If there is 9ne negative from today's match, it was the fact that our players showed little composure on the ball and made faulty passes or lingered too much 9n the ball thus allowing Kuwaities to snatch the ball from us. We have to improve this. Also when Kuwait was piling pressure upon us, our players seemed to forget passing football and 8nstead started relying 9n long balls and playing on the counter. Today's match was a good illustration of what India will face while playing against technically superior teams. This had our players continued to play with composure and better ball control in today's pressure phases, it would have better prepared us.
If we count Tri-Nation series, we won 3 tournaments in a row. 2023 is an excellent year for Indian football. We deserve to be in pot2 & FIFA ranking 100.
Still getting goosebumps & I rate SAFF Cup win higher than Inter-Continental Cup. Playing 3 back-to-back high tempo matches against Lebanon & Kuwait and getting positive results is no easy feat. Kudos to boys & coaching staff. Also, to AIFF & SAFF for inviting West Asian nations.
We have improved in all aspects and have back-up players for almost all positions. We are mainly losing battle in Mid-field, but with the addition of players like Apuia, Brandon, Suresh, Yasir & Deepak, will be in much better position while playing in Kings Cup & Merdeka Cup.
I'm eagerly waiting how we will fair in away games mainly against Iraq & Palestine NT.
Win is important for sure but more then the win the performance matters. In these 5 odd matches against Lebanon and Kuwait, one thing which has been constant apart from the result is performance i.e(we have been the better team in all the 5 matches). This has been the most Important thing in my opinion. In the past, when we used to beat or draw against these teams, we would have to be extremely lucky or our Goalkeeper had to be the Superman in order for us to get a favourable result. This myth was broken in these 5 matches.
I had already said during our World Cup Qualification campaign(2022), that our team has improved significantly in defensive structure and positioning(defensively) as we lost all our matches by a margin of one goal(1) but we were extremely slow in transition(from defence to attack) i.e why we drew against the likes of Bangladesh and Afghanistan(The matches we should have won). Poor first touch, wrong passing options, lack of vision, lack of confidence etc were/are some reasons behind poor transitioning.
However, after observing these 5 matches, I can say that our transitioning pace has improved without actually affecting the defensive shape(which is amazing). There is still lot of room for improvement(as poor first touch and more so poor decision making still persists but due to lower number of these mistakes, we have been to able to get results as desired). These 5 matches(against Lebanon and Kuwait) have showcased that we can compete in physicality and aggression(USP of Gulf Teams, West Asian teams) and won't get bullied like we used to get earlier. This is very important.
Next phase would be to perform like this against these teams(in terms of performance) on neutral venues and on their home turfs and take it from there. For this to happen, we will need to work on our technical level. We are extremely poor and probably worse then almost (all B tier Asian Teams and some C tier Asian teams as well) when it comes to technical ability, which is not the case in other facets. The reason why we remain competitive despite poor technical ability is because we make up in other facets like Fitness, Physicality, Organisation, Speed (depending on the the opponent).However, we need to work on our Technical Ability significantly because without Technical Ability we can't transition from "B "tier Asian Team to "A" tier Asian team.(As I think we are currently B tier Asian Team)
Another thing which we should cater to is the teams against whom we play on Fifa Match days. We should be looking at teams around the range of 70-100 in terms of Fifa Rankings in my opinion. Moreover, either we should join another Group like Asean or Cafa or invite Teams(like Lebanon and Kuwait) in Saff championship irrespective of where it is hosted. It is not in our interest to play against teams like Nepal, Bangladesh etc as we won't get any benefit from these matches.
India beats Cameron (B) in Nehru cup final India beats Kuwait in SAFF final
how would you rank these two matches? which one is a better win? subjective koschen, I know
India beats Kuwait in SAFF final. This is miles ahead from that B class match. That win has no value for me and Indian football in general. Never want to play any B team in future. Rather play first team of any recognized and ranking at stake match.
Moreover, either we should join another Group like Asean or Cafa or invite Teams(like Lebanon and Kuwait) in Saff championship irrespective of where it is hosted. It is not in our interest to play against teams like Nepal, Bangladesh etc as we won't get any benefit from these matches.
Most of IFN members have been saying this for years. But since this seems a distant possibility, we should invite guest teams like in this editon. Fioe me the best edition of SAFF cup.
Comments
Also when Kuwait was piling pressure upon us, our players seemed to forget passing football and 8nstead started relying 9n long balls and playing on the counter. Today's match was a good illustration of what India will face while playing against technically superior teams. This had our players continued to play with composure and better ball control in today's pressure phases, it would have better prepared us.
Still getting goosebumps & I rate SAFF Cup win higher than Inter-Continental Cup. Playing 3 back-to-back high tempo matches against Lebanon & Kuwait and getting positive results is no easy feat. Kudos to boys & coaching staff. Also, to AIFF & SAFF for inviting West Asian nations.
We have improved in all aspects and have back-up players for almost all positions. We are mainly losing battle in Mid-field, but with the addition of players like Apuia, Brandon, Suresh, Yasir & Deepak, will be in much better position while playing in Kings Cup & Merdeka Cup.
I'm eagerly waiting how we will fair in away games mainly against Iraq & Palestine NT.
Win is important for sure but more then the win the performance matters.
In these 5 odd matches against Lebanon and Kuwait, one thing which has been constant apart from the result is performance i.e(we have been the better team in all the 5 matches). This has been the most Important thing in my opinion. In the past, when we used to beat or draw against these teams, we would have to be extremely lucky or our Goalkeeper had to be the Superman in order for us to get a favourable result. This myth was broken in these 5 matches.
I had already said during our World Cup Qualification campaign(2022), that our team has improved significantly in defensive structure and positioning(defensively) as we lost all our matches by a margin of one goal(1) but we were extremely slow in transition(from defence to attack) i.e why we drew against the likes of Bangladesh and Afghanistan(The matches we should have won). Poor first touch, wrong passing options, lack of vision, lack of confidence etc were/are some reasons behind poor transitioning.
However, after observing these 5 matches, I can say that our transitioning pace has improved without actually affecting the defensive shape(which is amazing). There is still lot of room for improvement(as poor first touch and more so poor decision making still persists but due to lower number of these mistakes, we have been to able to get results as desired).
These 5 matches(against Lebanon and Kuwait) have showcased that we can compete in physicality and aggression(USP of Gulf Teams, West Asian teams) and won't get bullied like we used to get earlier. This is very important.
Next phase would be to perform like this against these teams(in terms of performance) on neutral venues and on their home turfs and take it from there. For this to happen, we will need to work on our technical level. We are extremely poor and probably worse then almost (all B tier Asian Teams and some C tier Asian teams as well) when it comes to technical ability, which is not the case in other facets. The reason why we remain competitive despite poor technical ability is because we make up in other facets like Fitness, Physicality, Organisation, Speed (depending on the the opponent).However, we need to work on our Technical Ability significantly because without Technical Ability we can't transition from "B "tier Asian Team to "A" tier Asian team.(As I think we are currently B tier Asian Team)
Another thing which we should cater to is the teams against whom we play on Fifa Match days. We should be looking at teams around the range of 70-100 in terms of Fifa Rankings in my opinion. Moreover, either we should join another Group like Asean or Cafa or invite Teams(like Lebanon and Kuwait) in Saff championship irrespective of where it is hosted. It is not in our interest to play against teams like Nepal, Bangladesh etc as we won't get any benefit from these matches.
Highlights
Most of IFN members have been saying this for years. But since this seems a distant possibility, we should invite guest teams like in this editon. Fioe me the best edition of SAFF cup.