Indian men’s ice hockey team adjusts style of play: less Liverpool-style gegenpressing, more half-court pressing, switching flanks

Switching sides, selective attacks

There was a definite change in India’s counter-attack.

The idea was simple: if a player won the ball on the left side, the attack was started from the right. The transfer of the ball was quick, making the opponent more efficient. And when a direct route was not possible to pass the ball from one wing to the other, the players were happy to just keep possession of the ball, fighting the instinctive urge to attack.

This was best seen in India’s match against England in London. Five minutes into the second quarter, India took the ball into their half and center half Hardik Singh fired a counterattack. He cut in from the left and found himself surrounded by five red shirts, four blocking any passing opportunities in front of him and another closing in behind.

Rather than forcing his way through a congested midfield, as Indian players often do, Hardik spotted Mandeep Singh running into Britain D on the opposite flank and without blinking an eye, he released the striker with a needle-point diagonal ball that resulted in a goal.

So when we get the ball, the idea is to overload on the opposite flank. The advantage of being able to change direction quickly is that we are outnumbered by our opponents, which allows us to make more effective circle passes and shots on goal, a team member said.

In a way this carries forward the philosophy of former coach Graham Reids, but the difference, the team member added, is that under Reid we weren’t obsessing over this every time, whereas now it’s almost the rule.

Our counter-attacking style has evolved since the Olympics. As the teams are aware of our style, it became a kind of basketball match where we attacked from the same side, moved up and down, up and down with a lot of speed but with limited control and thus we kept losing the ball, the member added. . After the Olympics, we practiced holding the ball and starting the counter only when there was a 4 vs. 3 or 3 vs. 2 situation.

Add to that the concept of switching flanks and it is also designed to improve, to borrow Indias football codeword, Indias xG, expected goal ratio and also make India’s circle penetration more purposeful and effective. So there will be less and less gaudy, heavy-metal hockey. Fewer risks and selective and controlled attacks will be the mantra in the future.

Midfield squeeze, withdrawn center forward

Also of note on the long tour was the half court Fulton used against Holland.

For a team that often resembled a gegenpressing Liverpool side under Juergen Klopp, this is a profound change in philosophy. India have been a team that has not been afraid to press their opponents high up the pitch and they have done so aggressively and relentlessly.

India have used this strategy before, but Fulton said before leaving for Europe that he wants the players to get comfortable in the midfield and play a little deeper. According to him, the purpose of this was mainly to strengthen the defense structure.

And so, the center forward, who used to be in front all the time, often fell back into the shadow of the opponent’s center half, as the midfield and defensive lines also played in their deeper half than usual.

The reason for this is that the centre-forward can block the centre-half who starts most of the play and prevent the opposition from creating moves, moving the ball or blocking through balls. The idea is to get them to play in wide areas, box them into corners and look for opportunities to counter-attack, a member of the team said.

The member added: We have two strikers high up the pitch so when we get the ball back they are ready to counter. We learned to counter by using 4 or 5 players with two forwards, a center half and a center forward instead of the whole team moving up, leaving the defense open.

It’s not a set-in-stone style. Against Argentina, for example, India pressed high and reverted to their tried-and-true methods, hinting that it was going to be a horses-for-courses method.

To bolster the defence, Fulton introduced former captain Manpreet Singh, who has played his entire career in midfield as a defender, as he is strong on the ball and reads the game well. Manpreets switching positions has also given Fulton more attacking options with Vivek Sagar Prasad and Hardik excelling in midfield.

Challenges: Off-ball movement, opening man-to-man marking

Two weeks and 10 games in Europe will give Fulton a platform to work on identifying players who can execute his vision and also zero in on the style that best suits the team. He still has a four-nation tournament in Spain next month, followed by the Asian Champions Trophy to determine the best combinations ahead of the all-important Asian Games, where an Olympic berth is up for grabs.

His challenge, as Reid realized during his tenure, is to get players to play within the structure and improve their ball-handling.

India have found it difficult to play against teams that play against a man. They have problems receiving and creating chances, and the players’ synchronized, off-the-ball movements to open man-to-man marking are often lacking.

This will be crucial not only in the Paris Olympics, where teams like Australia and Great Britain can make India uncomfortable with this style, but also in the Asian Games, where India will be up against potential banana skins ​​​​like Malaysia and South Korea. and Japan, who play man-to-man.

We’re used to playing the zone, we understand how to set up and create pockets in that style. But from person to person there is no structure, no obvious pockets of space. Opponents shadow us so we can create space, we have to fake runs, then another player has to be there to run into that space, timing the run, releasing the ball and receiving in the right place has to be a lot. Understanding between the players and that takes time, the team member said.

Reid had identified these as key areas in the next phase of development for the Indian team, which had reached the Olympic podium playing fast, counter-attacking hockey. The Australian was asked to leave before he could execute his plan.

They may be Olympic medallists, but India are a team in progress. And as someone who was part of the Belgium line-up that often praised India, Fulton knows.