A year ago, chaos reached a climax over the incident involving the Indian men's hockey team.
Take the 2023 FIH World Cup, specifically the crossover with New Zealand for a place in the quarter-finals. That night in Bhubaneswar, India led 2-0 and looked set easily. This was them living their true colors. This is a team defined by offensive hockey and scoring goals by doing just that. However, this team was also characterized by conceding goals, especially in the final stages of games. As the match progressed into the second half, India's defense began to crumble in a chaotic and constant pursuit of goals. 2-0 became 3-1 and then 3-3 in the final quarter. In the final stages, India had to hold out until they were forced into a penalty shootout, but they kept losing in the penalty shootouts, their hearts were broken and their long-held World Cup dreams were shattered. One of the favorites was gone even before serious business began.
Nine months later, India played a completely different brand of hockey in high-pressure matches under a new coach. This was the final match of the Hangzhou Asian Games, against Japan, with gold and a spot at the Paris Olympics on the line. It could have been another chaotic night against an opponent like New Zealand, but India were in absolute control throughout the match. They started slowly, calmly chose the timing of their attacks, and eventually scored five goals to win the gold medal.
This is the story of that transformation. From chaos to control. From Graham Reid to Craig Fulton.
Why did the style change?
Now, it's not like the philosophy of chaos didn't work for the team. Under coach Graham Reid, they broke their Olympic drought, winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and did so by dominating opponents with their direct, aggressive style of hockey. The same style has performed well in the professional leagues, and this aggressive type of hockey seems to have come naturally to the players.
It's not unusual for a new coach to come in with new ideas. Fulton, speaking to ESPN, agreed that the Indian team didn't lack much before he took over, but what he wanted was balance in the game.
“I've been coaching for a long time and you have to recognize the strengths of the group and areas for improvement,” he says. “You have to manage what you're good at and what you need to improve on. Because if you're losing the game by two points and you don't try to improve it… how are you going to win?”Scoring goals Sometimes we win, and other days we concede three goals and lose the game. ”
The important point here is the points conceded. For, although India played a very attractive style under Reid, they always seemed vulnerable at the back. Of course, that's natural. When a team advances relentlessly, it creates space for the opponent to attack. It's a very fast sport, so it's very difficult for players to back up every time they lose the ball. This means that top countries such as Belgium, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands can easily exploit this weakness. In fact, that's exactly what underdog New Zealand did in that fateful World Cup match.
This match highlighted the truth that the tactic of outscoring India's opponents is not the way forward. This was not the case, especially against top teams in big tournaments where pressure plays a key role. Fulton, who had enjoyed great success with the Belgian national team and other European clubs, wanted to introduce a major element that made those teams winners: control. He specifically thought that he wanted to strengthen the team's defensive structure.
He calls it “defending to attack.” Fulton elaborates: “There are different ways to get the ball back. [like] High press is India's strength. But we also have to try the other way, which is to be more compact, as we've seen in the professional leagues. We played a little bit of man-to-man and zone half-court defense. That allowed us to go into a counter-attack phase and win the ball. This added another dimension to our attack methods and organizational capabilities. ”
New methods provide early positive results
However, a new system is only as good as the results it produces. Fulton said it took some time to implement certain changes, but once the players saw it was working, he hit the ground running. In one of his first tournaments as a head coach, Fulton's team played this different style and was successful.
“One of the best things that happened was playing in the Asia Champions Trophy and winning there playing this new style,” he says. “That was important. In the final (against Malaysia), when we lost 3-1 and won the match, it was still difficult. At the end of the day, when it goes well, the players get a lot of confidence. I can do it,” he says. Fulton.
India had a solid defense throughout the tournament, but in the final, they were required to use their attacking power after falling behind in the first half. In big matches, it is not always possible to have complete control or prevent your opponent from scoring. In such a situation, India can rely on attacking hockey. This is the balance Fulton wanted to implement when he first took the reins.
The players have now fully accepted his methods. Gone are the days when India used to rise very quickly from the blocks. They are not slow per se, but the emphasis is on retaining the ball and maintaining defensive shape. After the success of the Asian Champions Trophy, Fulton-led India participated in the Asian Games and won the gold medal in Hangzhou. Fulton's philosophy was on display in the biggest game of his short reign as India's manager.
If you're a soccer fan, you'll understand this – Fulton is a fan of Jose Mourinho's methods. If done correctly, he argues, there are big benefits. India can play a fast-break game because it has always been in their DNA, but now they can also pick the moments to break through and take advantage of space.
“Don't underestimate the low blocks,” he says. “Sometimes, step by step, when a team is doing really well, it's important to keep the numbers close and if we can come back from there, we have 70 yards of space. We can fight back,” Fulton said after the India game. Ta. In the Pro League, they defeated Ireland 1-0.
In a recent Pro League match, a low block was very effective against the powerful Netherlands. In normal times, both games ended in draws (1-1, 2-2). The Netherlands attacked hard, but India did not let them get away easily when they had the ball. There were intense tactical battles throughout the two matches, with India making good use of opportunities while also showing defensive resilience.
Big setback #1: Australia
The recently concluded tour of Australia proved to be a tougher challenge to Fulton's methods and was the first major setback under the new manager. India, who were using this tour to prepare for the Paris Games, lost all five games in the series. Initial predictions were that India's new strategy would make it more difficult for Australia to play their characteristic attacking hockey, which could lead to some positive results for India. However, this was not the case.
To be clear, India's defense improved as the series progressed. The low blocks made it difficult for Australia to score goals as freely as they liked. However, the specific problem in this series was the fact that the Indian attack failed. Counter attacks, so important to Fulton's style, did not work well as the attackers did not react quickly to breaks and made sloppy mistakes on the ball. The series provided important learnings for Fulton's team and demonstrated the importance of actually executing the plan. Mistakes, slip-ups and negative results don't matter much on tours like this, but India cannot afford to do the same in the upcoming Olympics.
Challenge to the Olympics
Playing a certain way does not guarantee success or a medal. Despite such a change in style, things could still go wrong and the team could end up with no medals at the Paris Games. The challenge at the Olympic level is daunting and Fulton understands that India will need to step up in every department if they are to have a shot at gold.
“The penalty corners are going to be big so defense of the penalty corners will also be important. India has all those things and India are competitive in all departments.”
craig fulton
As always, there are no easy groups at the Olympics. India will play Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland in Group B of their trip to Paris. The top four teams in each group qualify for the quarterfinals.
For Fulton, grouping doesn't make much of a difference. “I can't say one team has a better goalkeeper than the other. I think all teams are similar,” he says. “There are some teams with strong penalty corner attacks and variations. And a lot of these games come down to penalty corners. Get three or four penalty corners and score one or two. Hopefully, that will continue.'' It's going to be a big penalty corner that makes a big difference and India has all those things and India is competitive in every department.''
India has a world-class midfielder in Hardik Singh. Captain Harmanpreet Singh is currently one of the best drag flickers in the world. Equally important is the goalkeeper and here too India have one of the best shot-stoppers in the game in PR guy Sreejesh. And when it comes to penalty corner defense, Amit Rohidas and Manpreet Singh have done solid work as rushers over the years.
This is an exciting team. This is a group of promising young players with plenty of big tournament experience and players who are considered world class. Reaching the finals at the Olympics is never easy and the chances of winning every match are very low. That's why we need to work together as a team at the right time. It's the same as when they lost to Australia 7-1 at the last Olympics but ended up winning the bronze medal.
India will now aim to perfect their style and rectify their shortcomings in the away games of the Pro League in May. However, the focus is on Paris.
