The team played yesterday was not even India B (excluding Gourmangi, Nabi and to some extent Francis) if you consider recent performance. The team selection is completely biased and it will continiue unless you have a selectors committee who will see the I-league matches and other tournaments and select best players. Baljit or Sushil dont even get chance in first XI of any I-league team. Fitness of Climax, Miranda, Sameer Nayek, Debabrata etc is not enough for international standard. I think there are eight key players who are consistent- Subrata Paul, Raju Gaikowad, Gourmangi, Nabi, Mehtab, Sunil, Jeje and Ralte. Others need to be changed. Arnab Mondal, Sanju Pradhan, Vasum, Robin Singh, Lester Fernandage, Gilbert, Lal Kamal should be in team.
I agree. I think the thinking at the AIFF is that players like Climax, Joaquim etc are doing so well with Dempo then they will do very well with India. That is not the case. An example is Paul Scholes of Man U. He has been a Man U starter from 1994-2011 but only played for England from 1997-2002. You would think though that a player playing for Man U and starting for them all the time would grant you a spot on the national team. Well wrong. He and the FA knew his body was no longer good enough for International duty. So going back to the AIFF that is what I think is wrong. They look at the team not the player personally.
So much for the theory ‘forget FIFA ranking, let’s improve our game’. Well, quality-wise absolutely nothing to take home from this match, and this loss will haunt our ranking deep into 2012.
Let’s get real, keep no illusions: we ARE a sub-150 footballing nation (I mean, 162 was not an accident, even unfair; we deserved that place).we should concentrate on faring better in SAFF Cup (coz that is our real place) by fancying to beat mighty Bangladesh and Nepal who are above us by whopping 20 places! And improve slowly, even if that takes 50 years.
One thing bugs me. As per the reports (didn’t see the match), Zambia (as per DD Sports, Zimbabwe) were more agile, faster, fitter AND technically superior. The first three attributes are understandable, but how come they are technically better? I take Zambia as another typical poor third world country with poor football infrastructure, like India, where kids do not get proper guidance until they break into the national team. How can they upgrade themselves technically while our coaches cannot impart the same to our kids? Does this mean our coaches at all levels are incapable to give real coaching and operate on hype only?
So much for the theory ‘forget FIFA ranking, let’s improve our game’. Well, quality-wise absolutely nothing to take home from this match, and this loss will haunt our ranking deep into 2012.
Let’s get real, keep no illusions: we ARE a sub-150 footballing nation (I mean, 162 was not an accident, even unfair; we deserved that place).we should concentrate on faring better in SAFF Cup (coz that is our real place) by fancying to beat mighty Bangladesh and Nepal who are above us by whopping 20 places! And improve slowly, even if that takes 50 years.
One thing bugs me. As per the reports (didn’t see the match), Zambia (as per DD Sports, Zimbabwe) were more agile, faster, fitter AND technically superior. The first three attributes are understandable, but how come they are technically better? I take Zambia as another typical poor third world country with poor football infrastructure, like India, where kids do not get proper guidance until they break into the national team. How can they upgrade themselves technically while our coaches cannot impart the same to our kids? Does this mean our coaches at all levels are incapable to give real coaching and operate on hype only?
No. Zambia is a one sport country so all the kids play it. Also they don't only play on a grass pitch. They play of the street, dirt anywhere they would play. They even have Youth Camps in Zambia. Something we are lacking.
Oh and most of the Zambians moved to France so they learn there to.
Ater 120 Fifa ranking bocomes meaningless. A single win can matter a lot in ranking. Remember wining a match in WC qualifier is given more weightage than winning a friendly (three times). There is not much incentive for draw. In simple words, you will get more points by defeating Bhutan in WC qualifier than holding South Korea in a friendly. Nepal and Bangladesh had very poor ranking previously. So they had to play an extra round in WC qualifier. Nepal defeated East Timore and Bangladesh defeated Pakistan. Later Bangladesh defeated Lebanon in home match to earn significant points (though they lost the away match 4-0 and Nepal lost to Jordon 0-9 that did not take points they had already earned). On the other hand India had to face UAE, which is a strong team and a draw against them in home match did not serve much purpose. A win against Malaysia will give us some points but again weightage is very low in case of friendly match.
In SAFF tournament, we have an option to improve ranking by defeating weaker teams like Bhutan, Afghanistan (here weightage is twice of a friendly match). If we win the tournament defeating every team, our ranking will be around 120-130. During Gery Pesec/ Arun Ghosh we had our best ranking around 95 because we won the regional tournaments.
However, after seeing India playing yesterday I am quite frightened. Honestly saying it is not even India B team except a couple of players. Miranda, Sameer, Climax even Mahesh have past their prime and need to be dropped. Team selection is completely biased and without any vission. Performance in I -league has not been counted at all. I saw Antony Perrera in other match. He is like Budhiram Tudu of East Bengal who comes as substitute in East Bengal second team. Still he is in India team. Anwar was called but Arnab Mondal after his brilliant performance throughout the year is overlooked. Same thing is true about Gilbert, Sanju Pradhan, Robin Singh (they chose Susil and Baljit over him), Asim Biswas and Lester Fernandage. Now you cannot blame the coach. In a big country like India it is not possible for him to keep track of every potential player. Naturally the biasness creeps in. If you make Sukhwinder coach you may say more Punjabi players in team, If you make a Bengali coach, there will be more players from Kolkata. What we need is a selection committee of ex-players from different zone like we have in cricket.
Honestly saying great players come from the streets not from coaching schools. Simple logic is that the boys (those who are passionate for the game) spend whole day with ball ; so the have better control and skills. Unlike us, good physical structure they have sice birth in Africa, Latin America or in Europe. So in later years they become good players even with little care.
