Video Analysis of some Indian Players in the World Cup

It is always believed that the strength of the midfield determines the strength of any team, and that along with defense, is the deciding factor between losing and winning. We used sophisticated detailed video analysis to see if the Indian defence in the recent World Cup is the culprit for some of the defeats India had had. We limited our exercise to the matches India lost, with a focus on the midfield and defense. This approach of video reviews painted a picture that is different from the popular notion of ‘bad defence’. The discrepancy we feel is due to the natural tendency of any observer to concentrate on only the high points of a game, while glossing over the fact that what led to it in the first place.

Though overall the defensive effort of the whole team, including marking, tackling, making defensive stops, was found deficient and below par, what was most glaring was the poor defensive output of the most of our midfielders. As a result, the midfield of all their opponents had complete freedom to move the ball relatively easily. This added tremendous pressure to the defence.

The central lane was never plugged as rightly pointed out by Cedric D’Souza, (the absolute responsibility of Sardara Singh, the centre-half). So bad are the stats that defenders Mahadik and Sandeep had more individual defensive stops (many of them in midfield), than the combined tally of our midfielders. The same midfield players were much better in attack, when attack parameters were evaluated including moving the ball, offensive passing and moving into attacking positions.

Even in attack and midfield support, one cannot ignore the role of the two wing backs Bharat Chikara and Gurbaj Singh, who very readily moved into the midfield to support the midfield/forwards and particularly the tremendous work rate of Mahadik, both in defense and midfield, to get the midfield players, the ball (out of the defensive zone) in open positions. His successful forward pass output into midfield or forward areas is staggering, both for accuracy (>90%) and sheer volume (It is 40-50% more than even second placed Sardara Singh, a consensus choice for the most brilliant distributor of the ball. In fact his output alone is nearly equal to the rest of the team combined and it is both scary and enthralling to see how much control is exerted by these two players. Without their individual or combination play, it would be difficult for India to get the attack going or even get the ball out of their defensive zone.

We tagged players each time they were involved in a play. We examined mainly the defensive aspect, which included marking, defensive stops, including tackling and interceptions, and also accuracy of forward passing, which is important to get the ball out of defensive or midfield zones to attacking zones. We also tracked mistraps and examined sequence of events or responsible parties for allowing goals or penalty corners.

In any match the defensive stops by the Indian midfield were miniscule, while in comparison there were plenty of stops by their counterparts, the likes of Desmond Abbott, Eddie Ockenden, Rob Hammond. Barry Middleton, or Ashley Jackson.

Modern Hockey consists of finding the open man with plenty of space around him, changing point (angle) of attack, protecting the central lane, rapidly moving the ball from defense to attack. The latter was well executed by the Indian team, where the defenders playing in midfield positions surpassed traditional midfielders, in this role. Here comment needs to be made on the new style of play by the Indian team with the sweeper and two wing backs and also the defenders joining in the attack. This is the style rightly envisaged by Dr Ric Charlesworth as the style of the future, similar to how Australia plays.

We are indeed lucky to have two players playing wing backs which is a combo midfield/defensive position and coach Jose Brasa needs to be commended on having the vision to play wing backs. But obviously Gurbaj and Bharat have a tendency to forget their defensive roles, what with their offensive roles in domestic hockey, they were brilliant in open play. Gurbaj Singh has a tendency in being caught out of position, and easily gets beaten on the right defensive flank. In fact that puts pressure on his backing up sweeper, Mahadik, leading to his being caught in no mans land, on the run with feet exposed, inviting the marauding forward to manufacture a penalty corner, or slip past him, as happened on a few occasions. This is one aspect of Mahadik’s game, that begs improvement. All these three players are impressive as all rounders but their defending will need more understanding amongst themselves.

Sardara Singh tended to rove to either side effectively but did not protect the central lane in defence, and was as also late in coming back. To compound matters Arjun and Vikram not only did not help him in the centre but had terrible defensive games and had plenty of mist-raps to boot. One gets the impression that they feel that they are only attacking midfielders. Tushar did come back in time and did the best defensive work of all the midfielders but was weak in play in the circle.

In conclusion, taking a hard look at statistics developed by Video analysis reveals that “the excellent Indian midfield” as touted by many does not seem correct. Poor defense of the midfield is really the biggest factor responsible for our result in the World Cup.

Note: The views and the correctness of the analysis are personal of the author.

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