Sorry @Ashlesh , but you seem to be delusional on some aspects lately...
I won't get involved in a pro-ISL/ anti-I-League vs anti-ISL debate with regards to the National team....thats for another thread and enough has been said about that on another thread....realistically we won't know if ISL will help NT performance for the next 3-5 years !
But stating that Climax & Rafi are better than the current crop is disingenuous . Neither could get an I-League club of their choice, hence Climax played for Mumbai FC ( the graveyard team for talented players )
If playing Climax ahead of a Pranoy Halder is the way forward , then lets just bring back Naimuddin as coach !
I'll 100% agree with you that we JUST AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH.... the difference in technical ability was all too evident today.
Not Wim , nor Mourinho or even Pep could have reversed the result..just look at how good their 1st touch and tempo at which UAE played.. and their players looked genuine U23. None apart from Mandar , and maybe Joyner in the starting line-up were U23...but the issue is...their players looked like footballers,
Technically far superior to 8/11 Indian players
Tactically, they outplayed India's 4-4-2 ( 4-4-1-1 ) , much as Wim likes to say we play 4-3-3, Robin was isolated and Sunil just did whatever he wanted in the "hole" and offered nothing defensively, which enabled UAE to have 3 v 2 vs Siam & Pranoy/Dika and they easily popped the ball around us. Granted a more tactically astute coach would have tried to play 4-5-1 and contain UAE and use the pace of Mandar & Doungel on the counter....but tactics are futile when players can't execute simple possession....we struggled for 90% of the game to stick 5 consecutive passes together !!
Physically we were outmatched !! Wim's over-reliance on Raymond Verjaen's periodisation and his aversion to Gym training is all too evident. We were 2nd to every ball and lost out on almost all 50-50 where we didn't foul them.
Psychologically our players suffer from delusions of grandeur ; just because they don the Blue jerseys , they think they are superior players than their ability belies. Stick to the basics and accept your limitations.
Unless we rectify the mistakes at youth level and start blooding more youth with the likes of a Udanta , Bidyananda etc in the next few years we will continue to struggle.
Look at how Germany rebuilt after their Euro's disaster and started to rebuild and later thrust & trust youth to take them forward.
Lets face these facts & compare this U23 team to the Senior National team:
Amrinder : we have better GK's and will benefit from Subrata & Gurpreet for years to come
Sandesh Jhingan will play in senior team too
Joyner can be upgraded with Raju "calamity" Gaikwad or Arnab "unsure" Mondal
Narayan Das is unfortunately the best option for long term, Dhanachandra, Robert etc are all short term fixes
Pranoy Halder is a good option , can't see past Harmanjot in this role
Siam Hanghal might grow if he has another good season , but Cavin Lobo deserves a chance especially on recent form , but he needs to get fit & stay fit
Mandar & Doungal { as well as Alwyn , Victorinio etc } need to hit the protein shakes & gym if they want to progress to the next level, but with Udanta and numerous others , this is one position that India has an abundance to replace the likes of Francis... Sunil should play here and maybe recreate his best club form of last season !
#9 position is Robin's if he can get some sense into his head and use the attributes he has...only Dawson could really challenge him for this, as Jeje & Manandeep are far too inconsistent.
Thats not a reassuring picture to tempt a new coach into the soon to be vacant job
We have to give it to Wim that he has got a crappy bunch of lads in his hand who would not pass off as footballers by technical standards, had it been some other country. He had to literally instruct the players during the game today to look forward when they have the ball rather than fixing their eyes on the ball.
That does not go to say that Wim is any good as a coach. he looked clueless most of the time and of course, his disastrous choices have already been pointed out by @gaffertape.
It was funny to see UAE players running faster with the ball than any India footballer off the ball. We looked like bunch of kids being bullied. Whenever the ball came to the feet of Indian players, UAE quickly closed down and satched it. Half the time the ball was snatched even before the pass reached our players.
Robin Singh has a definite physical advantage and in packets he manages to do well, created a good chance and the shot was not too bad with the acute angle, but he did not use his head for most of the time.
I liked Seminlen and Siam Hangal. But overall I felt cheated because it feels that our boys were not even allowed to play with the ball! Funny
I-league is not a league anymore its just an ordinary tourney now, in other countries players are tied with a club throughout the season, where they are groomed, improved in all aspects which unfortunately player like Udanta will not have.
Comments
Probably last two games for Wim Koevarmans. Lets see what team he selects for that.
- Technically far superior to 8/11 Indian players
- Tactically, they outplayed India's 4-4-2 ( 4-4-1-1 ) , much as Wim likes to say we play 4-3-3, Robin was isolated and Sunil just did whatever he wanted in the "hole" and offered nothing defensively, which enabled UAE to have 3 v 2 vs Siam & Pranoy/Dika and they easily popped the ball around us. Granted a more tactically astute coach would have tried to play 4-5-1 and contain UAE and use the pace of Mandar & Doungel on the counter....but tactics are futile when players can't execute simple possession....we struggled for 90% of the game to stick 5 consecutive passes together !!
- Physically we were outmatched !! Wim's over-reliance on Raymond Verjaen's periodisation and his aversion to Gym training is all too evident. We were 2nd to every ball and lost out on almost all 50-50 where we didn't foul them.
- Psychologically our players suffer from delusions of grandeur ; just because they don the Blue jerseys , they think they are superior players than their ability belies. Stick to the basics and accept your limitations.
Unless we rectify the mistakes at youth level and start blooding more youth with the likes of a Udanta , Bidyananda etc in the next few years we will continue to struggle.