I totally disagree. There's lots of difference in the manner of play. & I also disagree that defense was bad. Saudi played well and were a good team, but India showed lot of cohesion in defense till they conceived the 2 goals. Before the 2nd goal of Saudi, how many times they penetrated Indian defense?
also regarding other batches, the mode of play is a lot different. This batch is much more confident on the ball. yes, maybe they do not live up to your expectations and will not be able to Live up to expectations, but there will be more players from this batch making into Senior team than any other batches.
Stepped out afterSaudi scored their 3rd..glad that we drew even though I admit we didnt deserve to..what I didnt like was that midfielders and defenders sometimes under no pressure were clearing the ball into open spaces and out unnesscarily..these guys have the skills to hold on to it more and pass around to save their energy and break the oppositions rythm..surprised they didnt do it..did they play too much in Germany that they are tired? no idea? why no new guys have been scouted..such a small pool is always going to hit us with injuries..we also need to bring Komal Thatal more into the game..that guy is terrific..Aman Chhetri should not even be in the team!
@rudra@sam : I was lucky enough to see live streaming of the 2008 game when we beat Suaudi 3-0 but cant compare it here..that team was definitely badly overage..bulldozer Fela was in his prime then and had scored..Deepak Devrani scored his first goal for India from a header..had high hopes from him but he faded out..last one by either of Dika or Manandeep..we all know their fate now..the team then went on to draw with Iraq 2-2..but once the eboys reach U-19 qualifiers other Asian players had peaked thanks to their better league exposure..Iraq beat us 5-0 with Gurpreet being the major culprit in that game..twice he dropped the ball at Iraqi feet for them to score. He has improved by leaps now though
There is a requirement of much larger pool. U-16 level is just a parameter of progress of Football in a country. We will never see in any country that the same players which represented in U-16 will go on and blossom as the finest players of that country at senior level. Even if 3 or 4 of this squad will grow up as NT players 10 years in future, it will be a success.
Just look at 2005 U-17 World cup squads. Can anyone tell that how many of those players grew up as finest of their country. Very very few.
Watching the Saudi Arabia match again, you can tell that there #7 will probably do well at this level and maybe become a pro in Saudi Arabia but that is it. He is your typical strong, tall U17 footballer who has a good shot to him.
Comments
I totally disagree. There's lots of difference in the manner of play. & I also disagree that defense was bad. Saudi played well and were a good team, but India showed lot of cohesion in defense till they conceived the 2 goals. Before the 2nd goal of Saudi, how many times they penetrated Indian defense?
also regarding other batches, the mode of play is a lot different. This batch is much more confident on the ball. yes, maybe they do not live up to your expectations and will not be able to Live up to expectations, but there will be more players from this batch making into Senior team than any other batches.
Just look at 2005 U-17 World cup squads. Can anyone tell that how many of those players grew up as finest of their country. Very very few.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_FIFA_U-17_World_Championship_squads