90-95% chances to qualify: Nobbs

Attack, Flexibility, Tight. The Indian hockey squad was divided into three groups on the first day of the second phase camp for the Olympic qualifiers at the Major Dhyan Chand stadium here on Monday, head coach Michael Nobbs, who had to switch group every alternate minute, has one word mantra for each group.

The plan is simple. Forwards should attack, midfielders should be flexible enough to adjust to the role of attacker as well as defender and the defense should be tight (no gaps).

Every time he walks up to a group, Nobbs utters a word and then repeats it to make it clear to all the players what their role is ahead of the upcoming Test series against South Africa, which he sees as ‘team trial’ before the Olympic qualifiers.

“It is a good chance for youngsters. They are a good team. We see this as a tournament of team trials. We will give our bench strength a good chance so that if we select them after we qualify, they should have at least 25-30 match under their belt,” Nobbs told The Pioneer after team’s practice session.

“We have got a healthy competition in the team. We have got 40-45 players who we can play anytime. These players just need opportunities,” he said.

The coach is happy with the progress of the team as the players, who were known to squander lead in the crucial moments, are now putting up fight. “Fitness used to be an issue with us. But, now we have improved our fitness. Although we are 7 to 8 kilos lighter than the other teams, we are stronger than before. Guys need to put some more weight. Oppositions should be afraid of us.

“We have won matches after coming from behind. That’s a good sign because that means that their mental toughness is improving. In the last few tournaments, we have converted 90 per cent of our penalty corners. Same is with our defence and we need to be tighter and should take care of ball possession,” Nobbs said.

The Australian was happy with the fitness of the team and credited the team physiologist for it.

“The fitness of the team has improved by leaps and bounds. In Champions Challenge I tournament we were the fittest side. We are slowly getting the benefit of sports science. We have one of the best exercise physiologists in the world David John working for us,” he said.

“When I came, I didn’t have that much of expectations. We wanted to do something that India have not done since 1970s. In this phase, other teams have improved tremendously. We are trying to catch up with them. We have great talent, no doubt about that. We need to counter-attack a bit more. Our style should be attacking. I got good response from players and fitness is no longer a problem,” he added.

Having witnessed good improvement in the team, Nobbs is confident that India have a 90-95 percent chance of qualifying for the London Olympic (the qualifiers begin here from February 18 to 26).

“It is an advantage for all of us, but of course we will feel the pressure. All we are now focussing on is to qualify and I am 90-95 per cent confident we will qualify. If something doesn’t go awfully wrong or we don’t have a really bad game or bad umpiring decisions, we should qualify.

“Our destiny is in our own hands. Potentially, we should qualify. Home conditions will be beneficial to us. We are in a pool that is neither easy nor difficult. I can’t wait for qualifiers to begin,” he said.

Talking about the fitness worries for Yuvraj Walmiki and Rupinder Pal Singh, Nobbs said that they have been ruled out of first two Tests and could be considered for last two Tests. Rupinder has a hairline fracture in the right femur bone, while Yuvraj is suffering from a hip injury.

Nobbs picked up Yuvraj for special praise, saying the Mumbai lad has great future ahead of him but needs to work hard on his fitness.