India 0 - 0 China: 5 takeaways from the game

#5. Tactically flawed approach

While the draw was a positive result and the team put up a strong defensive performance, a lot of concern has been raised over the tactical side of the game. The first twenty minutes of the game was chaotic and all over the place where India never really had any structure or formation in place. Some shambolic defending and cheap give-aways of the ball was all India contributed to the game for the first twenty minutes. This should not be the case heading forward. The tactical side of the game is currently has way too many flaws and Constantine must have a look.

Playing a 4-4-2 is clearly no longer the best formation. While the defence might be solid, the midfield game is lost as only one central midfielder in Anirudh Thapa is able to control play and retain the ball and the strike partnership of Chhetri and Jeje needs time to grow, time which they won't get due to the Hero Indian Super League season.

With Jeje low on confidence and not firing, dropping him for a more dynamic young player who can retain the ball in midfield could allow India more possession leading to more chances. The experience of Chhetri could also see him drop into a central attacking midfield role with Jeje as the striker, the possibilities are limitless. But the formation requires a change in order to control the game more from midfield and getting the two strikers more involved in the game

Another interesting observation is the continuous skying of the ball upfield from the goalkeeper. The Chinese defenders are physical and stand at 6 feet. Compare this to the height of Jeje, who stands at only 5.6 feet. Clearly, the Red Dragons have the advantage when it comes to winning the aerial duels in their third of the field. However, what China lacked was pace.

Many a time, India created chances with quick link-up play and clever passing. Building play from the back would have not only raised the confidence of the Indian team when passing the ball around and building possession but would have also led to more chances for India. Chances which would have been buried by the likes of Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpheklua.