Hockey World Cup 2018: India vs Netherlands - 5 talking points

#2 Holland outdoes India strategically

The Indians got a lot of their moves wrong

Jude Felix, coach of the Indian junior side has consistently pointed out that in spite of the positive results in the pool stages, the Indians were underperforming on the pitch.

The former India captain emphasized the same after the quarterfinals, stressing that the Indians have not been playing constructive hockey.

"I remember telling you that they did not play constructive hockey. You need to have set moves, considering that we spend so much time in training camps."

Aikman was of the opinion that India's excessive dribbling helped the Dutch

"When India was dribbling, Holland was closing the passing lines, and then put pressure on the ball carrier to create a 1 versus 2 (1 attacker versus 2 defenders type situations.)"

"Due to that, India could not find the right passes. When Holland had the ball, they avoided 1-1 situations and tried to create at least 2-1 (2 attackers versus 1 defender type situations). They kept passing or ran with the ball but did not tackle".

Former India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal said both sides played a scrappy game but the Indian strikers - and Akasheep, failed to click on the day.

"It was a scrappy game - Akashdeep and the forwards were a disappointment. The midfield and forwards were not in sync."