JOIN USSince the start of the year, head coach of the Indian team Roelant Oltmans has underlined his vision to implement a new style, strategy and inject young blood into the team.
This idea was evident in their first tournament of the year, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. The Indians tried to be creative, they were confident in their attacks, tried to break the air-tight defence of Australia and controlled the game in phases with smart positioning sense. Though their weak defence once again came back to haunt them, resulting in a bronze medal, Oltmans wished to look at the positives.
“I think the most interesting part is seeing the side become more dominant,” he said. “Every game we played, we had far more possession than our opponents, so we can dictate the game.
“Before, we were a team that defended well and had counter-attacks. The biggest margin was 62 per cent in one of the games. The smallest margin was 51 to 49 per cent against Australia. That is, for me, a very good sign.
“On the other hand, India is conceding goals in the last 10 minutes, so that is an area we can clearly improve. We create a lot of opportunities and spend a lot of time in the opponent’s circle, but the most important thing is the scoring rate. That is an area where we need to step up,” he remarked.
Though the Azlan Shah saw India score a number of field goals (nine in six games), their conversion rate from penalty corners was an appalling 24 per cent. The Dutchman agreed that it was an area of concern.
“I agree that our numbers weren’t the greatest. We scored 24 per cent of penalty corners — that’s very low. For me always 33 per cent and above is okay. But these guys can play hard, so it’s not a huge concern. We have to work on it. At the World League Finals, the rates should be between 33-40 per cent,” he said.
Welcome change
While nine field goals for a team that relied heavily on its penalty corner expertise in the recent past is a welcome change, but a closer look at thier conversion rate doesn’t paint a good picture. And Oltmans was frank enough to admit this.
“If you look at the conversion rate, it’s not high. But we are attacking more than before. We have changed from being a counter-attacking side to one that has possession and creates chances. I am worried only when we don’t create opportunities anymore,” he stated.
The national team play the Hockey World League Semifinals in London next. But with Oltmans’ side already qualifying as hosts for the Finals to be held in India later this year, would this change the way the team approaches this tournament?
“Not at all.
The Hockey World League Semifinal is a prestigious tournament. It’s a bit strange that for second time we are playing this tournament knowing that we’ve already qualified for the finals. But we will set a clear target to finish in the top three. It’s not easy because we play with Olympic champions Argentina, Holland, England, Pakistan and other strong teams,” Oltmans explained.
The upcoming 3-nation invitational tournament in Dusseldorf with hosts Germany and Belgium will be the perfect test for this side.
The tournament starts on June 1 and the team will depart for Germany on May 28.