When Joaquim Carvalho took over as the chief coach of the Indian men's hockey team, he had a herculean task before him. For, Indian hockey could not have been facing a worse time in its illustrious history.

The wounds India sustained at the World Cup and Doha Asian Games were indeed deep. It needed a brave effort from anyone to get the country out of the mess. The same old problems — be it not earning or converting penalty corners or failing to give finishing touches to goal attempts to name a couple — plagued India. And the net result was there for all to see.

Then Carvalho took over. For starters, he has insisted on the coach having a say in matters concerning the National team, a good attitude no doubt. Secondly, there were ideas afresh from the Indian Oil coach. One of the things Carvalho wanted was a masseur to travel with the team so that the players can recover faster after tiring encounters. Then there was his idea of using badminton coach Ganguly Prasad to train goalkeepers initially.

Later, the whole team was under Prasad for the second camp. Simply put, there seems to be a freshness in the way things are going under Carvalho.

Now, there are tasks to do. The most important now is to secure a berth in the Beijing Olympics and in order to do that, the team needs to do well in the Champions Challenge in Belgium in the third week of this month.

Doing well at Boom-Antwerp would mean a good ranking for India and thus better their chances of qualifying for Beijing. Winning in Boom also fetches India a spot in the 2007 Champions Trophy in Lahore. 

The bronze medal at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in May was a good start for Carvalho. "I was under pressure before the Azlan Shah Cup but now the load is a lot less on me," Carvalho said before the team left for Germany for a training stint and practice matches, preceding the Champions Challenge. "I have a better idea of the players' capabilities now.

"There are a lot of talented boys in the team. For example, midfielder Gurbaj Singh is a good right half. He can really do the stuff once he gets going. Vickram Kanth is a very hard worker.

Bharat Chikkara and Roshan Minz have been doing a lot of good work in the forwardline. The two have been working in tandem and are quite capable. They have good support from Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Damandeep Singh, Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh.

"Simply put, each one has been assigned duties and they are doing their jobs. Even as a coach, my job is to be around and help the team. If I am not part of the training, I feel something has not been done."

Areas in which India are weak were worked upon. "We were a bit worried as we only got a couple of penalty corners in the Azlan Shah Cup. We have worked on it and are more confident with our penalty corners now. Sandeep Singh is back and that is a good development. He has been trying variations in his drag-flicks," Carvalho said.

Reserves

"We have about three pushers and stoppers each. Having reserves is important. What will we do if we have only one pusher or stopper and he is not available due to injury etc? We have been working on timing, stoppage and release so that we convert penalty corners."

Converting penalty corners is one thing but it has to be earned first, something the forwards have to do. What the forwards do inside the striking circle was also given importance since India have a tendency of not utilising chances to the fullest. "Once inside the circle, the primary job of the forwards is to score.

If that does not happen, they should try and earn penalty corners. If they can't even do that, they should pass the ball. The players should not lose the ball to the opponents. Even if the forwards do not get a goal or penalty corner, they can try again. But the players should never make mistakes at the back. I am emphasising on these things now," said Carvalho.

“In the midfield, we are trying out different formations and variations. After a long time, I think we have got a robust and skillful midfield. We are better organised now."

When one talks of the Indian midfield, there is bound to be talk about Viren Rasquinha, who could not attend the training camp due to his MBA exams and went back. Are his services missed? "We already had a midfield set in place. There is no point in dislodging what is set to accommodate a player. Anyway, he dropped out due to exams."

Support staff

The support staff has been a boon to the team with the added value of having Prasad to help out with the physical training. "It is not a daily routine from Prasad. He makes plans according to the players' hockey training.

And his training is pertaining to the game to develop speed, strength and power," said Carvalho, who also used video analysis to spot the mistakes made by the players. "The video analysis is useful to see where the players are faltering. The players are also encouraged to discuss, come up with ideas and do self-analysis.”

With a confidence-boosting performance under their belt, there is no lack of determination among the players as they head to Belgium.

"The players are a determined lot and we are putting in our best since the Champions Challenge is very important."

It seems there are fresh ideas and more enthusiasm with young, talented blood in the team. Whether they have it in them to bring glory for India remains to be seen.