Nonsense. To disband a team that has been playing together for almost 2 years, gaining experience of playing in different conditions and against different opponents ranging from East Asian, African, European and South American, few months before the WC is just about the most inane of ideas I have heard.
There are players in this team who are good enough for this level other than Komal; Boris, Suresh, Dheeraj and Sanjeev in particular.
Moving into the game, I saw the entire match and India had no trouble easily dominating Estonia, who resorted to dirty tactics of blatant and cynical fouls to stop India. It is thus ironic that it was an Indian player who go send off for an off-the ball incident towards the end of the game (Sarif who only came on as a sub a few minutes ago).
Ninthoi had no problem getting by his defender on a number of occasions and he does have excellent pace, but once in a position to cross or pass, he overdoes it or picks the wrong pass almost every single time. He was such a frustrating player to watch. Staying on the topic of pace, Boris has outstanding pace, and he walked past the Estonian players for fun all match and right side of the Indian midfield was one Estonia had no answer to.
Amarjit needs to stop ambling about in midfield and needs to really gets stuck in and help out Suresh, who is a terrier of a player despite his small frame, but he too could do with a little bit better positioning defensively. Sanjeev has that quality about him that makes it appear he has all the time in the World when put under pressure and Joysana and Abhijit are decent hard working players who are better alternatives to the one-dimensional Aman. Jitendra and Rakip had decent games and didn't make any mistakes but undoubtedly this is the weakest area of the pitch alongside centre forwards. The goalkeeper messed up big time for their second, but again it was poor defending that cost again. Going forwards, I think with couple of tweaks we can just about hold our ground but in midfield and at the back, we need to do a whole lot better, particularly the defending part (and I don't mean individually, but as a team).
My suggestion from watching this team for over a year is that, move Sanjeev into midfield alongside Suresh and Amarjit in a 4-3-3, and move Boris into the right wing to utilize his blistering pace, with Komal on the left and one of Joysana, Abhijit or Aniket (who can only play for 30 minutes before he is dead) up top. This means we need to find 2 full backs and personally, I would move Jitendra to the LB spot and get a better CB to partner Rakip and put Aimol at RB. Keep it tight and press and work hard, and hope to counter with Boris' pace and Komal's close control.
I no longer view Dheeraj as one of the better players of this team..I see nothing exceptional in Boris's game also but he is not bad..Amarjit is pretty ineffective..Suresh has really impressed this time..Ninthoi is a treat to watch.he just needs to deliver a quicker and better cross..he hardly crosses but beats all defenders with this delightfull footwork.
To all those cynical people who are crying about so much amount being spent on this team's exposure tours, this young team is the most technically superior ever in all age groups.
People saying that the money could have been used to build world class academy in India should understand that competing against fellow Indians in an academy setup won't help in progression to the next stage. They desperately need exposure tours like these.
Losing hurts, i know. But these players are getting great exposure against strong opposition ,playing in sub zero temperatures, living from a suitcase ,varying diets etc experience. This will help them understand what it takes to be a professional footballer and living life out of comfort zone. I am hopeful of some of these players of this batch landing professional contracts in good footballing nations. aka Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
And I totally agree about world class academies that should be set up, but calling these tours 'waste of money' is uncalled for.
Comments
I repeat, this team can't defend.
There are players in this team who are good enough for this level other than Komal; Boris, Suresh, Dheeraj and Sanjeev in particular.
Moving into the game, I saw the entire match and India had no trouble easily dominating Estonia, who resorted to dirty tactics of blatant and cynical fouls to stop India. It is thus ironic that it was an Indian player who go send off for an off-the ball incident towards the end of the game (Sarif who only came on as a sub a few minutes ago).
Ninthoi had no problem getting by his defender on a number of occasions and he does have excellent pace, but once in a position to cross or pass, he overdoes it or picks the wrong pass almost every single time. He was such a frustrating player to watch. Staying on the topic of pace, Boris has outstanding pace, and he walked past the Estonian players for fun all match and right side of the Indian midfield was one Estonia had no answer to.
Amarjit needs to stop ambling about in midfield and needs to really gets stuck in and help out Suresh, who is a terrier of a player despite his small frame, but he too could do with a little bit better positioning defensively. Sanjeev has that quality about him that makes it appear he has all the time in the World when put under pressure and Joysana and Abhijit are decent hard working players who are better alternatives to the one-dimensional Aman. Jitendra and Rakip had decent games and didn't make any mistakes but undoubtedly this is the weakest area of the pitch alongside centre forwards. The goalkeeper messed up big time for their second, but again it was poor defending that cost again. Going forwards, I think with couple of tweaks we can just about hold our ground but in midfield and at the back, we need to do a whole lot better, particularly the defending part (and I don't mean individually, but as a team).
My suggestion from watching this team for over a year is that, move Sanjeev into midfield alongside Suresh and Amarjit in a 4-3-3, and move Boris into the right wing to utilize his blistering pace, with Komal on the left and one of Joysana, Abhijit or Aniket (who can only play for 30 minutes before he is dead) up top. This means we need to find 2 full backs and personally, I would move Jitendra to the LB spot and get a better CB to partner Rakip and put Aimol at RB. Keep it tight and press and work hard, and hope to counter with Boris' pace and Komal's close control.
People saying that the money could have been used to build world class academy in India should understand that competing against fellow Indians in an academy setup won't help in progression to the next stage. They desperately need exposure tours like these.
Losing hurts, i know. But these players are getting great exposure against strong opposition ,playing in sub zero temperatures, living from a suitcase ,varying diets etc experience. This will help them understand what it takes to be a professional footballer and living life out of comfort zone. I am hopeful of some of these players of this batch landing professional contracts in good footballing nations. aka Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
And I totally agree about world class academies that should be set up, but calling these tours 'waste of money' is uncalled for.