New Indian Express: Gent-lemen’s Guide to Redefining Hockey

RAIPUR:As India’s training session gathered pace on Tuesday, Roelant Oltmans preferred to oversee it while another Dutch, Roger Van Gent, the newly appointed strategic coach of the national team, was doing all the shouting and gesturing.

Van Gent, who has worked in a number of roles back home, was given the job, the first-ever of its kind in Indian hockey, in early November. While his job extends only up to the 2016 Olympics in Rio, he will know his work is cut out if India are to challenge the established order again. Something he agrees in this interview with Express. Excerpts…

What are the main aspects to your job?

I am always on the lookout for new skills, outlets that may open up during attacking movements, how opponents build up their play, techniques, press situations… all the factors basically. When I see new things, I try and learn them. Watching the press is also an important part of the job. If you do not close a passing line a player likes to play, he will always play it. If you close that line, you will make him play another ball. You are inducing that potential mistake so it will be advantageous to you. It’s a lot of looking, and a lot of analysing is required.

Talking of the press, do you watch football to try and bring in some aspects of those teams do it?

Actually, no. It’s a totally different sport. I’m a hockey man. The press in hockey is totally different. You can pass a ball 45 metres in two seconds in football whereas in hockey that is not possible. You really cannot compare.

Have you identified some things that can be improved?

The positioning, defensive structure and attacking inside the circle, work can be done there. And even the basics. And also the only way India can really challenge the elite is play more against the elite — Germanys, Netherlands et al. And when you play those sides more and more you will learn why they are so good and why they do better than we do. When that happens we can get the details of what they do better and then we can work towards matching them.

How much time do you spend watching videos?

Lots (laughs). Typically during a tournament I think I spend 10-12 hours looking at the videos. I will analyse the opponents’ matches and I will analyse our match and based on that I try to breakdown the things I have learned. It all starts from there.

If you are watching an opponent today whose next match happens to be against India, what are the things you look for?

I watch their match, do they prefer a certain way of building up their way, do the opponents prefer to pass their way out of defence, how they handle the pressure and if they do not cope well what exactly is their weakness. That’s the sort of minor things that you need to be very aware of. It’s very important to see where you can beat them.

What happens after you finish watching the videos and prepare your analysis?

Based on the information I have learnt, I will tell him (Oltmans) details like whether it’s okay to have press or have no press or half-court press. I will pass on details like ‘it’s okay if this particular player from the opposition team can build up play because he is not good at it’. So then he (Oltmans) comes in, we both watch the videos and then he will say, ‘yeah, I agree or I don’t agree’ and based on that talk I have with the coach we communicate our final strategy to the team.