No Indian player is holding the ball lot of mispasses in the team. Under oltman we have kept lot of possession even when we are playing against top ranked teams. In midfield we are missing players like sardar, gurbaj even devender walmika holds the ball very well in the midfield
This is one shitty tournament.we finish last in the group and won zero matches and yet we get to quarter finals.btw we are yet to beat to beat a team in full time bar in shoot outs.
It was a good game.We controlled the Match in my opinion.
We had more circle entries,possession and shots as well.In my opinion,we should have won in the Normal Time itself but getting over the line specially with 8-10 of our players missing is a huge achievement for us specially against a team like Belgium.
Defence:-
Harmanpreet is having a Horrendous Tournament.This is the worst i have seen him play ever.3 back to back extremely poor games defensively,along with shitty Penalty Corners are not Helping him Either.I have always had my reservations about Harmanpreet"s Defensive capabilities.In the past also,i have said,that with the (extremely good) stickwork and Vision he should be tried in the Midfield rather than Defence.He is Like Eric Dier,David Luiz,commits too many mistakes playing as a Centre Back.
Rupinder is having a Blinder of a Tournament and he was the Match of the Match yesterday before the Shootout.He is our Prime Defender in every sense of the Word.
Birendra Lakra,Amit Rohidas and Kothajit are non-existent.They don"t give me huge confidence.They need support around them to be counted.I used to like Lakra but post his injury he has not recovered fully and has not been in same form.Kothajit has been decent previously but has gone unnoticed for me so far.Amit Rohidas,in my opinion shouldn"be a part of Indian Team for Major Tournaments.He is weak on the ball.
Dipsan and Varun.Dipsan has got the best defensive skills in my opinion other than Rupinder.He needs to work on his scoop and Physique.If he does that,i feel, he will play for a long time for India. Varun has got the most accurate Scoop in our Team.His distribution is quite awesome.His defensive skills are not the best.He needs to work that out.Investment can be made on both of them but i would say that Dipsan has a better chance of succeeding.
Jasjit,Surender ,Pradeep Mor have shown signs of improvement but still they need to work on their game.They are still developing players and lack consistency big time specially against top teams.
I really hope Gurbaj can make his way back in the squad but it seems unlikely as he has been ignored for too long now,to make a comeback.He is a complete Defender,the federation Spoilt him.
We need a genuine Centre Back after Raghunath"s Retirement to Support Rupinder to win a Medal at World Cup..To be Honest,it will be very difficult for us to Replace Raghunath in 1 years time(World Cup).However,since we have 3-4 Tournament before the World Cup,so i hope someone among the current lot Steps up.
Now,Midfield:-
Manpreet is a decent player but at times make basic errors and gives away possession too easily.He needs to work on that and become more consistent.Is an okay player.
Chinglensana is the most improved player in the Indian team.He for me is a Complete Midfielder now.He has been the most consistent player during the past 12-18 months.
The likes of Uthappa,Sumit(still young but hasen"t shown anything,he always passes backwards,neither has blistering pace,neither has move creating vision,is weak on the ball,gives away possesion cheaply at times.In the penalty Shootout also,never looked like scoring) ,Devindar Walmiki, Satbir are bad.
Harjeet,- I said two years back that he needed atleast 2 years for him to be considered for the Indian Team at Major Tournaments.In the last Tournament he played well and in the last tournament he showed signs of improvement.So,i would say,that even though he is still not ready but now he should be invested on.
So,Sardara,Chinglensana,Manpreet will be the obvious choices and Harjeet will be my Midfield(3+1) squad.
Now,Foward line:
Has played decently so,far but is not finishing the chances.Sunil,it seems is on the downward Spiral but somehow i feel he should make the squad for the World Cup as i feel he has one year left in him.
