CRAIG Fulton is on the cusp of greatness for two reasons. No coach of the Indian men’s hockey team has survived a full Olympic cycle in recent history. More importantly, no coach has managed the double of medalling at the Olympics and the World Cup this century. The South African is aware of what he can do with this group of players over the next few weeks in the Netherlands and Belgium, but he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.
He readily accepts that a ‘podium at the World Cup’ is a goal, but there are caveats. In an interview conducted before the jersey colour change farrago, he spoke about the season so far, why defending is pressing and the upcoming World Cup from August 15th. Excerpts:
On the year so far
It was a very difficult first block. We have a tough time post the Hockey India League (HIL), because in HIL, all our Indian players take part and rightfully so. All the marquee players are expected to perform for their franchises. But within 10 days, we play 10 games internationally (in the Pro League). It really zaps our players from a freshness point of view. The last two HILs have shown that it’s not an easy period, but it’s not an excuse.
We had a really good build-up to the second part of the Pro League. From March-June, we settled down and had three big training blocks. We have got everything we want in terms of fitness, nutrition, tactics and strength — that’s been the foundation for the rest of the year. The last six-seven games in the Pro League, we hit our stride. We have got a little bit more consistency out of the 24 players we used, and that was really important. We got good results against Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan and two draws against England. So, it’s on track and trending in the right direction (after his wards endured a miserable India leg of the Pro League with no wins and some heavy losses, including an 0-8 against Argentina immediately after HIL, they went to Europe and recorded wins over Germany, Netherlands and Pakistan).
On the World Cup
It’s quite a long tournament. I would say it’s all about peaking at the right time. The first game is obviously hugely important; that’s how we look at it. Finishing top in the pool, that’s priority No. 1. Because then, there’s a chance of taking the points of the team that qualifies with you.
Secondly, you are going into a whole new group, and that’s a totally different challenge. There can also maybe be a bit of moving around. Where do you finish in the group stages… are we going to stay in the Netherlands or will we be moving to Belgium? If you go all the way, that’s seven games in just over two weeks. You have got to be prepared for everything.
On observations from other sports (Spain's football World Cup campaign)
I will tell you this. A lot of what we talk about is press, counter, perform. It’s along these lines. Press is another word for defence because you can have a proactive defence, meaning I can sit in a low block, which is also part of our tactic, or I can step out and put the opposition under pressure by winning the ball in their own half.Then, we can counter-attack from everywhere. If we are counter-attacking and organised, we are dangerous. We are one of the top three best pressing teams in the world, so that’s a strength of ours. We are not as good as the other teams in half-court pressure, but we have a really lethal counter-attack as well. We are working on the philosophy of press, counter, perform. That perform is obviously getting good outcomes from the back-end of our counters. It’s based on good defence, good structure, but it’s also about having a good mindset. We showed in the last couple of games that we can be really good and score goals.
On managing both World Cup and Asian Games in short span of time.
You always have to have a goal through a goal. If your only goal is to stand on the podium at the World Cup, and you manage to reach it, then what? Then, you only get that far. For the last 18 months, we have been talking about this period. Put a goal through a goal where one leads to another. All the standards we have put in place for one we have for the other, and that's really important. No one else is in this situation, only Asian hockey. It's tricky, not an easy situation. You need a lot of resources and support to do this properly. The bigger the dream, the bigger the team in that situation. You need the resources to push the programme.