Ok @Kool since you referred to me specifically I shall answer your query (although other members like @thebeautifulgame , @munna219777 , @sam etc are much more knowledgeable than me in this area). You seem to be under a delusion that before Stimac arrived on the scene, India used to play like a 8th division english club - defenders just hoofing the ball upfront and strikers somehow trying to score with it, no passing, just no nonsense football. But reality is different my dear friend. Its true that when Bob Haughton started coaching India, initially this was the style. Players kicking the ball up front without any purpose. This was the scene till the 2011 Asian Cup. But then Indians slowly improved on their passing. Coaches like Armando Colaco, Koeverman and Constantine tried improving it. But by the middle of Constantine's reign the major problem was with the defence, with our defenders not very comfortable on the ball and getting panicky and clearing out of the stadium. Even that was improved by Consti after the inclusion of Jhingan, Arnab Mondal, sarthak Goloi etc (improved but not much).
Of course the overall passing style was still erratic since, as you rightly said making changes to the game takes a long time to adjust. But overall our passing game was decent if not good. Players still tend to sometimes hoof the ball straight to strikers but that was also down to the counter attacking football being played under Consti which required a rapid transfer of ball from defence to attack. In this system defenders generally passed the ball to wingers who then sprinted forward to cross it for Chettri, thus largely ignoring the central midfield. This was the modus operandi of our NT for the last years. But even in this direct brand of football our attacking players in final third used to execute brilliant one-twos between themselves and passing was generally good. You should watch India's matches in the 2019 asian cup and sone from last year against China, jordan and oman (which we drew btw) to understand what kibd of football we used to play and how decent our passing was.
Now Stimac focuses on building from the back, which is fine, but that approach is leading no where as the team lacks the cutting edge in final third to penetrate opposition defence (which we used to do regularly under Constantine). So its not India is learning to play passing football for the first time under stimac. We used to do it and do it much more effectively previously (Under Colaco we actually defeated UAE in 2012 in an unofficial friendly and Colaco's main philosophy was based on short passing football). I have seen the Indian team transform from one which lost 0-7 to Japan and players clearing the ball out of stadium in panic whenever ball came to them to a team which thrashed Thailand and bossed over UAE for most part of the match in January this year while playing beautiful, counter attacking football. So please watch the old matches and then talk.
@Chelseafan - thanks for the response and I have known most of the things you have pointed out. So here is the distinction I want to make between your argument and mine. If you keep playing like what we played in AFC against Thailand and UAT, which you are suggesting, we cannot progress further higher up the rankings as the teams higher ranked are too good just to play counterattacking. Meaning you will not improve further up. That is the situation when STIMAC took over. So now how do we improve our teams performance from here and upwards, you need to change the style of play, like high press/pass, cohesive football is the decision taken, and which is also proven world wide by other top ranking nations. So when STIMAC took over he had a mix of players who are good at counter attack and many younger upcoming players who were not under SC method. So STIMAC was tasked to clean up the previous style from older players while incorporating the new style plus the upcoming players to play his new style. Right? That is exactly he is trying to do. He has given chances to many new faces and trying and testing things. With this style your strikers should be more clinical than what is needed for counter attacking style, which currently we do not have many. That is the reason why we are not creating and scoring much. The solution for that is - to develop your potential up coming players to transform into better strikers (this is the most time consuming task), but not reverting back to counter attacking SC style. STIMAC has been trying to manage with older players while trying to identify upcoming players who would suit the decided style. As you said, if he tries someone he should give them a decent run. Say for one particular position - he tries 2 different players. You would want to give at least half a dozen games to that person to learn and prove something. That is a total of 12 games for a particular position for any upcoming player to get an idea if he would fit in(would he produce results is a next thing, only time would tell). Since there is a whole sale changes happening and different players are being tried out, our results are not showing up. This is no ones fault. This is due to change in playing style and lot of upcoming players are being tried out. This is not coaches fault nor the players fault. This is a process, it takes time to find ideal combination of players to produce good results. STIMAC is at the very beginning of this process. He may succeed or may not, but we should be supportive of his efforts and give him a free hand trusting his knowledge and ability to judge and make decision is what I am saying. No point in complaining and using disparaging comments about him. He is doing his best, our players present or future need to learn quickly and adjust and start producing results. The onus is on the new comers to learn on the job quick and adopt and show results. Just not selecting few players as suggested here and playing a particular player for a particular match is not the solution. I just want every one of us, other INDIA fans to enjoy this ride, while the process is evolving under STIMAC. I do perfectly understand every one has the right for their opinion and I do respect that. Same way STIMAC and others would expect the same from the fans. STIMAC is a pro, let him do his job while we enjoy the ride, showing some respect to the man who is trying to transform our football for the future.
