New Indian Express: Time for change in tactics and attitude in Indian men’s hockey to reflect on field

By Krishnendu Banerjee

BENGALURU: For an ailing India men’s hockey team, the Asia Cup was a must win. The team had just had head coach Roelant Oltmans sacked for not being able to produce results, and the pressure was back on the players. But a 2-1 victory over Malaysia in the final meant India can now breathe afresh ahead of the FIH Hockey World League Finals. For the new coach, Sjoerd Marijne, however, the aim is much bigger than continental glory.

“When I became the coach, I set the target of winning the Olympic gold in Tokyo. Winning gold there would mean higher ranking points. So that’s the target. It’s just not me who needs to take that seriously, but also the players. They have to be passionate about it,” the Dutchman said on Tuesday, ahead of the team’s preparatory camp at the SAI Bengaluru centre.

“I think the players have set the standard really high and if we can continue to play and train at that level, we can get there.”

The target may seem a little too ambitious at the moment, considering India’s performance in the quadrennial big one in recent times. However, Marijne said he believes unless the target is big, India will not be able to challenge the top teams. “It’s important that we set bigger targets. But it’s also a step-by-step process. We have to do well in all the tournaments leading up to the Olympics. The best part is that we know our weaknesses and the way we should work,” he said.

“For example, Indian players are very skillful. But in modern hockey, the most important thing is speed. Players should be able to play give-and-go and should be able to run on the space. They also need to work on intercepting skills as they have good counter-attacking abilities.

That’s what we’re working on.” Ahead of the HWL Finals at Bhubaneswar from December 1, Marijne appears to be satisfied with the way things are going. It seems the team has learnt from mistakes and scoring goals or creating chances are not a concern anymore. However, there is also the question of maintaining momentum.

After winning the Asian Champions Trophy last year, India failed to produce the goods for a while.

Inconsistency remained a problem as they had poor outings in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and HWL Semifinals in London.

“It’s something that we are still working on. When we face top teams in the HWL, we have to be in top form. The players need to take that seriously and work harder than ever. I cannot promise that we will win the trophy if we do that. But that will set a trend and whoever comes into the team will have to follow that,” he said.