Indian hockey: an obsession with playing style

Michael Nobbs supervising a training session.

Perusal of traditional weaknesses of Indian hockey

Here is a limited list:

1. Leave too many gaps
2. Weak defense
3. too many circle penetrations by opposing team
4. Weak PC defense
5. Too many missed chances

This is by no means the only comments about deficiencies in the Indian team’s performance. But isn’t it right that we need players who scored the maximum goals in local competitions, who have given away the least amount of PCs, and who are strong defenders? Should we not identify teams that routinely limit the circle penetrations of their opponents, i.e. defensive teams, and then scout their defenders?

Triumvirate of bad apples

There is a triumvirate of factors responsible for keeping Indian hockey where it is for the last 41 years. It really is a case of the blind leading the blind. None of the members of this triad of entities have answered these basic questions -what is the weakness of Indian hockey and what our own weaknesses are, and how much we are responsible for the current state of affairs.

This triumvirate consist the following:

1. The old Indian players.

2. The journalists who mouth the opinion of these exalted past Olympians as if it were gospel.

3. The administration, which micromanages Indian hockey, including the above 2, & also select a “favorite few” players.

Changing coaches, raising controversy about playing style and changing team selection at the drop of a hat on parochial grounds is not going to achieve anything. A careful introspection, looking within to one’s own faults is the order of the day. Without this, there is no hope for Indian hockey.