Focus will be on fitness, strength and patterns: Michael Nobbs

BANGALORE: After the euphoria of qualifying for the Olympics, chief hockey coach Michael Nobbs has got down to brass tacks, gearing up for the big bash at London.

With the 18 players who helped the team win the qualifiers returning on March 15, Nobbs is ready with a fresh set of plans. Excerpts from a chat:

What are your objectives now?

The first is to build on our fitness levels and then work on the patterns of play. We won the qualifiers final against France 8-1 and I felt we could have got more, say 15 goals had we concentrated and executed our plans.

At the qualifiers we tried to create more penalty corners as some of the teams were defensive. We should have scored more field goals. We will address that in the run-up to London.

Defence still a worry…

There is not much bench strength in defence. But then, we didn’t have Gurbaj Singh at the qualifiers. He has just returned from injury and the defence will improve. Sandeep Singh is much more mobile now after having lost six kilos. Dileep (Tirkey) has done a fantastic job with the defenders in the short period and I would be having him here to help me out.

Are Bharat Chetri’s reflexes a concern?

I am happy with Bharat and Sreejesh. We don’t have the time to find another in the next four months. They’ve been part of the process since day one and they have proved themselves as international-class keepers in all the tournaments.

How would you rate Bharat Chetri as captain?

Bharat is one the best captains that I’ve seen. He is inspirational and his ability to lead and mould the team is exceptional.

Is the leadership group intact?

The leadership group was designed to groom a bunch of players to take up additional responsibility to lead the squad. It has worked well.

The team’s confidence levels must have gone up now…

Whenever anyone asks me what your first XI is, I tell them we have a first XVIII. Everyone single player has contributed to the success of the team equally. But I don’t think we’ve got a strong enough base to create two teams.

Team to train in Santander

The Indian hockey team will begin their European sojourn in on July 1 for acclimatization ahead of the Olympics. They will train at Santander, Spain from July 1-13 before playing a four-nation tournament from July 14-18. The training and the matches will be on the blue turf.

India’s schedule:

1. April 9-13: Four-nation tournament in Lahore (development team).

2. May 2-6: Four-nation Olympic test event – India (first XI), Great Britain, Australia, Germany.

3. May 24-June 3: Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (development team).

4. July 1-13: Training camp in Santander, Spain.

5. July 14-18: Four-nation in Santander.