The International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) Coach of the Year has a blueprint for it: develop a ‘collective defensive mindset’ – which is basically to at all times have somebody on the hotline (the road between the ball service and the purpose), mark the attackers ‘really, really close’ and sort out easily; develop into extra ‘effective and polished’ within the scoring zone by lowering huge swings and smash hits; add a brand new, aggressive dimension to an already-aggressive urgent recreation; and, as a substitute of dashing with the ball, transfer it round patiently till a spot is noticed within the opposition protection.
All this appears an excessive amount of to attain in too little time. The new hockey season will get underway in three weeks – on October 28 – with the FIH Pro League, a match that’s a precursor to the World Cup which is a bit more than three months away. But Reid is satisfied it’s the one means ahead for the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists. “If we play well and do the things we are good at, we are a hard team to beat,” the India head coach says.
These are, he provides, learnings from the latest Commonwealth Games. More particularly, after India had been blown to smithereens by Australia. Twice in 12 months, the Kookaburras pumped in seven objectives previous a hapless India – first on the Tokyo Olympics (7-1) after which on the Birmingham CWG (7-0).
The loss in Tokyo didn’t trouble Reid rather a lot, not again then and never now. “At the Olympics, we created quite a bit of opportunities. I didn’t think there was an intimidation factor,” he says. In Birmingham, Reid felt that was the case. “Part nerves, part intimidation, part not quite sure (what to do).”
It’s a mysterious sample as a result of India have proven the flexibility to go toe-to-toe towards nearly each different group on the earth. Since 2010, India have surrendered to Australia in 4 main finals, two every within the Champions Trophy and the CWG. The hammering on the 2022 CWG as soon as once more raised an uncomfortable query for the gamers: what was it in regards to the Australians that made them quiver on the mere sighting?
Reid, a former Australia worldwide, provides an instance from his taking part in days within the early Nineteen Nineties when Germany had been the gold customary, profitable the 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold, the World Cup bronze in 1998 and 4 Champions Trophies. “We put Germany on a pedestal, prepared too much for them, built them up more than what they actually deserved. You don’t ever want to do that.”
In India’s case, the issues are multi-faceted. Soon after the CWG, when the nationwide camp reconvened in Bengaluru, the gamers and training employees carried out a put up mortem of the Australia match. It wasn’t as thorough as Reid would’ve preferred, however nonetheless sufficient to get an understanding of what was ailing the group.
Aussie aura
Bhubaneswar: Australian gamers have a good time after a purpose throughout a match towards Ireland (inexperienced) for Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik)
It’s a mixture of three issues, Reid says. The first, he admits, is that ‘Australia is still a mental block for some.’ “We need to get over that.”
The second is the absence of the Hockey India League (HIL). “The good thing about the HIL was a lot of the guys played with the Australian players in their own teams so they had a better idea of how they play,” Reid says. That confidence translated on the pitch, the place India and Australia had been engaged in a few of the closest encounters in latest occasions. With the HIL gone, the aura of invincibility across the Australian gamers appears to have returned from India’s standpoint. And the third, Reid factors out, is the shortage of matches towards Australia. After the pandemic struck, Australia reduce off all contact with the skin world, pulling out of the Pro League and barely taking part in a match earlier than the Tokyo Olympics.
“We trained with the Germans, played a lot of games against Argentina when it all came down, they felt confident and comfortable,” Reid says.
The kind of nightmarish reminiscences of previous defeats towards Australia meant that when the time got here, the gamers froze. “We just didn’t put pressure on them, which was our trademark in Europe during the Pro League. We were getting at Belgium, at Holland…”
Reid noticed that the Indian gamers would come inside three meters of the Australians after which maintain – ‘part nerves, part intimidation, part not quite sure’, he repeats. “When you don’t put pressure on a team like Australia, they start to dictate. They get their heads up, make passes and make it difficult for our defenders. The longer someone has the ball, the harder it is for defenders to defend.”
At the World Cup in January 2023, if India and Australia prime their respective swimming pools and win their quarterfinals, they’d meet one another within the semis. Reid isn’t pondering that far forward, nevertheless it’s amongst his priorities to ensure the subsequent time India meet Australia, the gamers aren’t intimidated, on the very least.
And so, he’ll take the group to Adelaide subsequent month. It’ll be Reid’s first go to to his dwelling nation in additional than three years and it’ll be a busy homecoming for the 58-year-old. India and Australia will play 5 matches towards one another, other than just a few coaching classes with a neighborhood group.
“The idea is to desensitise ourselves to them, to make ourselves understand that we are good enough to beat them when we play well,” Reid says. “We need to make sure our game is bulletproof.”
