Not sure what to say about the game. It was horrendous defending, Rohit not even sure where his position is. First goal was clearly off side, penalty doubtful and the denied goal was pathetic. Still India managed to salvage attacking play in second half. And as said earlier isl pace is too slow for international football, and our players always gets caught napping against pach players. 2 young stars from malaysia ruined Indias day.
To be Frank * dia did not play badly. Yes our defense requires fine-tuning and more work, but our passing and attacking play was really good. We scored 3 goals from open play and that's something we should be really proud of! Earlier we used to rely on Chettri scoring goals via set peices. Now we have different goal scorers who are penetrating opposition defence with ease! And if Changte's 2 shots not been denied by goal post or Sahal and Mahesh's shots not blocked, we could have scored 6 goals easily! So I am happy with our attacking flair. But Stimac needs to find a way to teach our defence how to get out of high and tight press the way Malasian forwards did. ISL is too slow and our players are not used to such high press. Recently we played against SAFF level teams or likes 9f Lebanon, Kuwait who can't or don't press this high. But top Asian sides will press ever higher and with more 8ntensity. And their players will be much more fitter than ours. So it's a good thing we encountered this type of pressing now itself and can prepare better.
Not the best of conditions to judge this team. We have done much better against better teams recently. The pitch should not have been approved for a game, could have inflicted serious injury. Refereeing was clearly biased to the point of being ridiculous when the goal was disallowed. We also hit post twice. Yes, defending was poor and the open play allowed too may attacks. But we also hit the woodwork twice. Had the goal been given, 3-3 and it could have been anyone's match, the momentum being on our side. Nevertheless, sad that we are not getting another game.
We gave away easy goals but our performance was not too bad..showed glimpses of skills several times. Must say Sahal looked unplayable for the Malaysians most of the times..he is carrying his club form to the NT
Sad for the NT to have only 1 match 8n this window. Is there enough time left to arrange another friendly against any other country in India? Even the likes 9f Nepal would do. Stimac needs to try out all the combinations in defence, midfield and try an alternate striker. If not an 8nternati9nal side, we can at least play a friendly against an ISL team, preferably Mumbai City FC.
Our Defenders were terrible. If you are playing at International level you need to know how to deal with press. Mishra has completely lost the plot after leaving Hyderabad FC, Mehtab and Jhingan combination is a disaster you cannot expect these guys to build from back and Poojary was surprisingly poor today.
Coming to center of the field except Sahal rest of them are simply not fit to play at this level. If India are to aim big then we need a good system or let PIO play in these positions
Attack part we were on point and it's good see other players scoring goals regularly now(esp mahesh). A good backup to Chettri would do fine
For World Cup qualifiers if we play like this then sorry we are not going to 3rd round.
Defense was not good, but India played well in the attacking front. With Anwar, Jeakson in the tam and Thapa, Apuia, Brandon as options we can expect better results. Jay Gupta, Ashish Rai can be options for wing backs.
Why can't we try the young breed of strikers like Subho Paul, Gangte and that other guy from u17 team which played AFC u17 tournament? Also we can involve Korou Singh from that team. I am not saying play them in NT immediately but at least they can be asked to train with first team and then Stimac can decide if these guys can add some value to the team or not. But we really need a back up striker. Suppose if Chettri gets injured before or during WCQs or Asian Cup, then whom will we rely upon to score goals? The likes of Mahesh, Sahal, Changte can occasionally chip in but we need someone like JeJe who was a perfect foil to Chettri and an able backup striker. We can trust the likes of Manvir, Rahim Ali, Siva etc. Stimac should scout I League for strikers.
Comments
But Stimac needs to find a way to teach our defence how to get out of high and tight press the way Malasian forwards did. ISL is too slow and our players are not used to such high press. Recently we played against SAFF level teams or likes 9f Lebanon, Kuwait who can't or don't press this high. But top Asian sides will press ever higher and with more 8ntensity. And their players will be much more fitter than ours. So it's a good thing we encountered this type of pressing now itself and can prepare better.
Yes, defending was poor and the open play allowed too may attacks. But we also hit the woodwork twice. Had the goal been given, 3-3 and it could have been anyone's match, the momentum being on our side. Nevertheless, sad that we are not getting another game.
Coming to center of the field except Sahal rest of them are simply not fit to play at this level. If India are to aim big then we need a good system or let PIO play in these positions
Attack part we were on point and it's good see other players scoring goals regularly now(esp mahesh). A good backup to Chettri would do fine
For World Cup qualifiers if we play like this then sorry we are not going to 3rd round.