CHENNAI: With India gearing up to play the Netherlands in their first-ever batch of Pro League matches this week, Graham Reid spoke to this daily vis-a-vis offseason preparation, the Dutch challenge and looking ahead to the Olympics.
On off-season preparation
The three weeks before Christmas was more about working on individual skills. You know, stuff like one-on-one defending... I am big believer in that. Then, there is something that I like to call ‘playing through traffic’. How to get through the mass of bodies in the opposition box. So the focus in that three week period was on these things. The three weeks post-Christmas focused more on tactics play.
On developing an identity
If you know anything about my coaching over the years, you will know that I focus on getting the ball back as quickly as possible... in their half of the pitch. We did concentrate on that aspect too. I believe that the best form of defense is attack, of course it helps that we are a quality counter-attacking side.
On the upcoming Netherlands challenge
I just texted (Dutch coach Max) Caldas, asking him how things were progressing (laughs). There are no secrets at this level, both of us know each other’s games and how we like to set teams up. Saying that, you are always excited (the two matches take place in Bhubaneswar this Saturday and Sunday).
On potential of playing Azlan Shah
The information I have is that we won’t play Azlan Shah this year because of the Pro League. But I am not worried because we will be playing high-calibre opposition throughout the year until the Olympics anyway. Our opposition is already determined for us because of the nature of the competition the Pro League is.
On having two Pro League squads to keep players fresh
That was an area of concern last year but I am happy with the kind of work the players will be doing between now and the Olympics. We will perhaps be operating in the standard way (naming 20-man squads before every batch of Pro League games). We perhaps might look into the prospect of naming two almost different teams on Saturday and Sunday.
Bengaluru might witness competitive action
India could potentially invite the likes of Malaysia or South Korea for a short series in March. As it stands, they have no assignments in March (Pro League takes a break from February 22 to April 25). To give the team a sense of continuity ahead of the Olympics, the management might invite an Asian team to Bengaluru where India will be training for the said two months.
Chinglen back
There were no major surprises in the squad announced by Hockey India for the matches against The Netherlands. Midfield mainstay Chinglensana Singh, who had suffered an ankle fracture last year, is back in the squad after recovering from injury.
PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Manpreet Singh (C), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Chinglensana Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Gurjant Singh, SV Sunil, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam.