Guys , u can curse stimac , u can curse players But This is what u will get after a 4 month long league 🤷♂️ Like it or hate it If aiff dont wanna include pios put up a better league setup Or Make govt accept the pio stuff
Adil Khan and Mashoor worst defensive pairing ever since i starte watching NT in 2006. Even though scoreline was 6-0 performance was really really bad.
Talking about PIOs or a 8 months long league is wishful thinking. This is neither in fans' hands nor in the control of NT Coach. So no point raising these aspects while analysing NT's performance. Aldo NT Coach is not supposed to improve individual players technically. Thats not his job. His job is to pick the best players from the country and devise a strategy and playing style that suits those players' strengths and which can lead to good results. This playing style may be old and orthodox and cool and fashionable like tiki-taka. Main thing is, the players should be comfortable adapting to such a footballing style.
Going by these parameters, Stimac has failed to implement a footballing style which suits the game of Indian players. Not every team can be Barcelona or spain and play attractive, passing tiki taka brand of football. This game is all about adabtibility. Even Liecester City, former EPL champion and current top 4 contender, don't play tiki taka style. Rather they have a counter attacking game which is suitable for their strikers like Jamie Vardy. Its not like they play long hoof ball game; they do pass the ball around but when they need to transition from defense to attack, their players play long passes to their wingers or straight to Vardy who they charges with the ball into the penalty area.
Similar is the story of Indian NT. After our stupendous performance at the Asia Cup 2019, everyone wanted NT to play attractive, passing, tiki taka football. We found faults with Constantine's team selection (with some justification), his strategies, playing style and wanted him gone despite his largely successful tenure. AIFF hired a high profile coach like Stimac with a much higher salary then the one asked by Constantine during contract renewal negotiations after Asia Cup was over and which AIFF deemed as "too high"! And all this optimism about Indian NT improving even more under Stimac was based purely on the results and play of NT during the last 1 and half years which included famous draw against China, unbeaten run of 11 international games, decent results against the likes of Jordan, Oman, Puerto Rico etc plus the excellent performance in Asia Cup.
But what was forgotten was the horrible stint of Wim Koeverman, who was similarly appointed to make India play tiki taka football and under whose regime Indian NT began fearing teams like Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh etc. When Koeverman was sacked India was ranked 173rd in Fifa rankings! Maybe many of you have forgotten that dark period but I remember it distinctly. India needed to win a 2 legged qualification fixture against Nepal in order to qualify for the main round of AFC Cup! In that situation Constantine was appointed and he came, gave debuts to lots of youths like Sandesh Jhingan, Changte, kotal, nishu Kumar, Narzary, Thapa, Udanta etc.
I know the majority of members on this forum hated Constantine and his methods. But what Consti did right was to identify a distinctive footballing style which suited the Indian players while giving positive results as well. It was a counter attacking style dependent upon quick (if unskillful) wingers, one target man striker and one advanced forward. And all this was supported by ball playing defenders who were taught to pass the ball rather then hoofing it up towards the striker. Consti ignored the central midfield though which was often bypassed. Consti also focused extensively on fitness and stamina which made India one of the hardest working sides in Asia Cup. Point is, this style also involved passing game plus it suited the Indian game and thus the NT adapted to it well and gave good results. This is not to say that Consti's style was perfect- it was not. He bypassed the central midfield, had no other route of attack except wingers and had no plan B. Plus his selection of Sumit Passi still baffles most of us! But the point is, Consti worked within the given resources, tweaked his style to suit Indians' play and instilled a "never say never" feeling among the NT which is why Consti's team fought till the very end of most matches and Chettri scored a few last minute goals as well. And he got India to 96th rank in Fifa! Sure he may have manipulated the rankings, played with weaker opponents but the fact is, whenever India faced stronger opponent as well, we played damn well!
Comments
But
This is what u will get after a 4 month long league 🤷♂️
Like it or hate it
If aiff dont wanna include pios put up a better league setup
Or
Make govt accept the pio stuff
Otherwise keep on changing coaches
https://youtu.be/XTPYWIhArzM
Also everyone agrees that this is one of our worst performances in recent history right?
Our U16 Team was way better..in beating UAE U16 Team in UAE 2 - 1
Aldo NT Coach is not supposed to improve individual players technically. Thats not his job. His job is to pick the best players from the country and devise a strategy and playing style that suits those players' strengths and which can lead to good results. This playing style may be old and orthodox and cool and fashionable like tiki-taka. Main thing is, the players should be comfortable adapting to such a footballing style.
Going by these parameters, Stimac has failed to implement a footballing style which suits the game of Indian players. Not every team can be Barcelona or spain and play attractive, passing tiki taka brand of football. This game is all about adabtibility. Even Liecester City, former EPL champion and current top 4 contender, don't play tiki taka style. Rather they have a counter attacking game which is suitable for their strikers like Jamie Vardy. Its not like they play long hoof ball game; they do pass the ball around but when they need to transition from defense to attack, their players play long passes to their wingers or straight to Vardy who they charges with the ball into the penalty area.
But what was forgotten was the horrible stint of Wim Koeverman, who was similarly appointed to make India play tiki taka football and under whose regime Indian NT began fearing teams like Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh etc. When Koeverman was sacked India was ranked 173rd in Fifa rankings! Maybe many of you have forgotten that dark period but I remember it distinctly. India needed to win a 2 legged qualification fixture against Nepal in order to qualify for the main round of AFC Cup! In that situation Constantine was appointed and he came, gave debuts to lots of youths like Sandesh Jhingan, Changte, kotal, nishu Kumar, Narzary, Thapa, Udanta etc.
I know the majority of members on this forum hated Constantine and his methods. But what Consti did right was to identify a distinctive footballing style which suited the Indian players while giving positive results as well. It was a counter attacking style dependent upon quick (if unskillful) wingers, one target man striker and one advanced forward. And all this was supported by ball playing defenders who were taught to pass the ball rather then hoofing it up towards the striker. Consti ignored the central midfield though which was often bypassed. Consti also focused extensively on fitness and stamina which made India one of the hardest working sides in Asia Cup. Point is, this style also involved passing game plus it suited the Indian game and thus the NT adapted to it well and gave good results. This is not to say that Consti's style was perfect- it was not. He bypassed the central midfield, had no other route of attack except wingers and had no plan B. Plus his selection of Sumit Passi still baffles most of us! But the point is, Consti worked within the given resources, tweaked his style to suit Indians' play and instilled a "never say never" feeling among the NT which is why Consti's team fought till the very end of most matches and Chettri scored a few last minute goals as well. And he got India to 96th rank in Fifa! Sure he may have manipulated the rankings, played with weaker opponents but the fact is, whenever India faced stronger opponent as well, we played damn well!