continued.

Looking back at the match, Bruzon felt there were improvements made from the previous encounters but they were not enough for them to secure all three points.

“I saw a lot of positives. We weren't allowing them to progress in the key areas, we were better on defensive transitions. The attitude of the players was good. The substitutes came on and did well. But these positives were not enough to win the game,” he said.

Looking ahead to the AFC Challenge Cup, the Spaniard is keen to help the club reach the latter stages of the competition.

“We are going to play in the AFC Cup to progress. Indian teams in this competitions have always reached the next stages and our aim is to be in the final stages of the competition in March,” he signed off.

East Bengal FC travel to Odisha FC on Tuesday for their next league assignment.