Hardly a win that Inspires confidence but a winning start nonetheless. Not sure if you guys are into opinion ratings but here it goes.<div><br></div><div>10 being highest, 1 being poorest<br><div><br></div><div>Subrata Pal - 7 Lucky not to be red carded, escaped with just a yellow, Decent saves and kept India in the match. Still comes out of position sometimes to pickup the ball which he need not. Saving between the sticks is his strength and he needs to keep it that way. Worlds better than Sandip Nandy tho. Glad to have him between the sticks.</div><div><br></div><div>Mohanraj - Shocker of a match. Kept losing posession, Out of position quite often and the weaklink in the defense that Pakistan was capitalizing and building attacks. So poor was his performance that once Nabi came on, Pakistan was unable to frequently build attacks down that flank. - 3</div><div><br></div><div>Arnab Mondal - Inconsistent, Beater quite often, Goes to ground for tackling, Needs a leader next to him to give him confidence to stand ground, Didnt help that Mohanraj wasnt performing and had to fill in those areas as well. - 5</div><div><br></div><div>Gourmangi - Decent, Couple of Panicky moments, but overall comfortable defending, Should give him confidence - 6</div><div><br></div><div>Nirmal - Surprised that he was calm & composed on ball. Not many attacks could be built on his wing. Although he did get the assist for the all important goal, His crossing leaves a lot to be desired. Solid though - 6</div><div><br></div><div>Mehtab - Deserves MOM, Was the only Solid midfielder who could dictate play for India, Decent crossing, Kept things ticking over. 8</div><div><br></div><div>Jeje - There is a reason why he is in & out of the squad, Not good enough, Couple of Linkup plays with chetri but nothing more, Didnt chase, was lazy and hardly got into a position to threaten. Was pushed by chettri to put pressure on defenders - 5</div><div><br></div><div>Sunil - Was heavily Marked the first half, Found some joy when he dropped back to recieve the ball. Unlucky not to get atleast a goal for the amount of clearcut chances he recieved. Off day for his standards in Saff cup, Hopefully should be back with a bag next match - 6</div><div><br></div><div>Francis - Was the main threat Down the wings, Decent pace, Good power in shot and mostly found space. Need to however link more with sunil though. Decent Beginning - 7</div><div><br></div><div>Others not even noticed </div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Alwyn , Jewel.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Nabi - Just for pure confidence boost to the defense. Once brought on, plugged the gap where we were leaking chances. Didnt add much except experience.</div><div><br></div><div>Wim - Tactics wise was good to see 4-3-3 instead of 4-5-1 that he normally employs. Was obvious Left wing was leaking so got in Nabi and it showed in the last 15 mins when confidence was inspired. But was not happy when possession was conceded to Pak between 16th min - 65th min. Should have pressed more and kept the ball in the middle instead of hitting on the break. Bringing Arata could have been Better but didnt do it. Not an inspiring win and lot of work to do in the Defense.</div></div><div><br></div>
Man Jeje was so lazy..he does not even chase down balls..how can defenders feel threatened by him?<div>For corners he goes and tries to block the keeper for others to score..that means he will never score off a corner..disappointed with Alwyn and Lenny..also surprised that against Tajiks Wim had a 2nd half mid of Arata and Dika whereas in main tournament he does not have them!!..Dika didnt even make the squad..Someone like Mohanraj who does not ever make the Indian team camp gets to start in the playing 11!!!..what the hell is going on?</div>
I would give Jeje more point tha Sunil. He was playing i the wing, not a comfortable position for him. Still he created chaces...you missed the short passes which Sunil failed to capitalised. There is no point in chasing the balls if you know you wont get it especially when you are playing at 2000 m from sea level. If it is a back pass, you can chase even when you know you cant get it; to create pressure on the GK.
Somebody please tell me what does India applying long ball technique in this match imply, that they are afraid of losing the ball by playing possessive football in their own half OR have our players gone lazy enough to run and just want to get rid of the ball or score through some magical chanting. I mean look Pakistan are not some top team, at least we can consider them to be of our level, then coach why the shortcuts, what about a proper game plan. East Bengal under Morgan looked far more composed.
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