HWL FINAL

Does Indian hockey create an illusion about itself winning the bronze?

FHOCKEY-WORLD-LEAGUE-INDIA-GERMANY India's Akashdeep Singh fights for the ball with Germany's Johannes Grobe during their third place play-off of the Hockey World League match | AFP

Some matches are unfair. Hardened professionals, though, would always advise that when you look back at history or flip back the pages, it will always be written that India won the Hockey World League bronze medal. Nowhere will it be mentioned that Germany was without 5-6 players, injured and sick. It will not be written that Germany virtually played with only 11. In reality it was 11 vs 16. In hockey terms, that’s awfully unfair.

In a sport where each hockey player barely gets to play 2-3 minutes at a stretch, the Germans played the entire duration of four quarters. It was a throwback to the era where rolling substitutions were not law yet. And players were on the pitch through and through. Yet, Germany did look like they would win the match. They had good possession even though it was a team with tiring legs. And they had played on Saturday. India had a rest on Saturday. Eventually in sport, acceptance of conditions and situations are part and parcel of the game.

But when Germany broke free through the midfield and used the right flank effectively to cut the ball parallel to the striking circle, one wondered which team was actually playing full strength. The German captain Mats Grambusch broke into the Indian striking circle time and again, almost dragging the Indian defence alongside. Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra and Dipsan Tirkey did well. But, at the back of the mind, one knew that India had the possibility to crack.

The Indian forwards played in the same fashion as they did in the earlier matches. It was a sprint to the finish, with the ball, of course. But such tactics don’t always work. The work rate of the Germans was terrific and one shudders to think of a Germany at full strength. That puts the bronze medal into perspective.

At full strength, India had 12 shots at goal to Germany’s 13. India’s possession percentage was 52 per cent to Germany’s 48. India converted one out of four PC’s while Germany had zero out of 7 and India’s circle entries was 20 compared to 13 for Germany.

Resilience was with Germany. Just imagine, Germany’s reserve goalkeeper Mark Appel played as a forward and after receiving a pass from Grambusch slotted the ball home like a seasoned forward. No way would the fans in the stadium even know that Appel was a goalkeeper not a forward. The happiness on Appel’s face was evident. Probably, never since the rolling substitution was introduced in 1992 that a goalkeeper has played as a forward and scored in a high level world tournament. When Germany scored the equaliser, control went to them. They rotated the ball, controlled the pace and only when sure would they try and create space. For large chunks of time, Germany held sway.

For India, more than 70 per cent of the moves came off the right flank. In structure terms, it looks haywire. It is intriguing that India with its skill and pace still looks so vulnerable when there is a counter attack and possession from the opposition. In the Pool match, we lost 2-0 to Germany and now we beat them 2-1. Yet, the coach feels that it’s not possible to play Germany because they play a different system. But for that matter, every team plays a different system.

“It was a great performance from Germany, and the reserve goalkeeper,” Indian coach Sjoerd Marijne said. “They fought really hard. We wanted to score early. The way they played, it was not a system we are used to. The players were a little bit scared, to lose the ball. I am happy with the win, because matches like these are not easy. The most important thing is mentality with which we won the match.”

There is no doubt India is pushing itself. Winning the Asia Cup in Dhaka and now closing out the year on the podium is a morale booster. But, the product is still not rolling the way it should. There is an air of submissiveness; like things look good but they aren’t good. The Indian forward line still falters―S.V. Sunil is constantly trying to outsprint himself. Yes, he scored against Germany, and so did Harmanpreet Singh. But big players need to score consistently and in big matches. Mandeep doesn’t seem to be thinking right. One aspect of his play is off the ball running; but not always. In the dying minutes, he was given the aerial ball by Harmanpreet, but couldn’t pick it and while trapping, put it on his own thigh.

Being technically perfect is a part of hockey. Elementary errors cost you the match. Against a fully fit German side, the bronze was not a possibility―that is the feeling one gets while watching India. Marijne said: “You see the first thing in the tournament; the most important thing is consistency. That’s the thing we need to work on. We played at the highest level. Now, I know what happens, now, we can take steps, what we need to change. We will take our time for that. We have to learn our lessons. The easier thing is to see what we didn’t do right. I know that. But if you create chances, it means you did something good.”

Chances have been created since Indian hockey used skills combining with speed and pace. But the rebuilding happens quite often in Indian hockey. Mandeep, for example, played the 2014 World Cup and also the 2016 Junior World Cup. So where is the consistency? Closing a game is still alien to us. There is no doubt that we create chances. But those chances if done consistently will put the fear of God into the opposition.

For long periods, Germany toyed with us. Hockey is a sport where the balance of offence and defence is almost equal. Coaches put extra emphasis on defensive structures. And they focus on PC’s. Big teams score always. That’s why they win. American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said, “Most of the universe is made of stuff about which we are clueless.” It’s an analogy that could be used on the Indian hockey team.

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