Nepal's Kuwaiti coach is quite a character, a breath of fresh air from other coaches we see at SAFF teams.
When a Maldivian journalist remarked about Maldives having more possession in their first game, he replied, "You can take the ball home if you want it so badly. I'm happy just to go home with 3 points."
people keep saying that same set of players played better under Constantine, no its not same set of players, that was set of players was together from 2016. Constantine banned Brandon from NT, also have we forgotten about Germanpreet, Passi, Haldar, Narzary, Vinit Rai, Narayan Das already?. agreed Stimac is doing bad with results but its not the same set of players for sure.
Thats the point - Consti achieved better, much better results even with shit players like passi, haldar, lenny, balwant, etc. Why? Bcoz he tailored a strategy, tactic which was suitable for the skill sets of Indian players! He knew our players had poor touch, bad passing, no vision... so he did not pursue a tiki taka style. Instead he relied on counter attacks using our pacy wingers. Indians generally have skillful, speedy wingers (remember Steven Dias?). So Consti used them. That style suited us. We did not have majority of posession but were solid defensively and always a danger in the break. Thats what good coaches do - use tactics which makes the best use of players' strongest attributes.
I don't think our players are weak technically to play good football, its combined efforts of aiff, technical staff and our coaching staff we are made to look amateurish. If you remember how our u17 team played under Nicolai Adam and that same team under Portuguese coach, same players different outcome different form of play. To me, the players just do not have confidence due to lack of game time, made to pass back as part of National team tactics etc together has caused this. Under Stimac, first few games we played well and showed confidence even though we might have lost- but that's more because of the past results we had with the same team, with time that has withered.
But our club players did not play good football at AFC Cup. Look how ATK Mohun Bagan was thrashed by Uzbekistan club. so it is not only Stimac or Habas thing.
Poor Coaching at junior level, short and unpredictable Domestic calendar, lack of competitive football - all are culprits
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When a Maldivian journalist remarked about Maldives having more possession in their first game, he replied, "You can take the ball home if you want it so badly. I'm happy just to go home with 3 points."