Yes I agree they could have played better. Thier transition while counter attacking was not good. I would blame Pinto for this. Though I like Pinto and Bibiano, I wish we appoint foreign coaches for U16 and U19 teams. But nothing to worry about, we have good players like givson, meetei etc.
Typical problem with our Indian age group teams ..Go full steam in 1st half... Then drain out in 2nd ..I think if opposition coaches pick this trend then we can expect similar results often
The issue is physique. Indian players would have reached maximum growth by 16-18 and remain that way. Thats a problem. We need more and more players from tge north and south to do well. Historicalky india has been a good team when we have had such players in the team. Another aspect is the freedom provided by coach. There is always a mark diff between what Nicolai's team used to play and the same team playing under other coaches. Under Nicolai we used to loose but very happy the way we played
We need more competition for places at Age Group level. Multiple regional academies are required plus state level championships, school tournaments, other academies should always be looked upon. There is a sense of complacency when one bunch of players are kept together,given India Blue jersey and they take their place for granted. We should also come out of this mentality that we lost but we played well. You lost okay- we have another player who can take your place, improve and win next time. You become happy by losing at u-15, you will lose at U-17, U-19 and at senior level also. Mediocre results should never be rewarded. Then only we will improve.
Playing against Russia in Russia is definitely not easy(saw that in WC aswell) but like @bad said the team really looked out of sorts. Also we need to get rid of quota players like Jitendra, Sanjeev stalin(still riding on that free kick goal he scored 3 years ago) etc. We need to have a look at bigger pool and keep searching for good ones.
The clubs should start spending more money at this age level and AIFF needs to revamp the competitions, the cup style league is of no use as most of these clubs including ISL just conduct trails 1 month before the tourney, play for 3-4 weeks and that's it .
Comments
There is a sense of complacency when one bunch of players are kept together,given India Blue jersey and they take their place for granted.
We should also come out of this mentality that we lost but we played well. You lost okay- we have another player who can take your place, improve and win next time.
You become happy by losing at u-15, you will lose at U-17, U-19 and at senior level also. Mediocre results should never be rewarded. Then only we will improve.
The clubs should start spending more money at this age level and AIFF needs to revamp the competitions, the cup style league is of no use as most of these clubs including ISL just conduct trails 1 month before the tourney, play for 3-4 weeks and that's it .