A team is known by the way it plays. If the Class of ’92 under Sir Alex Ferguson had free-flowing football in its DNA, the Barcelona system under Pep Guardiola had tiki-taka football as its gene. You can always watch a Jose Mourinho team and you know they’ll attack from the wings, would counter-attack fast and would have an almost non-porous defence. These are several attributes a coach writes on their sides.
Also Read: India 4-1 Puerto Rico: 5 Talking Points
Coming to Indian shores and talking about lesser talented players’ management, there’s been one man who’s always been taken to cleaners by the critics and the same man has always managed to perform better than his predecessors, Stephen Constantine. The Indian National Team coach led Rwanda, a small African country to the 68th rank in FIFA ratings, which is no mean achievement.
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Also Read: India 4-1 Puerto Rico: Player Ratings
Stephen began his first stint as Indian coach in 2002 and managed the team till 2005. The current scenario in Indian football has grown a lot since 2005. With the advent of ISL, players have developed, new talents have erupted and have been fearless on the big stage and thus, Constantine was appointed by the AIFF in 2015 to lead the National Team and plan a national setup to take the game ahead.
India defeated Puerto Rico 4-1 on 3rd September, 2016 in one of the most dominant displays ever by the National Team. One man, off-the-field, who deserves a lot of credit is Stephen Constantine. Constantine has transferred the team into a well-oiled machine, which enjoys the victories and handles the defeats well (and sometimes too well). The way the team played last evening was a treat to watch. The players looked to be applying a perfect game-plan, rarely seen in the National Team setup in the past.
Constantine’s contract with the team gets over next year, in February. We believe he deserves a contract extension and a longer rope to execute his plans well for not just the national team but the all-round growth of the game in the nation. Here’s why.
#1 Changing the myriad situation of Indian Football
Bob Houghton, former Indian National Team coach had infamously said, “You can remove the coach and you can bring Guus Hiddink or Jose Mourinho tomorrow and you will still be (ranked where you are)”.
This comment shows a sad and brutal reality about Indian football and also pushes us to take a few hard and changing steps. When current coach Stephen Constantine came back to head the National Team in January 2015, he wanted a planned setup to be laid deep to the grassroots level, which would not just make a successful current team, but also would ensure a challenging crop of youngsters pushing for spots and the unhindered growth of the game.
Thus, in tandem with AIFF and IMG-Reliance Group, Constantine has laid a new plan of action till the grassroots level and has demanded a Professional League for the nation’s growth as a footballing power. Work is underway and the AIFF has planned 2018 as the starting year of the three-tiered league running for seven months which also guaranteed Indian National Team playing on International match days. Also, a ‘Champions Cup’ is in the pipeline to garner more attention to the game.
As soon as professionalism and money gets into a sport, and starts building a fanbase, quality is a byproduct. This has been a norm in India and for something like football, this is sure to happen.
“Look, I spoke about all I wanted on this topic when I came back to India. All I would like to say now is that it looks like it will happen and that's a good step. We can't have everything done in one day but I'm told that there is a plan going forward and I think that's a good sign and I will leave that there.” Stephen Constantine said when asked to comment on the football calendar. This says that a plan is in place, it’s about time we had one.
#2 The right team setup and attitude
Constantine has brought a constant feel of ‘better’ and ‘winning’ football in the team, by attractive and non-attractive ways equally. In the first few days as the manager of India during his the second stint, Constantine hadn’t got much scouting time and thus, the team played to its strength of hard-line defense and running wingers to supply burly-built strikers to score goals in a counter-attacking dimension.
People might question about Sunil Chhetri’s participation in this game-play, but you can’t keep your best player away from the pitch, can you? Sunil pitched in every match, played his hearts out, scored and assisted and has been the shining armor in Indian attack for about the last 4 years now.
India was known to be a South Asian competitor, who usually gave their best and fought valiantly against better-ranked teams, but usually lost. Constantine has managed to change that, and in an effective way. Stephen has transformed the team which defeated better-ranked sides Afghanistan and Guam and won the SAFF Championship in January 2016. The current setup and the changes brought in by the AIFF would surely ensure better performances by the Blue Tigers, and more effective coaching by the National Team Manager.
#3 The National Team Rankings
According to FIFA rankings, India ended 2014 at 171. Constantine joined in January 2015, leading India to 166 by the end of 2015 and the team is ranked 152 currently, which is one of the best rankings in the last 10 years for this team muddled by behind-the-field conundrums and political conspiracies.
Make no mistake, there’s a lot of money in Indian football and the future influx is also ensured, only the correct utilization was not being done before this recent revival. Constantine made sure the idea was right, and even more importantly, effective. Rankings shouldn’t be given a lot of importance, but sometimes, growth in numbers does speak for themselves, don’t they?
#4 The game-play
The match against Puerto Rico yesterday had a lot of importance bearing on it. Stephen’s contract expires in February next year and there are very few International matches to play before that. India’s relatively second string side had recently defeated 192nd ranked Bhutan 3-0 recently, but Puerto Rico are ranked 114th, which was a much bigger challenge in itself for the perennial underdogs, India.