Please don’t give me a ‘selection committee’; I am sure that will start ‘quota players’ to enter the NT. However bad the team selection is, it should be the Coach’s call; because at the end of the day, he will have to face the opponent on a field, and he needs to feel confident about HIS team composition. Imbalances and difference of opinions will be there, but we don’t need a selection committee.
@Deb_Ban..... why do you think a selection committee with ex-players from different region will be biased but not the coach when he has the final say.
Selection committee should be headed by the TD, at present Mr Bann; being a foreigner he his less likely to be biased. The coach must have a say in the final meeting and he has to explain why he prefers a particular player over others. We are already seeing the result of giving full power to the coach. At present 16 of total 26 players are either Goans or play for Goan teams. Lack of knowledge about current performance of players is clearly visible.
Two of India's most experienced centre-backs let a 17 year old, debutant striker score a 25 minute hattrick. <!-- s:violence-smack: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/violence/smack.gif" alt=":violence-smack:" title="Smack" /><!-- s:violence-smack: -->
Sabir, I think no self-respecting coach will agree to take to the field with a team selected for him by someone else, although this happens in the gilli-danda sport. Also, the selection of the coach may have been a mistake (in any case, he was the 3rd or 4th choice coach), not giving full powers to him. Selectors, as usual, will not have any responsibility towards performance of their team. Should the coach take responsibility?
Loading the team with Goan players is not to be blamed -- after all Goa is dominating Indian football these days – selection of aged and proven non-performing players in the team are the main issue. But, if his team selection (and style of play) is not to AIFF’s liking, they can always release him. And hire someone else and give him full powers and responsibility again.
Do you think it is possible for a coach to keep track of all potential players in large country like India! Yes, it happens in gulli-danda game and we all know the result they are getting.
Coach' s job is to guide the available team. He should realise his limitation that he cannot see every players in India which a team can do. He should consider himself as a member of the selector's team and work accordingly. He feels urgently for any particular player he will fight for his selection. Thats all.
Comments
I agree. I think the thinking at the AIFF is that players like Climax, Joaquim etc are doing so well with Dempo then they will do very well with India. That is not the case. An example is Paul Scholes of Man U. He has been a Man U starter from 1994-2011 but only played for England from 1997-2002. You would think though that a player playing for Man U and starting for them all the time would grant you a spot on the national team. Well wrong. He and the FA knew his body was no longer good enough for International duty. So going back to the AIFF that is what I think is wrong. They look at the team not the player personally.
Let’s get real, keep no illusions: we ARE a sub-150 footballing nation (I mean, 162 was not an accident, even unfair; we deserved that place).we should concentrate on faring better in SAFF Cup (coz that is our real place) by fancying to beat mighty Bangladesh and Nepal who are above us by whopping 20 places! And improve slowly, even if that takes 50 years.
One thing bugs me. As per the reports (didn’t see the match), Zambia (as per DD Sports, Zimbabwe) were more agile, faster, fitter AND technically superior. The first three attributes are understandable, but how come they are technically better? I take Zambia as another typical poor third world country with poor football infrastructure, like India, where kids do not get proper guidance until they break into the national team. How can they upgrade themselves technically while our coaches cannot impart the same to our kids? Does this mean our coaches at all levels are incapable to give real coaching and operate on hype only?
No. Zambia is a one sport country so all the kids play it. Also they don't only play on a grass pitch. They play of the street, dirt anywhere they would play. They even have Youth Camps in Zambia. Something we are lacking.
Oh and most of the Zambians moved to France so they learn there to.
In SAFF tournament, we have an option to improve ranking by defeating weaker teams like Bhutan, Afghanistan (here weightage is twice of a friendly match). If we win the tournament defeating every team, our ranking will be around 120-130. During Gery Pesec/ Arun Ghosh we had our best ranking around 95 because we won the regional tournaments.
However, after seeing India playing yesterday I am quite frightened. Honestly saying it is not even India B team except a couple of players. Miranda, Sameer, Climax even Mahesh have past their prime and need to be dropped. Team selection is completely biased and without any vission. Performance in I -league has not been counted at all. I saw Antony Perrera in other match. He is like Budhiram Tudu of East Bengal who comes as substitute in East Bengal second team. Still he is in India team. Anwar was called but Arnab Mondal after his brilliant performance throughout the year is overlooked. Same thing is true about Gilbert, Sanju Pradhan, Robin Singh (they chose Susil and Baljit over him), Asim Biswas and Lester Fernandage. Now you cannot blame the coach. In a big country like India it is not possible for him to keep track of every potential player. Naturally the biasness creeps in. If you make Sukhwinder coach you may say more Punjabi players in team, If you make a Bengali coach, there will be more players from Kolkata. What we need is a selection committee of ex-players from different zone like we have in cricket.
Selection committee should be headed by the TD, at present Mr Bann; being a foreigner he his less likely to be biased. The coach must have a say in the final meeting and he has to explain why he prefers a particular player over others. We are already seeing the result of giving full power to the coach. At present 16 of total 26 players are either Goans or play for Goan teams. Lack of knowledge about current performance of players is clearly visible.
Loading the team with Goan players is not to be blamed -- after all Goa is dominating Indian football these days – selection of aged and proven non-performing players in the team are the main issue. But, if his team selection (and style of play) is not to AIFF’s liking, they can always release him. And hire someone else and give him full powers and responsibility again.
Do you think it is possible for a coach to keep track of all potential players in large country like India! Yes, it happens in gulli-danda game and we all know the result they are getting.
Coach' s job is to guide the available team. He should realise his limitation that he cannot see every players in India which a team can do. He should consider himself as a member of the selector's team and work accordingly. He feels urgently for any particular player he will fight for his selection. Thats all.