Mandeep does not impress me one bit.He is a decent instinctive striker but thats about it.He seems lost when he has time to think.He is not suited to the style which India is playing(I.e Counter Attacking).hIs game has still not evolved.His game is still the same as it was 3-4 years back despite him playing Internationally.His place is still not guaranteed in the team despite him playing for 3-4 years is what i am saying.
Gurjant,has not had the best of Tournament so far but this is his First Major Tournament(against the Top Teams so you can expect him to be slightly Nervous) but he Scored a goal in the previous match(Lucky Goal but still right time right place).So,Hopefully he can build from the confidence he got from this match.
Both Armaan and Gurjant are better suited Strikers than Mandeep for India in my opinion,So the Federation should invest the same time in Armaan and Gurjant which they invested in Mandeep,they would become established members of the team.
I wonder why they aren"t playing Nikkin.The last i saw him was in the Asian Champions Trophy.He in my opinion is a Top Striker and certainly deserves a place in the Indian Roaster.He now,is 3rd Best Striker for me In India behind AkashDeep and Ramandeep.
As of now,Akashdeep,Ramandeep,Nikkin,Sunil,Talwinder,Lalit,Gurjant should be picked/played in the forward positions in Major Tournaments depending on the number of forwards you want.
Lets see how far we can go in this Tournament.Hopefully we can win it but let"s see what happens..
I agree that this format in tournament makes little sense. This is the last World Hockey Series. Too much experimentation is going on by FIH. Sadly Champions Trophy of next year will also be the last. As India will not be participating in World Pro Leagues, we will soon have very little of international tournament participation other then World Cup, Olympics and Asian/Commonwealth.
FIH has decided to stop Hockey World league and Champions Trophy/Champions Challenge I and II. Our Batra saab has already pulled India out of Hockey Pro League which is supposed to replace these tournaments.
I can only speculate here as these things cannot be declared officially. 1) funding crunch with uncertainity by Hero Group 2) other countries have a club model and they get government funding for world cup olympics commonwealth. World series types who will fund if their associations are not making money.3) in india alsi HIL failed. Third failure of hockey franchise league.4) only way a member association can make money is by bilateral series. This is what hockey pro league can bring. 5)relations are not cordial.6) hockey should go back to old ways otherwise it is a dying sport. Bilateral series,,3 substitutions,two halves penalty stroke. Modern version is too boring. Learn from football.
Comments
We had more circle entries,possession and shots as well.In my opinion,we should have won in the Normal Time itself but getting over the line specially with 8-10 of our players missing is a huge achievement for us specially against a team like Belgium.
Defence:-
Harmanpreet is having a Horrendous Tournament.This is the worst i have seen him play ever.3 back to back extremely poor games defensively,along with shitty Penalty Corners are not Helping him Either.I have always had my reservations about Harmanpreet"s Defensive capabilities.In the past also,i have said,that with the (extremely good) stickwork and Vision he should be tried in the Midfield rather than Defence.He is Like Eric Dier,David Luiz,commits too many mistakes playing as a Centre Back.
Rupinder is having a Blinder of a Tournament and he was the Match of the Match yesterday before the Shootout.He is our Prime Defender in every sense of the Word.
Birendra Lakra,Amit Rohidas and Kothajit are non-existent.They don"t give me huge confidence.They need support around them to be counted.I used to like Lakra but post his injury he has not recovered fully and has not been in same form.Kothajit has been decent previously but has gone unnoticed for me so far.Amit Rohidas,in my opinion shouldn"be a part of Indian Team for Major Tournaments.He is weak on the ball.
Dipsan and Varun.Dipsan has got the best defensive skills in my opinion other than Rupinder.He needs to work on his scoop and Physique.If he does that,i feel, he will play for a long time for India.
Varun has got the most accurate Scoop in our Team.His distribution is quite awesome.His defensive skills are not the best.He needs to work that out.Investment can be made on both of them but i would say that Dipsan has a better chance of succeeding.
Jasjit,Surender ,Pradeep Mor have shown signs of improvement but still they need to work on their game.They are still developing players and lack consistency big time specially against top teams.