The match began in similar fashion like it has for India, forever. The team went down 1-0 courtesy to a defensive mishap/slip from Jackichand Singh, who was eventually India’s final scorer in the match.
There was a difference in the side though. India was playing with a creative centre-line, a defensive pair with overlapping and confident side-backs and a striker with a supporting forward. India looked a different side on the field and looked confident and fearless on the ball. The team chased a lot, played sharp, direct football and was astutely led by Sunil Chhetri in the attack.
In the match, India kept the ball at its feet, ran hard and played fast, attacking football. Eugenson Lyngdoh, an unearthed gem for Indian football by Constantine, and our costliest midfielder, yet again, proved his invaluableness with constant through-balls and brilliant deliveries throughout the match. Pronoy Halder played the role of a sweeper to perfection, keeping the line clear for defence and carried the ball out to attack on occasions. The only weak-link in this squad is probably senior defender Arnab Mondal.
Thus, with time, it seems Constantine has been able to put his ideas to his pupils, which is beginning to show the desired results now. The team looks attractive and the love for creative football is ample in India to form the 12th man for this team.
#5 Playing Strategy
This one is long, but the most important too.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Stabeak FC’s Indian goalkeeper, was given the captain’s armband by the coach, which seemed to defy logic. The team has played different and better football in the recent past and Gurpreet’s European inputs has surely helped his compatriots, but stripping your leader on the field is a poor thing to do.
Sunil is a team man though, and he showed why the armband doesn’t matter to him. Leading from the front, India’s highest scorer ever scored one and assisted two other goals from striker Jeje Lalpekhlua and full-back Narayan Das.
Make no mistake; I’m not challenging Arnab’s defensive abilities at all. It’s his one-dimensional play which might hurt the team’s build-up play in the future. Arnab, throughout his career, has been very sound defensively and has a no-nonsense swagger with the ball in his box.
You put it in his way and he’ll clear the line. Sandesh Jhingan’s growth as the ball-playing defender bides well for the team, while the side-backs Narayan Das and Pritam Kotal confidence on the ball and strong defensive abilities ensures India has a calm and futuristically stable look to its back-line.
Coming to the centre-line, Eugenson Lyngdoh is arguably the best box-to-box creative midfielder India has ever produced. Period. Eugenson is India’s corner specialist and takes free-kicks in the absence of Sunil Chhetri and that proves his effectiveness even on dead ball situations.
Constantine has always built his team around the diminutive midfielder and has made sure Eugenson has the freedom to show his skills. Jakichand Singh, Bikash Jairu, Holicharan Narzary and Seityasen Singh are wingers who can both cross or play as inverted wingers. Interestingly, all four of them are young and have blossoming careers ahead of them.
Up ahead, Sunil Chhetri is India’s and Constantine’s talisman, deservingly. Sunil has served Indian football impeccably well and deserves a lot of respect. His fighting attitude and goal-scoring abilities have won India matches and tournaments in the past single-handedly, and Constantine surely knows his strengths.
At 32, Chhetri is arguably the fittest in the team, and just needs a striker to finish his moves. Jeje is a smart customer on the field and has been around Chhetri for a long time to know his game well.
Jeje is not a Robin Singh to throw himself at aerial balls only. He runs behind defenders and plays at the end of the supply-line, finishing things. Scoring 7 goals in last 7 International games shows the striker is doing just the right things. He’s being the ultimate poacher, the striker who feeds off well from India’s main creator, Sunil Chhetri.
#6 Changing Attitudes towards the National Team
If a National Team doesn’t play often, how do you expect it to perform in one-off matches? Constantine got that right, and ensured AIFF is looking at it differently now. Constantine made sure the ideas are rhythmic to the team and they are able to execute the plans well on the field.
Currently, we’re fighting with a scenario in which top clubs like East Bengal FC and Bengaluru FC don’t even let their players leave for International games, a pity for the National Team setup and its growth. Constantine has always given the National Team a pool of players to choose, and he has done the same now.
Even after his contract gets over, the next coach would have a wide range of talents to choose from. For the record, Sandesh Jhingan played at right-back for Kerala Blasters FC in the first ISL, but Constantine molded him into one of the finest centre-backs in the country, using his strength, physicality, heading abilities and positioning to good use.
Before Pronay Halder, probably Mehtab Hussain would be the only name you would recall as the holding/defensive midfielder for the national team. Since the arrival of this kid, Constantine has helped his confidence a lot and ensures Pronoy feels like a leader, to organise the defence behind him, a role he seems to enjoy on the field. One look at the team and the conversations this lad has with the whole defensive lot tells you a lot about his participation and his will to ensure his team’s security at the back.
India might not have the services of the imperial Sunil Chhetri in the next 3-4 years, but we have a lot of new and exciting prospects in the National setup, thanks to the British coach. In his semi-rigid, semi-flexible ways, Stephen Constantine has carried Indian football from hallows to stability, from confusion to confidence and from 171 to 152 in the rankings. If numbers speak, quality speaks louder, Constantine’s achievements: Loudest.
Winning over all these hurdles, with no real setup to support, Stephen has done laudable work in his term and deserves a second run at the hot-seat. Does the AIFF thinks similar? We’ll have to wait and see.
