AFC Asian Cup 2019: 3 Things India should do to win against Bahrain

#2 Need to keep the possession more in the midfield

Teams get an upper hand the more they have the ball on their feet

Against UAE, India had only 32 percent possession at the end of the match. Against Thailand, it was 35 percent. Not a stat that Indian players should be proud of.

In fact, in their friendly matches against China and Jordan too, they were the second best team in terms of ball possession.

It is true that possession doesn’t always reflect the story of the match. But it’s also true that teams get an upper hand the more they have the ball on their feet.

The European style of football teaches us how to keep the possession without affecting the speed of the game. India should take lessons and watch more video before they take the field against Bahrain.

This is not something which could be done overnight. But there is certainly room for improvement. One of the main reasons for not keeping possession is the number of miss passes. India committed many during their game against UAE.

The midfielders were responsible for not keeping the ball on their feet. Also, while making forward passes, they didn’t use intelligence. Even skipper Sunil Chhetri made some glaring mistakes while making a pass.

India needs to play short passes in the midfield using their intelligence. Whenever a player gets the ball, other teammates around him should look for spaces to receive it.

They should keep it simple and should not look for tricky passes. Also, India should not make a miss pass on their own half.