I am not questioning any ones knowledge here. I know here we have a great mix of people from different back ground. I myself is not very knowledgeable in football so I know what it is. My point is the process being following by STIMC is the right one for this current situation our national team is in. Also I do expect people to show respect to other people with knowledge and proven credentials. So no worries. By the way - the answer to the time frame needed to change the behavior on that tennis bounce issue - an average player takes 3 to 4 weeks in practice to inculcate the habit to use it consistently in practice and one or two extra weekly to bring it on to real time play. This is for an individual changing a single behavior. So imagine how long would it take for a football team changing the playing style with so many different players being tried out. So our players are trying their best too, in a short span of time they have improved a lot too. From 55% passing percentage to over 85% passing success rate is huge. So they are getting better. Coach needs to identify couple of good strikers and iron our few weak areas, then we will start playing better and results would follow too. Peace
Since people are talking abt Gourav Mukhi here, just want to know why arent JFC playing him this season?? Hasn't he served his ban? Hope they don't destroy this bright young prospect!!!
Comments
Of course the overall passing style was still erratic since, as you rightly said making changes to the game takes a long time to adjust. But overall our passing game was decent if not good. Players still tend to sometimes hoof the ball straight to strikers but that was also down to the counter attacking football being played under Consti which required a rapid transfer of ball from defence to attack. In this system defenders generally passed the ball to wingers who then sprinted forward to cross it for Chettri, thus largely ignoring the central midfield. This was the modus operandi of our NT for the last years. But even in this direct brand of football our attacking players in final third used to execute brilliant one-twos between themselves and passing was generally good. You should watch India's matches in the 2019 asian cup and sone from last year against China, jordan and oman (which we drew btw) to understand what kibd of football we used to play and how decent our passing was.
Now Stimac focuses on building from the back, which is fine, but that approach is leading no where as the team lacks the cutting edge in final third to penetrate opposition defence (which we used to do regularly under Constantine). So its not India is learning to play passing football for the first time under stimac. We used to do it and do it much more effectively previously (Under Colaco we actually defeated UAE in 2012 in an unofficial friendly and Colaco's main philosophy was based on short passing football). I have seen the Indian team transform from one which lost 0-7 to Japan and players clearing the ball out of stadium in panic whenever ball came to them to a team which thrashed Thailand and bossed over UAE for most part of the match in January this year while playing beautiful, counter attacking football. So please watch the old matches and then talk.
By the way - the answer to the time frame needed to change the behavior on that tennis bounce issue - an average player takes 3 to 4 weeks in practice to inculcate the habit to use it consistently in practice and one or two extra weekly to bring it on to real time play. This is for an individual changing a single behavior. So imagine how long would it take for a football team changing the playing style with so many different players being tried out. So our players are trying their best too, in a short span of time they have improved a lot too. From 55% passing percentage to over 85% passing success rate is huge. So they are getting better. Coach needs to identify couple of good strikers and iron our few weak areas, then we will start playing better and results would follow too. Peace
Hope they don't destroy this bright young prospect!!!