New coach Oltmans cuts a confident figure ahead of European tour

NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed coach of the Indian men’s hockey team Roelant Oltmans cut a confident figure on Thursday ahead of the team’s 15-day European Tour in preparation for the World Hockey League final later this year. Amid the controversial sacking of former coach Paul Van Ass and the subsequent resignation of assistant coach Jude Felix, the team trained under Oltmans, who is also the high-performance director, in Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh and the former Dutch international clarified that recent events have had no impact on India’s preparation.

Speaking at the media briefing ahead of the European Tour, which will see India playing two games against France and three against Spain, Oltmans said that there will not be many changes in the structure set in place by Van Ass, who had been experimenting with the total hockey theory with each player in the field adept in defending and attacking.

“We have been in Silahroo for ten days at the high altitude training center and it is a fantastic environment to train for us and also to make a little bit of new start,” said Oltmans. “I agree that you defend with 11 players and attack with 11 players, but each and everyone has a role and the important thing is that all the players should know their role.

“When we are attacking, if the ball is in the final quarter of the pitch our defenders should not stay close to our own D. They should push to certain positions on the pitch to ensure counter control so that we take possession back immediately, even if you lose the ball. So our structure is fine. Total hockey is something I totally agree upon, but we have to specify the role inside the system to get the best out of our team,” said the Dutchman.

Indian skipper Skipper Sardar Singh conceded that it becomes tough for the players to cope with the changes in coaching staff, but said Oltman has been around the team long enough to understand the working. “When a coach is replaced, the players face difficulty. The team’s strategy also changes with the change in coach and it takes time in building the side. But we are positive about the Olympics and the upcoming tours,” said Sardar.

Oltmans, who has been India’s interim coach on two separate occasions, did most of the talking during the press briefing and when asked about the secret behind his prolonged stay with Hockey India, he even joked that he might be doing certain things right. But Oltmans was quick to point out that on the field the players are improving and that aim is to maintain consistency in defeating the top-ranked teams.

“I am very clear; the last Olympic games India finished 12th, the last World Cup we finished ninth, these are number and facts – nothing less nothing more,” said Oltmans. “Do you believe India can win a gold medal in Rio? I can tell you I will strive for it, 100 per cent, no doubt about it and we know we are close to beating quite a number of teams and we have defeated quite a number of top teams. In the Champions Trophy, we beat Holland, we beat Belgium as well, we beat Australia quite a number of times last year, so it is possible, but is it consistently possible? Not yet; but we have one more year to work on it.”

Being the high-performance director, Oltmans is in charge of India’s women’s and junior teams as well. When asked how he will juggle between the two portfolios, he made it clear that the priority is the men’s team.

“The priority is the Indian men’s team leading up to the Olympics. Ninety-nine per cent of my time will go in that area and the little bit left for the high performance, but of course I will do that in corporation with two high performance managers under me and they will inform me and I will be available for them any time,” said Oltmans. “But there will not be a single second when they (men’s team) can blame me for not preparing them 100 per cent.”

The Indian team will depart for the tour on Friday morning with the first match scheduled to be played on August 3 against France and the final match on August 13 against Spain.