I really hope Gurbaj can make his way back in the squad but it seems unlikely as he has been ignored for too long now,to make a comeback.He is a complete Defender,the federation Spoilt him.
We need a genuine Centre Back after Raghunath"s Retirement to Support Rupinder to win a Medal at World Cup..To be Honest,it will be very difficult for us to Replace Raghunath in 1 years time(World Cup).However,since we have 3-4 Tournament before the World Cup,so i hope someone among the current lot Steps up.
Now,Midfield:-
Manpreet is a decent player but at times make basic errors and gives away possession too easily.He needs to work on that and become more consistent.Is an okay player.
Chinglensana is the most improved player in the Indian team.He for me is a Complete Midfielder now.He has been the most consistent player during the past 12-18 months.
The likes of Uthappa,Sumit(still young but hasen"t shown anything,he always passes backwards,neither has blistering pace,neither has move creating vision,is weak on the ball,gives away possesion cheaply at times.In the penalty Shootout also,never looked like scoring) ,Devindar Walmiki, Satbir are bad.
Harjeet,- I said two years back that he needed atleast 2 years for him to be considered for the Indian Team at Major Tournaments.In the last Tournament he played well and in the last tournament he showed signs of improvement.So,i would say,that even though he is still not ready but now he should be invested on.
So,Sardara,Chinglensana,Manpreet will be the obvious choices and Harjeet will be my Midfield(3+1) squad.
Now,Foward line:
Has played decently so,far but is not finishing the chances.Sunil,it seems is on the downward Spiral but somehow i feel he should make the squad for the World Cup as i feel he has one year left in him.
Mandeep does not impress me one bit.He is a decent instinctive striker but thats about it.He seems lost when he has time to think.He is not suited to the style which India is playing(I.e Counter Attacking).hIs game has still not evolved.His game is still the same as it was 3-4 years back despite him playing Internationally.His place is still not guaranteed in the team despite him playing for 3-4 years is what i am saying.
Gurjant,has not had the best of Tournament so far but this is his First Major Tournament(against the Top Teams so you can expect him to be slightly Nervous) but he Scored a goal in the previous match(Lucky Goal but still right time right place).So,Hopefully he can build from the confidence he got from this match.
Both Armaan and Gurjant are better suited Strikers than Mandeep for India in my opinion,So the Federation should invest the same time in Armaan and Gurjant which they invested in Mandeep,they would become established members of the team.
I wonder why they aren"t playing Nikkin.The last i saw him was in the Asian Champions Trophy.He in my opinion is a Top Striker and certainly deserves a place in the Indian Roaster.He now,is 3rd Best Striker for me In India behind AkashDeep and Ramandeep.
As of now,Akashdeep,Ramandeep,Nikkin,Sunil,Talwinder,Lalit,Gurjant should be picked/played in the forward positions in Major Tournaments depending on the number of forwards you want.
Lets see how far we can go in this Tournament.Hopefully we can win it but let"s see what happens..
I agree that this format in tournament makes little sense. This is the last World Hockey Series. Too much experimentation is going on by FIH. Sadly Champions Trophy of next year will also be the last. As India will not be participating in World Pro Leagues, we will soon have very little of international tournament participation other then World Cup, Olympics and Asian/Commonwealth.
Our Batra saab has already pulled India out of Hockey Pro League which is supposed to replace these tournaments.
1) funding crunch with uncertainity by Hero Group 2) other countries have a club model and they get government funding for world cup olympics commonwealth. World series types who will fund if their associations are not making money.3) in india alsi HIL failed. Third failure of hockey franchise league.4) only way a member association can make money is by bilateral series. This is what hockey pro league can bring. 5)relations are not cordial.6) hockey should go back to old ways otherwise it is a dying sport. Bilateral series,,3 substitutions,two halves penalty stroke. Modern version is too boring. Learn from football.